The Colors of Cooperation” was the theme of Ecsite’s annual conference 2016 in Graz, Austria on 7–11 June, hosted by three Austrian partners: FRida & freD, the Graz Children Museum; Universalmuseum Joanneum; and ScienceCentre-Netzwork.

The Space Group workshop “Space for Life - Develop and share resources”, organised by ESA, Ecsite and the co-chairs of the Space Group, was held on 7–8 June at the Graz Art Museum, Kunshtaus.

There were two parts to the workshop. During the first part, representatives of European science centres and museums met the representatives of the Austrian Space Agency and ESA experts in the fields of Earth Observation, Human Spaceflight and Exploration, Planetary Science and Education.

Participants learned about ESA’s activities in 2016–2018, including the European participation to the International Space Station and Astronauts missions, the next milestones for ExoMars and Rosetta.

During the second part of the workshop, participants worked together on the next three pilot projects that will be developed with the support of ESA and shared within Ecsite :

Project 1 - The International Space Station: Living and working in Space, fully developed in 2016, co-led by Cité de l’Espace, Toulouse, France; Tycho Brahe Planetarium, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Project 2 - Is there life out there?, fully developed in 2017, led by City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia, Spain.
Project 3 - Climate change: Monitoring the Atmosphere and Oceans from Space, fully developed in 2018, led by Ciência Viva, Lisbon, Portugal.

In keeping with this year’s theme – "The International Space Station: Living and working in Space" – the venue of the next Annual Meeting will be the European Astronautical Centre in Cologne, Germany, on 7–8 December 2016.

During the meeting, participants will have the opportunity to find out more about the three projects and European space activities. They will meet and exchange ideas with representatives from ESA, the National Space Agency (DLR) and industries. Preparations will also be made for the subsequent workshop during Ecsite 2017 in Porto.