Stellar travel: a look back at Space Week UNamur 2025

Organized by the Confluent des Savoirs as part of International Space Week and the UNIVERSEH Alliance, the 2025 edition brought together nearly 800 participants of all ages, including 350 primary and secondary school students.

Highlights of the week

Throughout the week, young and old were invited to dive into the world of space research through workshops, observations and immersive experiments.

A day for secondary school students

A real highlight of the week, on Thursday October 9 the University was transformed into a veritable space laboratory to welcome 5ᵉ and 6ᵉ secondary school students to an interdisciplinary theme day. Over the course of the day, pupils were able to meet researchers, teachers, students and space professionals in workshops, encounters and challenges, exploring in turn:

• the mysteries of meteorites and space exploration with researchers from UNamur;
• the links between artificial intelligence and space, in collaboration with the Euro Space Center ;
• the biodiversity of mosses with the discovery of "resistant" micro-organisms capable of surviving in space conditions ;
• before concluding the day with an interactive and convivial quiz hosted by the "Kàp to UNIVERSEH" project Kot.

This day made a lasting impression with its participative, interdisciplinary approach, hailed by teachers and students alike.
The latter were able to handle scientific equipment, exchange views with researchers, and discover in concrete terms the diversity of space-related professions and issues.

At the same time, visits to the Antoine Thomas Astronomical Observatory and a mobile planetarium on loan from the MUMONS enabled younger pupils (primary and secondary) to explore the starry sky and ponder the mysteries of the cosmos in a fun and accessible way.

Moments of discovery for all

For several days, the Observatory exceptionally opened its doors to allow the curious to explore its dome, its workings and its instruments, including a solar telescope, the only one of its kind in Wallonia.

Accompanied by an astronomy popularizer and comfortably seated under the planetarium dome, visitors embarked on a cosmic journey, between constellations, galaxies and celestial phenomena.

These experiences, both scientific and sensory, offered a moment of shared wonder and helped strengthen links between research and the general public.

A "Space Exploration" comic book competition.

In this comic strip format drawing competition, UNamur invites you to embark on an extraordinary adventure on the theme of space exploration. The competition invites you to imagine daring missions, spectacular discoveries or distant civilizations, and to tell the story in drawings and bubbles. The Universe is waiting for you, and it's up to each and every one of us to bring it to life!

Space Week UNamur 2025 was once again a great success. It succeeded in bringing together the general public and school audiences, mixing science, technology, creation and imagination, and anchoring the University of Namur as a dynamic player in space research and scientific mediation on space-related themes.

Beyond the fascination for astronomy, this week reminds us that space is a shared horizon, between research, innovation, citizenship and culture.

Through the Confluent des Savoirs, the University of Namur confirms its role as a bridge between academic knowledge and the public, while inspiring the new generation of explorers... terrestrial or stellar.

Photos by Christophe Danaux