Eclipsing Borders: how solar eclipses can help blur borders through astronomy outreach

Eclipsing Borders is an outreach and educational initiative developed in collaboration with the International Astronomical Union’s Office of Astronomy for Education centre Italy and National Outreach Coordinator team Italy in preparation for the total solar eclipses crossing Europe and North Africa in 2026 and 2027. The project combines local community engagement with international co-design processes to promote scientific curiosity, cultural exchange, and safe eclipse observation practices.

At an international level, the project brings together members of the IAU National Astronomy Education Coordinator (NAEC) Mediterranean network to collaboratively adapt, translate, and create new STEAM-based educational resources related to eclipses, the Sun-Earth-Moon system, and astronomy outreach. The co-design process includes online collaboration meetings and the development of multilingual and interdisciplinary activities, such as creative workshops, storytelling, and hands-on learning experiences accessible to diverse educational contexts.

At a local level, we are currently doing a series of astronomy workshops at a community after-school center in Rome, working with mixed-age primary school children in a socially marginalized context. The workshops combine storytelling, tactile and multisensory activities, observations of the Sun and the Moon, and collaborative laboratories exploring topics such as lunar phases, the Solar System, planets and galaxies. The activities are designed to be low-cost, inclusive, and easily replicable, and are currently being explored as a model for implementation in other Italian cities.

This contribution presents the project methodology, early outcomes, and reflections on how eclipse-related outreach can become a tool for inclusion, participation, and transnational collaboration across the Mediterranean region.