Listen to the Moon
How do you listen to the Moon? As the race to colonise space accelerates, the Embassy of the Moon invites you to a profound public conversation at Space Expo Noordwijk. Together with leading experts and the audience, the event will explore the ecological, cultural, and spiritual future of our closest celestial neighbour.
What to expect
Through four short, thought-provoking lectures, experts examine the Moon as a sovereign body. Moving beyond economic profit, we address crucial questions:
- What does the Moon need to thrive?
- Which lunar landscapes require immediate protection?
- How can we give the Moon a voice in the booming space industry?
Speakers & hosts
- James Carpenter, Lunar Scientist, European Space Agency (ESA)
- Prof. Dr Katrien Kolenberg, Astrophysicist (UA, VUB), Professor of Science Communication (KU Leuven), and artist
- Dr Darshan Vigneswaran, Associate Professor, Political Science (UvA), and Director, Spaceinterface (Communications)
- Mary Kuiper, Artist bridging art and lunar exploration
About the Embassy of the Moon
We feel the time is now to map and balance the diverse concerns attached to the extraterrestrial landscape we are most intimately connected to.
Economic interests may overshadow the ecological, cultural, and spiritual values that our cosmic neighbour holds for humanity. How do we ensure a balance in which these values continue to be respected?
With a group of experts from various fields (science, art, law, ethics, philosophy, and industry), the Embassy of the Moon wants to explore questions and ideas that could help lay the foundations for worldwide representation of the non-commercial values of the Moon. What does the Moon need to thrive? Are there landscapes that require protection? What could be damaged by space exploration? How do we talk about its ecosystem? And how do we determine its intrinsic value? The initiative aims to represent the Moon’s voice and chart what it means to humanity, beyond economic profit.