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Abstract

`Sea & Space' is the title of a European educational programme involving projects in astronomy, navigation and environmental observations, which takes place this Spring. This largely Internet-based and highly interactive initiative will enable students to perform field experiments and astronomical observations, as well as obtain and process satellite images. It is being jointly organized by the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE) and builds on their successful collaboration in the European week for scientific and technological culture. Teaching resources are offered for three major areas relating to the oceans and the space that surrounds us. These are the remote sensing of Europe's coastal environment; navigation; and oceans of water. Sea & Space will make use of the Internet and World Wide Web to carry teaching resources so teachers and students can communicate with the organizers and amongst themselves. There will also be a competition for students to prepare a poster or newspaper on a relevant topic, and this will be organized simultaneously in European countries (this will not require Internet access). Prizes for the winners include a week in Lisbon, a visit to the ESA space port in Kourou (French Guyana) or to the Very Large Telescope at ESO's observatory in Chile. The Sea & Space programme was due to start at the beginning of March, with further information provided on the ESA, ESO or EAAE homepages. There is a dedicated Sea & Space homepage for schools to register for the project and for the regular mailing of new information: http://www.esa.int/seaspace http://www.eso.org/seaspace http://www.algonet.se/~sirius/eaae/seaspace National steering committees are responsible for the organization of the programme at the local level, and the UK contact is Dr A M Cohen, The King's School (Girls Division), Fence Avenue, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 1LS (tel: 01625 260000, fax: 01625 262002, e-mail: kingsmac@rmplc.co.uk).