Event for communities interested in getting Dark Sky accreditation

This November, we are hosting the 14th European Symposium for the Protection of the Night Sky

It  is an international event to raise awareness of the impact artificial light has on ecology, wellbeing and cultural heritage of natural darkness and the first time the International Dark Sky Association has granted licence to an Irish event of this kind.  

Darkness matters for nature’s cycle of day and night.It's time to make a change and that's why we are inviting academics, activists, architects, astronomers, community groups, conservationists, dark sky advocates, ecologists, engineers, lighting experts, planners, policy makers, scientists, students and more (!) to discuss the challenges and explore the solutions to reversing light pollution and implementing best practices for dark sky friendly lighting.

One of our key note speakers will be Emma Stone a leading authority on how lighting affects Bats, more names to follow. 

The European Symposium for the Protection of the Night Sky runs immediately 3rd - 5th November in GN Mulranny Park Hotel (immediately after our family friendly Mayo Dark sky Festival 1-3 November).  Details are here: https://www.mayodarkskyfestival.ie/about-symposium  (currently open call for papers).

Background info:

We are losing our largest natural habitat, the night sky, at an alarming rate due to the growth of light pollution. The Milky Way is no longer visible to one third of humanity - including 60 percent of Europeans and 80 percent of Americans. Over 18% of the Irish population uses colour vision at night as we have created 24 hour daylight conditions in many places.  This has longer-term implications for human health matters and for biodiversity; drawing important species such as night pollinators away from natural habitats and food sources.

Contact Georgia MacMillan mayodarksky@gmail.com or 086 859 5166