Planetarium friend of women: About us

Daria Dall'Olio is the project manager. Daria has a PhD in Astronomy from Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden. She is now a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Bologna, the INAF-Istituto di Radioastronomia, and Chalmers University, thanks to an international felloship from the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet). Her research concerns radioastronomy and star formation. She has won several international awards, including some for best oral presentation and best poster at professional astronomy conferences. Some of the illustrations she made are available in her portfolio. She is a member of the steering committee of the amateur astronomy association "ARAR" of Ravenna (Italy) and a long-time collaborator of the Planetarium of Ravenna, where she organised astronomy outreach events. With ARAR she won the Lara Albanese Prize for the best outreach project awarded by the Italian Planetaria Association (PlanIT). She is interested in Japanese culture and she is also a member of the steering committee of the Japanese-Italian cultural association "ASCIG" of Ravenna. Daria has created and leads several educational and outreach project, among them Costellazione Manga is the most famous. Moreover, she is a licensed guide of the natural environment, and thanks to this she was able to disseminate scientific culture also in the form of open-air activities and observations of the sky in natural parks.

Linea Rosa is a no profit organization to help women who have suffered or are suffering violence. They launched the “Ravenna Città Amica delle Donne” (Ravenna, city friend of women)project in 2013. Ravenna is considered the capital of mosaics, hosting famous UNESCO world heritage monuments of the old Byzantine era. This project wanted to bring the mosaics out of monuments and museums, enhancing a civil, courageous and forward-looking commitment in promoting the defence and support for women and their rights. For the commitment that ARAR have demonstrated, Linea Rosa honoured us with a special tile displaying “Planetario amico delle donne” (Planetarium friend of women, bringing the name of the project), bearing a star-flower in mosaic inspired by the Byzantine mosaics of the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia.

FIDAPA Ravenna section was founded 51 years ago by a group of women led by New Yorker Patricia Brown. Enterprising, enthusiastic, ready to have their say in what was then a decidedly chauvinist context, they spread their ideas, promoted initiatives, made themselves heard and received consensus. The characteristic of FIDAPA is to be an independent opinion movement; it is non-profit and pursues its objectives without distinction of ethnicity, language, religion and political opinions. Its main aims are to raise the status of women, remove all forms of discrimination against women in legal provisions and in the interpretation of customary law. It promotes women's access and participation in education, training, science and technologies, including the objective of promoting equal access to employment and productive resources by encouraging women to continue their efforts. The Ravenna section is part of FIDAPA BPW Italy, an association made up, in Italy, of approximately 10,000 members grouped into 300 sections. It is a member of the International Federation IFBPW (International Federation of Business and Professional Women). BPW International was founded in 1919, with the aim of promoting, coordinating and supporting the initiatives of women working in the fields of Arts, Professions and Business, independently or in collaboration with other bodies, associations and other entities. Since 1947, BPW has a long history of collaboration with the United Nations and in particular it is part of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) which deals with international and social cooperation and the protection of human rights. It also has important representatives in various commissions and agencies of the United Nations and especially in the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), established in 1946 as a mechanism to promote, evaluate and monitor issues relating to the political, economic, civil and social and educational rights of women.