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From her role leading the new Environmental Education department, environmental engineer Sofía Ramírez details the activities they are working on at the community level to restore the value of dark skies.

With extensive experience in environmental education initiatives at the community and municipal levels, environmental engineer Sofía Ramírez went from promoting activities related to energy efficiency, water sustainability, biodiversity, and flora and fauna observation to leading the new Environmental Education department at Fundación Cielos de Chile.

In this role, she is in charge of outreach and awareness-raising activities through which the foundation seeks to increase awareness of the problem of light pollution.

‘It has been quite a nice challenge. Although I am not from the world of astronomy, raising awareness as an environmental engineer about the negative impacts of light pollution motivates me a lot. I have a sense of vocation for the well-being and outreach to the community,’ she says.

Growing the Glowatch citizen science platform

In addition to being in charge of the foundation’s seminars, fairs and talks, one of her great challenges is to grow and build loyalty among the community of the Glowatch citizen science platform in order to expand its reach in the field and the foundation’s impact on the care of dark skies.

This tool, promoted by the foundation together with the Light Research Centre (CILUZ), the Centre of Excellence in Astrophysics and Related Technologies (CATA) and the Centre for Mathematical Modelling (CMM) at the University of Chile, allows people to detect and report cases of light pollution in their city via WhatsApp.

‘We do two walks a year, but people can report anytime, anywhere: just take a photo and add a description,’ she explains. The information received is used to build a registry of light pollution reports that can be viewed at glowatch.cl.

‘My experience has shown me that the community always wants to improve and seek collective well-being, and using this tool is a nice way to bring these issues closer to people,’ says Sofía.

The importance of dark skies in the school curriculum

Raising awareness about the importance of dark skies from an early age is another area that Sofía leads from the Environmental Education department.

In this context, she says, ‘since the foundation, we have been developing a curriculum to raise awareness about light pollution among the school community in the municipalities of Atacama and Coquimbo, near the site of one of the largest astronomical observatories in northern Chile.’

The content, she adds, is based on the topics of light and energy in the Ministry of Education’s curriculum.

For Sofía, the challenges never stop. At the same time, she is already beginning to plan an environmental education programme on light pollution and the importance of dark skies aimed at the general public, which could begin to be implemented in 2026.

‘Raising awareness among the public is extremely important, because they are the ones who today have the power to report or understand the issue of light pollution,’ she reflects.

For her, as a professional, the reward for promoting these initiatives is great: ‘I feel like it’s my grain of sand. I’m working for a better place with this grain of sand, and for me it makes perfect sense. It’s not a job that feels like a burden; on the contrary, it’s very rewarding.’