A school of thought states that the present age is characterized by low cultural vivacity, probably due to the role given to economy. There is a tendency to compare our age with the more critical Middle Age, hypothesizing the need of a recovery period similar to the 16th century Renaissance when, thanks to the enlighten action of families as de’ Medici, an important period of growth developed: arts registered an extraordinary vitality, culture regained essential principles of the classical Greek philosophy generating the modern science with precursors like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti and later Nicolò Copernico, Galileo Galilei.
After the growth due to industrialization and the increase of world population to some seven billions, the effects of the age of Enlightenment are over since its main ideological limit has been reached: the wrong assumption that the world is limited to the planet Earth.
Today, in the 21st century, we need a new vision of the world, a new renaissance, a Space Renaissance. The world goes beyond the planet Earth! In 20th century space era moved its first steps thanks to scientists and philosophers as Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Krafft Ehricke, Gerard O’Neill and others. They in fact generated the school of thought that we define Astronautical Humaninsm. The ideas they transmitted to posterity allow us to benefit of a period characterized by great scientific and technological progress. This period lacks only of resources and unifying vision to be able to transform the present world, as the Renaissance and the age of Enlightenment did with the Old World.
Without forgetting the great importance on earth life of technological fall outs coming from the conquest of space, the workshop aims to give an overview on main issues on the matter, assembling (note the use of a technical term) aspect of a theme that will ask for attention in the near future. In fact, the logical step from the use of Space just for research to a space (lower case this time) for the growth of mankind is not at all obvious. It is first of all a cultural challenge!
