IBSA Foundation’s Museum Tour Arrives in Barcelona

At IBSA Iberia, we work to bring global Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives from IBSA Group and IBSA Foundation to Spain, adapting them to our local environment and creating a tangible impact in the communities where we operate, particularly in Barcelona, where our offices are located.

On 25 February, 100 students from the Istituto Italiano Statale Comprensivo di Barcelona visited the CosmoCaixa Science Museum. This activity was part of the Museum Tour, an initiative of the Let’s Science! project by IBSA Foundation for scientific research, which allows secondary school students to explore science beyond the classroom through free visits to leading museums

THE HYPATIA PROJECT: PREPARING FOR A JOURNEY TO MARS

Travelling to Mars remains one of humanity’s great yet unfulfilled dreams, a challenge that requires not only a suitable spacecraft but also a crew physically and mentally prepared for a journey of six to nine months.

At the CosmoCaixa auditorium, scientists Anna Sabaté Garcia and Ariadna Farrés Basiana introduced the students to the Hypatia project, which simulates a mission to Mars with an all-female crew in isolation and with limited resources, realistically demonstrating the challenges of space exploration. These simulations take place at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, USA, where two 14-day missions have already been completed and a third is planned for 2027. Hypatia Mars is an organization run by women that promotes space research and science communication. Its goal is to highlight female talent and inspire future generations.

OUR COMMITMENT TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY

One of the topics that captured the students’ interest most was space food. They learned that food must be freeze-dried and not crumble to preserve its nutritional properties and ensure the crew’s health in an environment where medical assistance is millions of kilometres away.

At the end of the session, students received goodie bags containing materials from the Let’s Science! collection, an educational initiative that brings science to young people through an innovative format combining scientific content and comics. The titles included The Microbiota, which clearly explains the importance of a balanced diet for overall wellbeing, and From Conception to Birth, which explores human development through an illustrated story set even in space. These books present scientific concepts in an accessible way, fostering interest in science and healthy habits, both for a hypothetical mission to Mars and for everyday life on Earth. You can read more about it here.

OUR COMMITMENT TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY

The Museum Tour joins other successful international initiatives that we have implemented locally, such as the IBSA Iberia Inclusive Sailing Academy. For the third consecutive year, we have renewed our support for the Escuela de Vela Adaptada de Sitges, enabling ten young people with disabilities to discover their potential at sea. This local programme forms part of IBSA Group’s global project, Sailing into the future. Together.