Nature Comment: Impact and Legacy of the XXXII IAU General Assembly

The XXXII IAU General Assembly, held for the first time on the African continent from 6–15 August 2024, marked a historic milestone in the global astronomy community. Hosted by the South African National Research Foundation through the African Astronomical Society, the conference was supported by several partners in Africa and elsewhere including the IAU OAD.

The OAD was deeply involved in the 32nd IAU GA, right from inception when a team led by Dr Vanessa McBride and Kevin Govender from the OAD won the bid to host the conference in South Africa. Since then, the OAD Director and Deputy Director chaired the national organising committee responsible for organising the IAU GA. They were supported by other team members in various aspects of organisation.

The IAU GA national organising committee has published a comment in Nature Astronomy describing the vision behind this massive endeavour, its impact and legacy, as well as the reaction from the astronomy community.

A second comment goes into detail how the IAU GA 2024 was envisioned and implemented as a fully hybrid and open-access conference. The technical setup is described separately in this article.