Compared to many other regions, Southeast Asia still lacks many astronomy infrastructures. Yet, the interest in astronomy is quickly emerging and many new advancements is being made in both facilities such as telescopes, planetariums, and the engagements with the public. The unique challenges each countries face in engaging with the public in an emerging countries often results in unique solutions that could be fundamentally different from those found in developed countries. However, one might find that these challenges and solutions might be more common with other countries in the region.

The Southeast Asia Planetarium, Education, and Outreach Conference (SEA-PEO) aims to bring together like-minded individuals around Southeast Asia to share their common struggles and solutions often find in the region. It has the goal to bring activities that are highly relevant to the cultural context, while introducing new ideas and making the region recognizing its own potential. This conference was held for the first time ever in November 25-28, 2024 and was met with overwhelming interest with applications from over 250 participants from over 24 countries within and outside of Southeast Asia. The overwhelmingly positive feedback from the participants highlight the needs for such conference where content are tailored with high adaptability and relevancy to the participants in mind. Moreover, this also advocate for conferences that directly address the cultural preference in Asia that might set itself apart from the western culture.