International Round Table on Science Communi­cation Evaluations

How does the status quo of evaluation in science communication differ around the world? To get an international perspective on the state of evaluation practices, current challenges and changes necessary for improvement, the Impact Unit conducted interviews with experts in research and practice around the world. The project ended with a presentation of the results and a round table discussion with all experts.

Among the discussed topics were 

• prioritising quality criteria for evaluation
• finding evaluation partners and the need for the right combination of expertise
• the need for validated evaluation tools from research
• context-related requirements for evaluation designs, and therefore, varying standards for evaluation depending on its goals
• the interdependencies between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for evaluation
• the need for a failure-positive culture that allows honest, constructive evaluations
• the need for establishing (ideally internationally) common vocabulary, especially when talking about ‘evaluation’, ‘impact’ and ‘science communication’
• the roles of practitioners and researchers in collaborative evaluation projects

The meeting offered valuable impulses for the Impact Unit’s development of tools and future networking events.