Citizen Science, Civics, and Resilient Communities (CSCRC) Summative Evaluation Report

The Citizen Science, Civics, and Resilient Communities (CSCRC) project was a three-year project funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Environmental Literacy Program (NA18SEC0080008) and by the Museum of Science, Boston (MOS), in collaboration with Arizona State University, SciStarter, Northeastern University, and the National Informal STEM Education Network. The goal of the Environmental Literacy Program is to support “education programs that use NOAA science to promote stewardship and informed decision making.”

This project builds off prior work conducted for the Science Center Public Forums project (NA15SEC008005) where eight forums were held at different sites across the US related to four climate hazards (drought, sea level rise, extreme heat, and extreme precipitation). This project expanded the model to incorporate 23 sites across the US and paired the existing forum materials with citizen science activities with the goal of deepening learning and engagement around climate hazards, possible solutions, building community resilience, and policy.

To gauge the impact of these programs, a summative evaluation was conducted in 2021 by members of the MOS Research & Evaluation Department. Evaluators mentored each of the 23 sites to coordinate data collection logistics for each site's forum and citizen science events. Despite the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, findings indicate that the forums and citizen science programs were successful in increasing learning and engagement around climate resiliency topics. These results highlight the strength of the program’s forum materials and facilitator trainings, especially when paired with citizen science programming.