Co-Created Public Engagement with Science – Phase I Evaluation Report

This by the project external evaluation partner presents findings from the first phase of the Co-Created Public Engagement with Science project (CC-PES). The CC-PES project has sought to bring together informal science education institutions, civic partners, and community partners to create forums that address socio-scientific issues that are important to audience being served. The project is designed to lead these collaborative teams through three key steps of public engagement with science: agenda setting (identifying the topic of interest and designing a forum to address it), decision making (convening the forum event), and policy-forming (taking an action step informed by the ideas shared in the forum). The external evaluation focused on documenting the co-creation process and how different teams approached it, collecting information on key elements of successful co-creation as well hurdles the team encountered. The report presents case studies of two teams and reflections on the meaning of co-creation that have emerged from this project.