Executive Summary
To read the full report download here
As a nation and as a global society we have some major challenges ahead, especially in relation to climate, energy, water and the other finite resources of our planet. Now, more than ever we need our young people, and society more widely, to be inspired by environmental science and innovative new approaches and technologies that can make the world a better place.
The UK Association for Science and Discovery Centres is delighted to be working in partnership with the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) to create and deliver Phase 2 of ‘Operation Earth’, a national STEM programme which has Climate Change, environment, inclusion and communities at its heart. This programme follows on from the success of ASDC’s Operation Earth Phase 1, which engaged 201,639 children and adults, including 37,145 who met and discussed the latest research directly with environmental scientists.
For Operation Earth Phase 2, ASDC selected eight Science Centres across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to run this new programme. The project delivery was due to begin in communities just as the Covid-19 pandemic hit the UK in March 2020 which had a significant impact on the entire programme. In particular, the nation went into lockdown, and the Science Centres closed. Many remained shut for a year (the duration of this programme), with staff on furlough and widespread redundancies.
However, the Science Centres made astonishing efforts and pivoted their planned community events and hands-on activities to digital and blended delivery. They found innovative new approaches and new ways of working with communities to make up for the fact that neither the Science Centre staff nor the community groups were allowed to physically meet together for the majority of the year due to Covid-19 restrictions. Operation Earth Phase 2 began in early 2020 and completed in March 2021.
The Science Centres delivering Operation Earth worked in partnership with a total of 28 community groups, and together engaged with 5,239 people in communities who participated in their Operation Earth specific blended programmes. They engaged a further 85,959 people through various specific digital programmes highlighted in this report, making a total of 91,198. An additional 61,033 people interacted (briefly) through social media platforms. All together 152,231 people touched the programme at various levels of involvement. There is also an additional, but less well-defined social media reach of 126,500, taking the overall total to 339,764.
In partnership with ASDC, all the Science Centres redesigned their Operation Earth projects in the spring and summer of 2020, when it was clear the pandemic would prevent almost all the planned activities with community groups detailed in Science Centre’s original proposals. From this point on, all delivery pivoted to digital or blended (hands-on and remote (e.g. Earthy boxes and resources with foodbanks), or other non-contact delivery, combined with a digital component.
Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh partnered with the Young Carers community group in Edinburgh and created and sent out bespoke ‘Earthy Boxes’ (also known as STEM Care packages) to 36 families from the most deprived areas of the city (mainly the most deprived 40% on the SIMD) who were also facing additional and considerable challenges. Glasgow Science Centre worked in partnership with two local radio stations to engage with 14 different community groups in areas of deprivation, as well as creating activities within their Spark magazine, such as build your own Terrarium activity kits.
W5 in Belfast sent out bespoke Operation Earth activity packs through food banks to families and groups experiencing food poverty and other challenging socio-economic issues. Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, Xplore! In North Wales and the National Space Centre in Leicester worked with libraries, schools and community groups in some of the most socio-economically deprived areas of their regions and combined the Operation Earth kit with their own newly created Operation Earth-themed activity packs to run online workshops and activities with families and groups of children from some of their most deprived regions, including opportunities to meet and talk (virtually) with NERC researchers. Thinktank ran a hugely successful online event throughout the summer called the #BigBrumBioBlitz campaign, which 74,393 children and adults participated with via the BigBrumBioBlitz website, blogs and video animations.
ASDC and Operation Earth trained all the Science Centre staff at a 2-day Training Academy with a host of external speakers and experts. This received hugely positive evaluations from the Science Centre staff. Fourteen Science Centre staff from 7 Science Centre were trained on all aspects of the programme including running the activities, using and maintaining the equipment, finding the latest environmental science, especially climate change and earth observation, and a masterclass in diversity and inclusion, along with one in behavioural psychology and its vital importance to having conversations about climate.
Although we had selected 8 centres in March 2020, in autumn 2020, one member sadly had to relinquish their role as a delivery partner due to the impacts of Covid-19 and their consequent redundancies and restructuring. Their staff were trained, and they already had the equipment and expect to run many of the experiments and activities in the future when they re-open.
Overall, the programme trained 33 NERC researchers and scientists at ASDC’s bespoke Operation Earth Training Academy. Of those participating, 80% of researchers said the Training Academy was very successful or successful in increasing their confidence or ability to engage the public with environmental science. Some researchers told us they would like more time to network with the Public Engagement professionals from Science Centres (like it were an ‘in-person’ event). To help the researchers achieve this, and for the benefit of Science Centre staff, ASDC brought them together by organising two additional coffee morning events, where participants could talk in small groups. Further collaborations sprang from these.
The evaluation was light touch and was achieved in multiple practical ways outlined in the evaluation report. It focussed on the participants, the community groups and the staff. Overall, the results reveal the following:
- 87.5% of participants, following their family’s participation in Operation Earth, said they felt they all learned something about our climate or environmental science.
- 87.5 % of participants, thought it was very important that Scientists research our planet and climate.
- 62.5% said they now felt more interested in reading or finding out about the science around climate and the environment? The remainder were not sure.
- 75% said they and their family enjoyed the activities, with the remainder saying they didn’t know.
- 41 people took part in the Researchers Training Academy of which 33 were Environmental researchers.
- The results were overwhelmingly positive from both Training Academies (Science Centre staff and researchers) with great quotes showing how enthused and motivated they felt after the academy, and how it had increased their confidence to engage the public more.
- 100% said the Training Academy was successful in increasing their confidence and contacts to engage with their local science centre.
- 80% of researchers said the Training Academy was very successful or successful in increasing their confidence and/ or ability to engage the public with environmental science.
- We highlight we had evaluation forms returned in small numbers, as detailed in the full evaluation report. We have however also compared the results with other peoples quotes, and find them in harmony.
- Most UK hands-on interactive Science Centres plan to re-open to the public in mid-May 2021 when restrictions ease for the first time. They have all said they are keen to run Operation Earth content more in the future, and to ensure the legacy of Operation Earth continues.
- All the Phase 1 and 2 resources are on the updated website www.operationearth.co.uk
Through Operation Earth and ASDC’s pioneering delivery model, ASDC has created a step-change in the way Science Centres and Museums use and share the latest environmental science to engage the public and communities with the issues and challenges around Climate Change and the environment. This has been achieved by creating a highly inspirational, new and exciting national hands-on environmental science programme and training UK Science Centres and museums to deliver it with communities. Operation Earth is also building relationships with researchers who in turn are helping Science Centres to embrace more challenging topics around climate and navigate global environmental issues with members of the public who may initially have no interest, or feel climate change is not happening.
To read the full report download here