When Do Climate Services Achieve Societal Impact? Evaluations of Actionable Climate Adaptation Science

Aparna Bamzai-Dodson, Renee A. McPherson
Posted on: 12/15/2022 - Updated on: 12/15/2022

Posted by

CAKE Team

Published

Abstract

To cope with complex environmental impacts in a changing climate, researchers are increasingly being asked to produce science that can directly support policy and decision making. To achieve such societal impact, scientists are using climate services to engage directly with stakeholders to better understand their needs and inform knowledge production. However, the wide variety of climate-services outcomes—ranging from establishing collegial relationships with stakeholders to obtaining specific information for inclusion into a pre-existing decision process—do not directly connect to traditional methods of measuring scientific impact (e.g., publication citations, journal impact factor).

In this paper, we describe how concepts from the discipline of evaluation can be used to examine the societal impacts of climate services. We also present a case study from climate impacts and adaptation research to test a scalable evaluation approach. Those who conduct research for the purposes of climate services and those who fund applied climate research would benefit from evaluation from the beginning of project development. Doing so will help ensure that the approach, data collection, and data analysis are appropriately conceived and executed.

Citation

Bamzai-Dodson, A., McPherson, R.A. (2022). When Do Climate Services Achieve Societal Impact? Evaluations of Actionable Climate Adaptation Science. Sustainability, 14, 14026. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142114026.

Affiliated Organizations

Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability, University of Oklahoma

Affiliated Organizations

Established in 2011, the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center (NC CSC) is a partnership between the US Geological Survey, the University of Colorado Boulder and five consortium partners. The NC CASC fosters innovative and applied research in support of tribal, federal, state, and local natural resource management and decision-making.

Established in 2012, the South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center provides decision makers with the science, tools, and information they need to address the impacts of climate variability and change on their areas of responsibility. The Center will transform how climate science is conducted and applied in the south-central United States. We support big thinking, including multi-institutional and stakeholder-driven approaches to assessing the impact of climate extremes on natural and cultural resources.