oeh citizen science communication strategy 2017-2020 · and partner organisations and have been...
TRANSCRIPT
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OEH Citizen Science Communication Strategy 2017-2020
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Contents
Introduction 1
Situation analysis 1
Priority target groups 2
Goals and Objectives 4
Key Messages 6
Citizen Science Communication Strategy overview 7
Tactics 8
Evaluation 12
References 13
Appendix 1. Target Group Analysis 14
Appendix 2: Baseline measurements for evaluation 24
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Introduction
Supporting OEH’s Citizen Science Strategy
OEH’s Citizen Science Strategy 2016-18 aims to drive a new era of public participation in science to support OEH decision-making.
The goals of the OEH Citizen Science Strategy are: 1. Determine what motivates the community and OEH to partner in Citizen Science 2. Make it easy for citizen scientists and OEH to share, document and view information and communicate online 3. Develop standard approaches and build capacity within OEH for high quality Citizen Science projects 4. Grow Citizen Science in OEH to address priority information gaps.
To ensure OEH reaches these goals, a communication strategy has been developed to guide the team in its engagement tactics with key target groups, recognising that “communication is more than just PR about Citizen Science projects, it is integral to the success of Citizen Science projects” (U1, 2015). This communication strategy will focus on how OEH raises the profile of its work in citizen science. It also recognises the integral role that communication with target groups plays in ensuring the success of Citizen Science projects and the program as a whole. This communication strategy will include:
● A situation and SWOT analysis of where OEH is currently ● Priority target groups and an understanding of their needs and appropriate messages
(Appendix 1) ● Goals and Objectives of the communication strategy ● Key Messages for internal and external groups ● An overview of the communication strategy ● Tactics tailored for each target group ● Budget for each of the tactics and miscellaneous communications expenses over 3
years ● Evaluation method for measuring the success of the communication strategy.
Situation analysis
Citizen Science has been identified by OEH as a potential growth area for the organisation. OEH Science Division has embarked on a journey to unlock the potential of citizen science to drive a new era in public participation in science to support OEH decision-making. For OEH, Citizen Science serves the dual purpose of gathering useful data to support decision-making and also the opportunity to engage the community in a meaningful way to participate in scientific research.
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The expected benefits of increased participation in Citizen Science include: ● A way for the organisation to raise awareness of a range of environmental and
heritage issues with NSW citizens ● Opportunities to engage positively with the public on these issues ● A solution to the knowledge gaps which have been identified in OEH’s scientific data
collection and processing. OEH is currently building its capacity and has increased staff resources to meet the demand of staff interested in incorporating Citizen Science into their projects. OEH has already undertaken several strategic pieces of work to help cement their position in this emerging field:
● OEH Citizen Science Position Statement 2016 ● OEH Citizen Science Strategy 2016-18 ● Market Research to understand what motivates the community to participate in
citizen science (Instinct and Reason, 2016) ● User experience research including interviews and surveys of staff and public users
of web pages and intranet to understand how this content could be improved and designed to meet their needs (Sandbox Company, 2016 and U1, 2015).
These pieces of work are based on extensive interviews with OEH staff, citizen scientists and partner organisations and have been used in combination with a 2-hour workshop conducted with the OEH Citizen Science team on the 9th February 2017 to provide insights for analysis and develop this communication strategy.
Priority target groups
The following target groups are listed by their current priority for OEH (Feb 2017). This order of priority recognises the importance of expanding the range of projects, the need to gain critical support and develop new long lasting partnerships and then to create a profile and position OEH on the national stage.
Partners and supporters
Organisations that OEH collaborates with or who OEH would like to collaborate with in Australia and internationally or who may fund Citizen Science initiatives.
● Universities and Research Institutions (Taronga Zoo, Royal Botanic Gardens, Australian Museum, Atlas of Living Australia/ CSIRO).
● Other organisations running citizen science projects - including those outside area of environmental science e.g. astronomy.
● MOU partners of OEH Science Division - UNE, UNSW, UTS, MQ, SIMs. ● Local Council Environmental groups/networks/ sustainability officers. ● Environmental NGOs (e.g. NCC, NPA, WWF, Landcare, Wentworth Group of
Scientists, and Bush Heritage Australia). ● Financial institutions, corporates with CSR programs, ethical businesses Australian
Ethical Investment, Future Super, Sustainable Business Australia members: IAG, KPMG, NAB etc.
● Professional bodies (e.g. Australian Citizen Science Association, Ecological Society of Australia, Inspiring Australia NSW, and IUCN).
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Internal OEH staff:
Segments of OEH staff that are critical for the success of the Citizen Science Strategy and delivery of Citizen Science projects.
● Staff and programs who may be interested or already running Citizen Science projects (Save Our Species, Private Land Conservation, Policy, Regional Operations, conservation officers, Volunteer programs in NPWS and Rangers).
● OEH CE and Executive team. ● OEH support services: IT, Brand Content and Design, Digital, NPWS Marketing,
Web, Public Affairs including internal communications, Education, Visitors Centres, Volunteer unit and Community Engagement who need to know about Citizen Science.
● Science Division SLT, Science Division staff and statisticians.
Potential Citizen Scientists
NSW community (aged 10-85yrs) interested in the environment, science and volunteering.
● Community groups – e.g. naturalist groups, scouts, youth clubs, bushwalkers, nature photographers, retirees, cyclists, OzGreen.
● School students and teachers, Environmental Education Centres. ● Readers/viewers of science/environmental minded media – National Geographic,
Australian Geographic, Bushwalking magazines, ABC, SMH, local papers and also mainstream media e.g. 7 news, social media channels - IFLS, Science Alert etc.
● Retired scientists. ● Environmental consultants. ● Members of environmental organisations and NGOs - NCC, NPA, WWF, Landcare,
Wentworth Group of Scientists, Bush Heritage Australia. ● Members of the public already participating in focus groups for OEH, EPA other NSW
Government agencies.
Government, policy makers and politicians
NSW State Government, Federal, other state and local government agencies (environment and education portfolios).Environment Minister
● Caroline McNally, Secretary DPE ● NSW Chief Scientist Mary O’Kane ● EPA CE - Barry Buffier ● Federal Environment Department ● Other NSW Government agencies -LLS, DPI, Education. ● Local Governments and LGNSW
Data Managers and users
● Atlas of Living Australia ● NSW BioNet ● Knowledge Manager ● Environmental Data Portal - NSW ● OEH and University scientists
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Goals and Objectives
Organisational context
OEH’s objective is to make sure that all Citizen Science undertaken or commissioned across OEH meets consistent standards and generates information that will be used by OEH to support decision-making. The vison is to drive a new era of public participation in science by developing collaborative projects that support decision-making and are engaging for the public. OEH supports Citizen Science as an exciting and innovative way of improving the scope and quality of information about the environment of New South Wales and to better engage and partner with the community. OEH is also part of a wider New South Wales, Australian and global community working in this field and will support and collaborate with projects and initiatives of mutual benefit (OEH Citizen Science Strategy, 2016 p.2).
Business Goals
OEH’s Citizen Science Strategy outlines 4 key goals: 1. Determine what motivates the community and OEH to partner in Citizen Science. 2. Make it easy for citizen scientists and OEH to share, document and view information and communicate online. 3. Develop standard approaches and build capacity within OEH for high quality Citizen Science projects. 4. Grow Citizen Science in OEH to address priority information gaps. This communication strategy will draw on these business goals to develop a set of three core communication goals and a set of SMART (specific, measurable, agreed, realistic, time-based) objectives by which to measure the success of this communication strategy over the next three years.
Communications Goals and Objectives
(See Evaluation p.16 and Appendix 2 for details on measuring these objectives.) Goal 1: Grow partnerships in Citizen Science within OEH and externally.
● Increase the number of internal partnerships on new Citizen Science projects by 10% within three years.
● Improve satisfaction of internal and external partners around communication of Citizen Science activities, opportunities and successes from ‘satisfied’ to ‘very satisfied’.
● Build at least four new partnerships with external organisations and secure one new sponsorship for major OEH Citizen Science projects over the next three years.
Goal 2: Develop awareness of OEH’s involvement in Citizen Science and increased participation in OEH’s Citizen Science projects.
● Increase number of interested citizen scientists in OEH’s database from <25 to 100 contacts in three years.
● Increase number participating citizen scientists by 30-40% across all OEH Citizen Science projects within three years.
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● Increase number of media/social media mentions about OEH Citizen Science by 30% over three years.
● Demonstrated timely two-way engagement and feedback given to participants about their contribution to a research project.
Goal 3: Make it easy for citizen scientists and OEH staff to share, document and view information and communicate online.
● Increase visitation numbers, user satisfaction, usability and time spent on OEH Citizen Science web pages and intranet pages within three years. This could be measured with web statistics and user surveys.
● New content including resources, project, event pages and project case studies added to OEH web and intranet pages.
● New communication channels for citizen scientists and partners to communicate with OEH (e.g. eNewsletters and increased use of OEH and partner social media) within three years.
Goal 4: Raise internal awareness around Citizen Science as a way to address priority information gaps and capacity in OEH staff target groups.
● Positive feedback captured from key internal stakeholders e.g. CEO and OEH Executive, project sponsors.
● Increase in the number of interested internal stakeholders in Citizen Science by 25% in three years.
● Increased support by scientists and target groups of Citizen Science as a valuable and rigorous tool to address priority information gaps. This could be measured via a survey at the beginning and end of the three year period.
● Increase number of OEH Citizen Science projects contributing to major OEH programs by 10%.
Goal 5: Establish OEH as a thought leader in Citizen Science nationally.
● Increase media mentions of OEH Citizen Science projects specifically quoting staff member from OEH by 25% within three years.
● Increased number of speaking/presentation opportunities for OEH staff to talk about citizen science at key conferences, workshops and events.
● Develop at least one key Citizen Science project per year that will attract national media coverage (ideally during National Science Week).
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Key Messages
Internal
Science Strategy Branch within Science Division leads the Citizen Science program for the agency. OEH has a Citizen Science Strategy and Position statement and it is a priority area for our division. The OEH Executive has endorsed it and aligns with OEH goals.
The Citizen Science Strategy and the success of our projects depends on the input from our support staff in OEH. They play a crucial role in helping us promote our projects to recruit citizen scientists and provide valuable information online.
Citizen Science is a legitimate field of inquiry and can produce meaningful results filling knowledge gaps and collecting data more easily and at a lower cost. It is also an innovative way to engage the community.
OEH has set a high benchmark for rigour in our Citizen Science projects, thus Citizen Science is only suitable for some projects. More information about designing a project or to find out about what is involved, contact the Citizen Science team or visit the intranet pages.
We have a set of new Citizen Science internal and external webpages and a comprehensive citizen science toolkit as an internal resource for staff.
External
Citizen Science is fun—get involved, learn something new in your local environment from the experts and make a difference to real science!
OEH is a leader in delivering rigorous Citizen Science projects that engage the community. We have a range of projects located across NSW and online resources available to suit the needs of anyone from school groups to individuals, retirees or kids with a passion for the environment.
The OEH website has the latest information on our upcoming citizen science events, how to get involved and how to get in contact with the OEH Citizen Science team.
OEH is a great partner in citizen science projects. We communicate and collaborate openly and work hard to ensure our projects deliver mutual benefits for all partners.
We have access to a division of scientists to help deliver scientific expertise and rigour to our projects. As a Government agency, our point of difference is the data we collect as part of our Citizen Science projects will be made available publicly and throughout the agency and used to inform decision-making.
We are passionate about Citizen Science and have the capacity to deliver exciting projects that can have a big impact.
OEH is making the data from our Citizen Science projects available to data users such as NSW government agencies, researchers, app developers, environmental consultants and the community.
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Citizen Science Communication Strategy Overview
Sustainable partnerships
Grow partnerships with Government, NGOs, NFP, corporate, community groups, research bodies and institutions.
Find new sponsors – ethical organisations and those looking for Citizen Science initiatives.
Leverage partner networks for marketing OEH Citizen Science projects.
Formalise strategic partnerships through MOUs / media announcements and create value proposition for organisations.
Go for growth
Capacity building for staff e.g. Tool kits and resources to help staff establish new projects and find funding.
Demonstrate, though stories of success, the value of Citizen Science e.g. filling knowledge gaps, delivering rigour and community engagement outcomes.
Build a shared understanding of the OEH Citizen Science Strategy and motivate key groups to help us grow OEH Citizen Science.
Raise profile with key stakeholders OEH Exec, CE, secretary DPE and Minister.
Stand out from the crowd
Seek opportunities for speaking engagements
Leverage and seek out media opportunities for OEH to be quoted as an expert in citizen science.
Set the benchmark for best practice Citizen Science projects (rigorous and engaging that reach large audience) and provide guidance to others.
Be a thought leader in the Citizen Science community by taking opportunities to put OEH at the table, publish and share our research and connect and network with those that matter.
Spread the word
Make our online presence shine (fresh and visual content, easy to navigate and find what’s on, sign up and get alerts, find resources.)
Explore new communication channels that meet the needs of our citizen scientists.
Understand our citizen scientists through digital marketing and CRM
Communicate value and outcomes of collected data from Citizen Science projects
Point people to where they can find our Citizen Science data. (e.g. ALA, BioNet, Environmental Data Portal)
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Tactics
The table below sets out the action plan for each of the communication tactics identified in Appendix 1. Target Group Analysis. To assist the OEH Citizen Science team, the actions in this table have been prioritised to address the most important target groups and those activities that can be feasibly achieved within the resource and budget constraints.
Target audiences
Action People Responsible Deadline Resources needed Time
needed
Partners and Sponsors
Develop partnership prospectus and pitch presentation
Lead: Erin Roger
Consult: KM team
Approval: Jo White
September 17 - Content - Designers - Images - Printing
8-10 weeks
Develop simple partnership agreement form Lead: Citizen Science team
Consult: Science Coordinator - MOUs, Knowledge Manager
Approval: Jo White
September 17 - Example
partnership agreements
12 weeks
Set Face-to-face meetings with existing and new partners
Lead: Citizen Science team Consult:
Approval: Not required
Ongoing – as required
- Meeting rooms - Travel if necessary
2 weeks for scheduling
6 weeks + to have meetings
Scope and mock up eNewsletter format – design using Campaign Monitor or Mail Chimp
Lead: Geetha Ortac and Patrick Tegart Consult: Internal Comms, Science Communicator
Approval: Jo White
November 17 - Database of citizen science contacts including list of partners and internals
2 months to plan and mock up
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Internal Staff
Intranet resources Lead: Patrick Tegart Consult: Internal Comms, Science Communicator
Approval: Jo White
Ongoing – key resources online by December 2017
- Case studies - Best practice
information - Links to social
research
12 plus months
Refresh Yammer Group Lead: Citizen Science team will take it in turns
August 17 - Content schedule
2x week
2 weeks planning content schedule
Briefing notes Lead: Erin Roger Consult: SD Exec Officer
Approval: As required
TBA
Set up internal briefings – Face to face and Skype meetings
Lead: Erin Roger Consult: As required
Approval: As required
September 17 - Book meeting
rooms - Email invitations - Presentation - Simple Evaluation
4 weeks planning
Internal news stories Lead: Citizen Science Team Consult: Internal Comms, Science Communicator
Approval: Jo White
Ongoing – at least 2 articles/quarter
- Regular pipeline of Citizen Science stories from projects
2 days
Potential Citizen Scientists
Improve website content
Lead: Erin Roger Consult: Web Team, Science Communicator
Approval: Jo White
On going Project content ad information as required
3-6 months
Media
Lead: Citizen Science team Consult: Science Communicator, Public Affairs
Approval: Jo White, Kate Wilson
On a project basis
- Content written and approved through PA process
Ongoing 6-8 weeks prior to release
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Social Media
Lead: Citizen Science team Consult: Science Communicator, Public Affairs
Approval: Public Affairs
On a project basis and to highlight achievements & partnerships
- Content written and approved
2-3 days’ notice
Citizen Science eNewsletter
eNewsletter see above in partners and sponsors
half yearly or quarterly depending on resources and content
- Staff to contribute articles on their projects
1 week to put together
Post-project mail chimp emails to citizen scientists
Lead: Citizen Science team Consult: Internal Comms, Science Communicator
On a per project basis
- Information from project leads about what is happening with the data.
- Photos
1 week
eNewsletter/ online stories in partner publications
Lead: Erin Roger Consult: As required
Approval: As required
Ongoing depending on projects
- Find relevant publications e.g. Teachers newsletters, Environmental NGOs newsletters.
Ongoing depending on project
Paid online advertising e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Outbrain on news articles for citizen science recruitment. Paid promotional material for conference bags and project launches
Lead: Erin Roger Consult: NPWS Marketing, Digital
Approval: As required
As needed for projects or
Towards 2nd or 3rd Year once CRM is in place to capture interest.
- Advice from NPWS
- Designers to create ads
Time will vary depending on each campaign – roughly 6 weeks per campaign
Government, policy makers and politicians
Face to Face Briefings/Meetings with Kate Wilson
Lead: Erin Roger Consult: Jo White
Approval: Kate Wilson
February 18 - List of key targets - Time in Kate’s
diary
3months + depending on how many
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meetings are required
Scope Citizen Science Symposium –for NSW Government
Lead: Erin Roger
Consult: Admin and PAs, SD Exec Officer
Approval: Jo White and Kate Wilson
December 17
- Venue hire - Catering - MC - Invitations
3months + planning
Data Managers and Users
Face to Face or Skype Briefings
Lead: Erin Roger Consult: Angela McCormack
March 18 - Examples of
Citizen Science data that will be transferred into data portal.
- Contacts for key data managers internally and externally
Over 3 months
Web content about what data is available and how to access OEH Citizen Science data.
Lead: Erin Roger Consult: James Bibby
Approval: As required
Dependant on when Citizen Science data is made available
- Information on where OEH Citizen Science data is available
2 months
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Evaluation
Evaluation plays an important role in measuring the success of the OEH Citizen Science Communication Strategy. In addition to an overall evaluation piece each Citizen Science project should be responsible for measuring and evaluating the success of their communication plans.
The key areas for evaluation for the OEH Citizen Science Communication Strategy are to measure the success of the goals and objectives and the tactics. To adequately measure the outcomes of the strategy some key baseline information will need to be gathered at the start in order to compare the progress in three years’ time. See Appendix 2 for details on key measurables and how to collect this baseline data.
While evaluation can be a time consuming task for communications, it is suggested that a simple one page summary plus the use of the Logic Model is used a simple yet effective approach to organise the monitoring and evaluation data from the goals and objectives and tactics. The Logic Model has already been used successfully to evaluate the OEH Citizen Science Strategy and outlines the Inputs, Activities, Outputs, Impact and Outcomes of the strategy.
INPUTS (what we invested)
ACTIVITIES
(What we did)
OUTPUTS (What the
deliverables were)
IMPACT
Indicator
OUTCOMES (measured
after 3 years +)
Goal 1:
Goal 2:
Goal 3:
Goal 4:
Goal 5:
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References
Instinct and Reason (2016), OEH Citizen Science Strategy Understanding Motivations, 19th December.
OEH (2016), Citizen Science Strategy 2016-2018, http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/research/150859-citizen-science-strategy.pdf
OEH (2015) Citizen Science Position Statement, http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/research/citizen-science-position-statement.pdf
Sandbox Company (2016), Citizen Science eHub & Toolkit outcomes and recommendations.
U1 (2015), Citizen Science Final report and recommendations, May 2015
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Appendix 1. Target Group Analysis
1. Partners and supporters
Who?
Organisations that OEH collaborates with or who OEH would like to collaborate with in Australia and internationally or who may fund citizen science initiatives.
● Universities and Research Institutions (Taronga Zoo, Royal Botanic Gardens, Australian Museum, Atlas of Living Australia/ CSIRO)
● Other organisations running citizen science projects - including those outside area of environmental science e.g. Astronomy
● MOU partners of OEH Science Division - UNE, UNSW, UTS, MQ, SIMs ● Local Council Environmental groups/networks/ sustainability officers. ● Environmental NGOs (NCC, NPA, WWF, Landcare, Wentworth Group of Scientists,
Bush Heritage Australia.) ● Financial institutions, corporates with CSR programs, ethical businesses Australian
Ethical Investment, Future Super, Sustainable Business Australia members: IAG, KPMG, NAB etc.)
● Professional bodies: Australian Citizen Science Association, Ecological Society of Australia, Inspiring Australia NSW – Jackie Randles, IUCN.
● Save Our Species
Why?
What they need from communication?
Clear understanding of the partnership or sponsorship agreement including roles and responsibilities, contributions by each organisation, financial commitment, project and communication timelines, staffing, branding, PR/ marketing strategy including who will be the lead organisation.
Clear value proposition to their organisation including list of benefits that demonstrates how the citizen science project is a good match and meets their needs for example; funding, access to scientists, data, branding opportunity or an innovative engagement opportunity for their members.
Assurance that OEH will deliver a best practice citizen science project that meets rigour and engagement objectives.
The opportunity to stay up to date on current and upcoming OEH citizen science projects and potentially network with other organisations.
Objective Relevant Goal
To increase OEH’s available pool of resources (funding, people and technology) enabling our projects to be more efficient and sustainable for many years.
Goals 1, 3
To increase OEH’s relevance in citizen science. Goals 4, 5
To deliver greater impact, reach more citizen scientists. Goals 2, 3
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What does OEH wish to convey?
OEH is a leader in delivering rigorous citizen science projects that engage the community. Partnering with OEH will be valuable to your organisation.
OEH is a great partner in citizen science projects. We communicate and collaborate openly and work hard to ensure our projects deliver mutual benefits for all partners.
We have three passionate staff working in our citizen science team that have experience delivering a broad range of highly successful citizen science projects on time and to budget.
We have access to a division of scientists to help deliver scientific expertise and rigour to our projects. As a Government agency our point of difference is the data we collect as part of our citizen science projects will be made available publically and throughout the agency and can potentially help influence policy decisions.
These are some of the exciting projects we have worked on with previous partners….. and here is our current list of priorities including a list of opportunities where we are looking for new partners.
Here is a clear proposal of how we would like to partner with your organisation and an outline of key time frames, budget, resources, roles and responsibilities and branding opportunities as well as thoughts about how we would announce and promote the project.
We are passionate about citizen science and have the capacity to deliver exciting projects that can have a big impact.
How?
1. Face-to-face meetings with existing and new partners and seeking speaking opportunities - Set meetings to discuss existing partnerships (e.g. Australian Museum, ALA) with the
aim to formalise these through the signing of a partnership agreement to make them clearer particularly around deliverables, payment terms, branding and PR.
- Set meetings with target partner organisations with the aim of securing partnerships or sponsorship on new or existing citizen science projects. These will aim to secure funding, and leverage social media channels and network of potential citizen scientists.
- Speaking opportunities at conferences or Chief Scientist breakfast.
Monitoring and evaluation: Feedback from partner meetings, funding secured, marketing opportunities in partner publications and social media channels. 2. Partnership Prospectus, pitch presentation and simple partnership agreement
form. - Designed PDF and PowerPoint slide deck to be used at meetings and online that
outlines OEH citizen science mission, vision, goals, examples of projects, priority areas, what we can offer, opportunities and benefits of partnering with OEH.
- Performa partnership agreement form outlining project dates, roles and responsibilities, timelines and deliverables, payment terms, data sharing, branding and PR.
Monitoring and evaluation: Feedback from partner meetings, number of prospectus handed out and number of new partners or formal partners
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3. eNewsletter - eNewsletter highlighting results from projects, upcoming citizen science projects,
videos, interesting articles, latest from citizen science research.
Monitoring and evaluation: Open rates, link clicks, emails and anecdotes from partners.
4. Citizen Science Symposium – Sydney (initially NSW Government with some guest
speakers) - Small breakfast event aimed at how Government agencies can use citizen science to
fill knowledge gaps and improve engagement with the community (DPI, LLS, Australian Museum, Sydney Water, RBG, EPA, Taronga etc.) sharing what we are doing in citizen science, social research results and how they can get started themselves and how they can partner with us.
2. Internal OEH staff
Who? Segments of OEH staff who are critical for the success of the OEH Citizen Science strategy and delivery of citizen science projects. Staff who provide a supporting role to OEH citizen science
IT, Brand Content and Design, Digital, NPWS Marketing, Web, Public Affairs including internal communications, Education, Visitors Centres, Volunteer unit and Community Engagement who need to know about citizen science.
OEH CE & Executive team
Science Division SLT, Science Division staff and statisticians
Staff and programs who may be interested or already actively running Citizen Science projects
Science Division SLT, Science Division staff and statisticians
Save Our Species, Private Land Conservation, Policy, Regional Ops, conservation officers, Volunteer programs in NPWS and Rangers.
Why?
Staff who provide a supporting role to OEH citizen science
Objective Relevant Goal
To inform them of the citizen science strategy and position statement and its importance to Science Division and alignment to OEH goals.
Goal 4
To ensure the smooth delivery of citizen science projects by reducing delays and road blocks.
Goal 3
To maximise the visibility and reach in the community of OEH’s citizen science projects.
Goal 2
To acknowledge their contribution, advice and a shared understanding of their position and restraints.
Goal1, Goal 4
To help clarify their roles and responsibilities around promotion and branding of citizen science projects and how imperative this is to the success of the projects.
Goal 1
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Staff and programs that may be interested or already actively running citizen science projects
What they need from communication?
Staff who provide a supporting role to OEH citizen science
Clear timelines and briefs with plenty of advance notice
Clarity on the project including key questions such as who’s involved, how it aligns to OEH’s goals, who has been briefed, when will it be available for the community to participate in etc.
Staff and programs that may be interested or already actively running citizen science projects
Evidence that citizen science projects are effective (e.g. peer reviewed papers, research findings, results from past projects, anecdotes from other staff that have had success).
An understanding of what’s involved from their end e.g. how much time they need to commit?, where do they get funding from?, what technology do they need?, is their project suitable?, how reliable will the data be?, where can they go for help?
What does OEH citizen science team wish to convey?
Science Strategy Branch within Science Division has been tasked with driving Citizen Science for the agency. OEH has a Citizen Science Strategy and Position statement and it is a priority area for our division. The OEH Executive has endorsed it and aligns with OEH goals.
The Citizen Science Strategy and the success of our projects (many of which have had significant investment from major programs) depends on the input from our support staff in OEH. You play a crucial role in helping us promote our projects to recruit citizen scientists and provide valuable information in a timely manner.
Here is a brief overview of the project, who’s involved, key dates, approvals and when we will need your input and assistance. What can we do to best work with you to ensure this is delivered on time?
Citizen science is a legitimate field of inquiry and can produce meaningful results and information. We have published several journal articles in this field including…
Citizen Science can help you fill knowledge gaps and collect rigorous data easily and at a lower cost. It is also an innovative way to engage the community. Examples of successful projects include…
Because of the high benchmark OEH has set for rigour, and our focus on the knowledge strategy, citizen science is only suitable for some projects. For more information about designing a project or to find out about what is involved, contact the citizen science team or visit the intranet pages.
Objective Relevant Goal
To inform them of the citizen science strategy and its importance to Science Division and alignment to OEH goals.
Goal 2, 4
To demonstrate that citizen science projects are valuable and worthwhile and can fill knowledge gaps for OEH whilst delivering rigour and engagement outcomes.
Goal 2
To create ensure OEH has a healthy pipeline of citizen projects
Goal 1, 2
To create awareness of citizen science team, intranet resources and where they can go for help.
Goal 3, 4
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We have a set of new citizen science external webpages and will soon be launching a comprehensive citizen science toolkit as an internal resource for staff.
How?
1. Briefings – Face to face, Skype meetings and briefing notes. - Face to face and Skype briefing sessions for support staff groups, potential project
coordinators and science division staff. - A briefing note to key exec within OEH including new CE.
Monitoring and evaluation: Track new enquiries from staff and the team’s response in a spread sheet as a record to show interest in citizen science. Number of attendees to briefings and their feedback about how much they understand about OEH’s involvement in citizen science. Verbal feedback from the Exec and Minister via Kate Wilson.
2. Intranet and Internal News
- New and engaging intranet content available to staff including resources and toolkit for running a citizen science project.
- Regular news articles on OEH intranet homepage tagged to the appropriate internal groups.
- Articles for internal staff newsletters, annual report on successful projects. Monitoring and evaluation: Number of new intranet pages and their web stats, number of news articles for OEH intranet, newsletters and annual report. 4. Build a highly engaged Yammer group
- Regular updates on Yammer once per week or more. Content could include a pipeline of content jointly managed by citizen science team e.g. ask questions, updates on projects, photos, information about upcoming briefing sessions, yam jams on particular topics, latest news, papers and articles from citizen science community.
Monitoring and evaluation: Ask the internal communications team to run ‘member’ engagement stats on the Yammer group before and after implementation of this communication strategy this will include active users, posters, commenters etc. Number of posts by citizen science team and growth in the number of group members should also be tracked.
3. Potential Citizen Scientists
Who?
Members of the general public interested in science and the environment (Fan boys and fan girls - 23% of the population that are very enthusiastic about science and technology).
Community groups – naturalist groups, environmental social media groups, scouts, youth clubs, bushwalkers, nature photographers, retirees, cyclists, OzGreen.
School students and teachers, Environmental Education Centres.
Readers/viewers of environmental minded media – National Geographic, Australian Geographic, Bushwalking mags, ABC, SMH, Local papers and also mainstream media 7 news
Retired scientists
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Members of environmental organisations (e.g. Landcare and Bushcare groups)
Curricula developers
Tertiary students
Why?
What they need from communication?
Acknowledgement for the work they’ve contributed to citizen science projects.
Notification of upcoming citizen science projects and/or events relevant to their interests.
Benefits from getting involved in citizen science (versus any risks).
Opportunities to get involved easily for school groups.
Outcomes from their data collection and monitoring efforts.
Opportunities to network and meet scientists or potential employers, particularly for tertiary level students.
Opportunities to undertake further training to build capacity and other skill sets.
What does OEH wish to convey?
OEH has a range of projects located across NSW and online resources available to suit the needs of anyone from school groups to individuals, retirees or kids with a passion for the environment.
The OEH website has the latest information on our upcoming citizen science events, how to get involved and how to get in contact with the OEH Citizen Science team
Citizen science is fun—get involved, learn something new in your local environment from the experts and make a difference to real science!
Citizen Science provides you with the chance to contribute to real science projects and meet real scientists.
Thanks for participating in our citizen science project. Here is some information about how you have made a difference and where the research is up to.
OEH wants to hear from you to learn more about why you want to participate in Citizen Science and what would make you want to contribute to future projects.
Nature conservation is everyone’s responsibility and through citizen science we can all make a difference.
How?
1. Improve website content - Refresh Citizen Science landing page make sure it is in plain English written for
potential citizen scientists. - Create easy to navigate events listing/ calendar and map to help people locate
Objective Relevant Goal
To promote awareness of OEH’s involvement in citizen science and citizen science more broadly
Goal 2, 3, 5
To increase participation in OEH citizen science activities. Goal 2
To improve our understanding about what motivates citizen scientists to participate in projects and what communications they’d like to receive.
Goal 2
To provide opportunities for the public to contribute and receive feedback on the data they collect and its impact on flora and fauna conservation in NSW.
Goal 2
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events. - Add mail chimp EOI form to capture interested citizen scientists and start building
database even before OEH’s preferred CRM is available. Monitoring and evaluation: Review website analytics (frequency?) to see how many people view the page and click the other Citizen Science links. Number of people completing the EOI form. Number of people who have completed the EOI connected to OEH Citizen Science project or signed up to participate.
2. eNewsletter and post-participation emails
- OEH Citizen Science eNewsletter highlighting results from projects, upcoming citizen science projects, videos, interesting articles, where your data has gone? - latest from citizen science research.
- Tailored HTML mail chimp email with colourful photos thanking participants for being involved and providing an update on how the information is being used.
Monitoring and evaluation: Open rates, link clicks, number of subscribers, number of issues per year (2/year), number of click throughs from partner newsletters to OEH website.
3. Leverage OEH and our partner’s owned media channels e.g. web, eNewsletters blogs, social media to reach potential Citizen Scientists. - Short articles or posts about Citizen Science projects on OEH owned channels (e.g.
NPWS Naturescapes Newsletter, Education newsletters, NPWS blog, OEH twitter and Instagram) with a direct call to action – e.g. sign up to a project, visit the OEH website and sign up to find out more.
- Short articles or posts about Citizen Science projects on partner or potential partner eNewsletters, websites, blogs and social media to reach a much broader audience.
- These posts/articles on partner channels should be specifically tailored for the audience and the project being promoted but could focus more broadly on OEH’s offering. Either focus on joint projects or opportunities of direct interest to their members/subscribers e.g. post on Australian Museum blog about OEH Digivol project, post designed for Scouts Australia internal webpage to promote a potential project to regions in the NSW chapter. An article written for NSW Science Teachers Association eNewsletter with a link to classroom resources.
- Investigate using custom URLs that can track the number of referrals from partner channels when doing a big marketing push for a project.
Monitoring and evaluation: link clicks through to OEH website, number of EOIs, project signups. To be monitored for each project’s communication strategy. 4. Paid online advertising and content marketing to recruit citizen scientists
- Ads on Facebook, Instagram, Outbrain to attract potential volunteers to sign up as citizen scientists with OEH.
- Campaign should be set with a defined timeline either 6 weeks or more before a project start to recruit citizen scientists or a general drive to build the database of interested citizen scientists.
Monitoring and evaluation: Click through rates, web traffic, conversion rates (i.e. how many people sign up to the OEH citizen science database.)
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4. Government, policy makers and politicians
Who?
Environment Minister
Caroline McNally, Secretary DPE
NSW Chief Scientist Mary O’Kane
EPA CE - Barry Buffier
Federal Environment Department- including Minister for Industry,
Innovation and Science - Arthur Sinodinos
Other NSW Government agencies -LLS, DPI, Education.
Local Government
Why?
What they need from communication?
To be provided with evidence of the value (data collection, monetary, papers published) and scientific rigour of citizen science at OEH.
Potential outreach of citizen science and social value (scientific literacy, skill development)
What does OEH wish to convey?
Citizen science by the numbers = results in real terms cost savings, efficiencies, new data for important projects and engagement outcomes. This could include: projects, volunteers, milestones/achievements, external partners,
OEH’s position on Citizen Science and position as an emerging thought leader in this space (citizen science strategy, citizen science position statement, OEH citizen science website)
OEH is a great partner for your citizen science projects.
Citizen science can make important contributions to society, science and policy.
How?
1. Face to Face Briefings/Meetings with Kate Wilson - Create an updated slide pack on Citizen Science for Kate’s meetings with the new
Minister, DPE Secretary, Mary O’Kane and relevant Government agency science heads.
- Explore options with Kate about setting up specific strategic meetings with key
Objective Relevant Goal
To demonstrate how citizen science initiatives can meet the priorities of governments (e.g. filling knowledge gaps, cost effective and reliable data collection at a large scale and community engagement.)
Goal 4
To secure funding and support for citizen science from NSW Government.
Goal 1
To showcase OEH as a key thought leader and a valuable organisation to partner with in NSW citizen science initiatives
Goal 1, 5
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targets to discuss collaboration around Citizen Science.
Monitoring and evaluation: Feedback from meetings.
2. Citizen Science Symposium – Invitation only breakfast briefing/workshop for NSW Government agencies/ plus MOU university partners.
- Invite key contacts in NSW/Fed Government agencies to small breakfast event aimed at OEH to hear about what OEH has achieved with our partners in Citizen Science and discuss how our agencies could collaborate on this important area and what type of areas of overlap in the knowledge strategy that might be ideal to explore for new projects and possible sustainable funding models.
Monitoring and evaluation: Potential leads generated for joint projects, feedback from invited guests.
5. Data Managers and users:
Who?
● Atlas of Living Australia ● NSW BioNet ● Global Biodiversity Information Facility ● OEH Science Knowledge Manager ● Environmental Data Portal – NSW ● OEH IT staff ● OEH scientists ● University scientists ● OEH Policy division ● Other NSW government agencies e.g. LLS
Why?
What they need from communication?
Certainty that the data will be in the correct format including appropriate metadata so it can be loaded into various data portals.
Certainty that the data is reliable and an estimate of its quality and rigour.
Clear information about what projects are coming up what data will be available and when.
What obligation do scientists have to supply data from their projects? How do they need to supply data after a project has finished and when? Who do they speak to?
Objective Relevant Goal
To ensure data collected from OEH citizen science projects is managed, stored, secure and.
Goal 3
To ensure OEH citizen science data is open and accessible to researchers, developers and members of the public.
Goal 1, 3
To build support for the rigour of citizen science data and its application for scientific analysis and policy decision-making.
Goal 4
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What does OEH wish to convey?
OEH’s Citizen Science projects have been designed with rigour in mind and the data from each project should be reliable enough to use for research and policy decision making in combination with other sources.
It is important that the investment OEH has made in Citizen Science projects is realised through the availability of this data for data users such as NSW government agencies, researchers, app developers, environmental consultants and the community.
The OEH Citizen Science team is happy to work with environmental data managers to ensure we can supply data that meets your needs.
How?
1. Face to Face or Skype Briefings - - Speak to OEH Knowledge Manager to first seek advice - Set up meeting with the key data management stakeholders in OEH e.g.
Environmental Data Portal, BioNet etc. and with external stakeholders including ALA, GBIF.
- Discuss the types of data that will be created and the best ways to ensure this data is incorporated into these portals and what they need.
Monitoring and evaluation: Feedback from meetings, Number of Citizen Science project data sets loaded into OEH and other data portals and made accessible.
2. Web content - Create a web content page that discusses where the data from OEH citizen science
projects ends up, who can use the data and where people can go to find and download the data.
- Write some short pieces for the new Environmental Data Portal home page about new citizen science data and how it can be used.
- Write articles for ESA website or Facebook page and Environmental Consultants Associations to let ecology researchers know about the availability of new data sets as they come online.
Monitoring and evaluation: Web stats from pages and click throughs to data download pages on the Environmental Data Portal or BioNet. Talk to ALA about how best to monitor data
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Appendix 2: Baseline measurements for evaluation
Goals Key Measurable Measurement tool
1. Partnerships No. Internal partnerships on each citizen science project
Analyse list of current projects and name partners on each.
Satisfaction of partners (internal and external)
Survey monkey -
1. How are you involved with citizen science at OEH – drop down options 2. Are you internal or external to OEH 3. Name business unit or organisation 4. How satisfied are you with level of communication around OEH Citizen Science
activities? Likert Scale from Very Satisfied, Satisfied, Neither, Dissatisfied to Very Dissatisfied
5. Previous surveys showed most partners would like to receive updates via email how often would you like to hear from us?
No. external partnerships Create list of external partnerships in Excel – categorise as active (we have a current project with them)or developing (looking to work together in the future)
2. Awareness and Participation
No. citizen scientists we currently have the details of in a excel or central database
Look for any existing lists estimate number.
No. participating citizen scientists Email or survey project coordinators to send details of estimates of active participants in their projects. Add to a spreadsheet to estimate total.
No. Media mentions in 12 months Ask Science Communicator to do a search through iSentia for all media coverage related to OEH citizen science projects. Estimate for last 12 months as a baseline.
No. Projects giving two way feedback to participants on their contribution
Email or survey project coordinators asking if they currently give feedback to citizen scientists about their contributions after they participate and in what time frames.
3. Share, Document and
Web visitation statistics
Request baseline web statistics from web team
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View information and communicate online
User satisfaction and useability of web pages
- number visitors per year to citizen science pages - number unique visitors - how long they spend on page - bounce rate
From consultant reports
No. new pages added to OEH website and Intranet
List new pages added and their web stats
4. Raise internal awareness of Citizen Science
Positive feedback from internal stakeholders
Keep email folder of emails from partners, project sponsors, Kate and any OEH executive with positive feedback to use for quotes and anecdotes.
No. Internal stakeholders in Citizen Science
Build list of current interested internal stakeholders – A good measureable may be number of Yammer members in Citizen Science Group or a excel list.
Increased support by scientists for citizen science
Survey of a sample of OEH scientists and staff about their thoughts about Citizen Science as a valuable tool for addressing information gaps
No. OEH citizen science projects contributing to major programs
List current projects contributing to major programs.
5. OEH as a Thought Leader in Citizen Science
No. media mentions of OEH staff in citizen science articles
Ask Science Communicator to help pull list from iSentia or simply list articles from the past 12 months.
No. speaking/presentation opportunities
Ask Citizen Science Team to list their speaking engagements and presentations over the past 12 months.
No. media clips for major citizen science project.
Full media report on Wildlife spotter 2016/17 as a baseline for future major citizen science projects.