Indicators for the museum’s knowledge transfer: Development of an evaluation concept for the transfer activities of research museums at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin
Research museums in Germany have been following the call for an assessment of their transfer into society. Recently, several indicator sets have been developed to evaluate their various activities of knowledge exchange and innovation of science. Many of them have concentrated on the number of activities and reached audiences, while others have captured the spontaneous effects on target groups. However, a common method is lacking to show what societal effects the transfer activities of research institutions can have. This holds true especially at the institutional level.
The project on indicators at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin aims to develop such a concept for the museum. Ideally, it can serve as a blueprint for other research museums and institutions as well. The approach is to demonstrate the museum’s impact by its contributions towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN (SDGs). With the help of a logical framework model for the MfN and the theory of change, we can show that the output and outcome effects of the museum’s activities level a path for an impact towards reaching the SDGs. For this, we will develop specific indicators and impact narratives that will unfold the effects of the museum’s transfer activities on specific SDGs.
Project publications
Wiedemann, Julia/ Schmitt, Susanne/ Köller, Christoph/ Pinter, Josef (2020): Assessing the impact of the Museum für Naturkunde in terms of the Sustainable Development Goals - Mission (im)possible? AESIS Newsletter November 2020.
Funding
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)
DLR Projektträger