Supporting Science

Thanks so much for getting us over the line in style! It’s great that the highs and lows of the project can now be properly presented and give us real learning

About the work

Supporting Science was aiming to develop the citizen science infrastructure that supports the recording of moths and butterflies. It had three core parts. It provided updates to the Garden Butterfly Survey website to support individuals recording species. It created a training pathway to support people transitioning through the recording journey and it improved the tools available to County Recorders.

What we did

Butterfly Conservation initially planned for the Project Officer to complete the evaluation report. Our role was to support and coach the project so they had the right tools in place that would allow them to complete the evaluation report. As the project progressed the team decided to commission us to produce the final report. We focused much of our work on collecting feedback from participants. We were able to undertake the research 6 to 12 months after the activity had been completed. This gave us valuable insight about the long term changes that happened as a result of the funding.

The difference we made

The report helped capture the scope of the project. Importantly it helped showcase a diverse range of voices and opinions. For some, Supporting Science had not delivered what they wanted, but for many the improvements, training and developments had a hugely positive impact. We were able to showcase this range of experience. We could also highlight the hugely positive role user involvement had in helping the project move forward.