Main challenges in evaluation

Evaluation and impact assessment in Citizen Science is faced with issues such as: 

• timing and budgeting: projects often do not plan enough time and resources for evaluation & impact assessment; we should not underestimate the resources needed for evaluation and impact assessment.
• defining and applying the appropriate methods: evaluation and impact assessment have to be considered from the very beginning and it can be seen as a useful planning tool. 
  
• choosing appropriate tools for data collection and analysis: many ways of collecting and analysing data; often a mix of qualitative and quantitative data is a good choice to understand the breadth and depth of citizen science activities.
•  showing impact, especially societal impact, during limited project periods: effects often show up only later, even after the projects have already finished; creating logic connections are sometimes useful.
• engaging all relevant stakeholders in the process: some stakeholders may be easy to forget (or ignore) as they might be difficult to engage, they may not be in favor of a certain intervention. But for the sake of a successful project implementation and an appropriate impact assessment the different stakeholder views are important to consider. Creating ownership across the stakeholders may also be a challenge, but may be rewarding later in the process. 
• other challenges: there may be many more challenges you can come across during your project implementation. Please share them as much as you can with others, e.g. via the discussion groups on EU-Citizen.Science, in your publications, or in any of the citizen science events organised across the globe.