The Belmont Forum contracted Technopolis Group and Science-Metrix to conduct an external evaluation consisting of two focal areas:

• Impact evaluation: an assessment of the delivery of the Forum’s Collaborative Research Actions, including their scientific, policy and other impacts and the added value of transnational and transdisciplinary collaborations.
• Organizational evaluation: an exploration of the efficacy of the Forum, including the funding announcements, efficiency of procedures, transparency and inclusiveness of the Forum.

The impact evaluation covered the period from 2009 (when the Belmont Forum was established) until mid-2019. The organizational evaluation focused on the period 2017–2019. The evaluation consisted of a combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis tools: desk study and data analysis, 40 interviews, an online survey of beneficiaries, an online survey of members and partners, two case studies and bibliometric, altmetric and social network analysis.

Science-Metrix was responsible for the bibliometric, altmetric and social network analysis components of the evaluation. This entailed an analysis tracking some of the immediate outcomes of projects, including the volume of scientific publications produced as well as the uptake and influence of research findings in the scientific community (as measured by citation metrics) and broader practice communities (as measured by altmetrics). The analysis also assessed the extent to which the Forum has contributed to open exchange of knowledge and data sets. The combination of bibliometric and network analysis measured the extent to which the Forum has fostered collaborative, international and multidisciplinary research.

The evaluation found that the Belmont Forum had made significant contributions to the scientific communities working on environmental change and associated topics, even above and beyond what might have been expected.

Read the report here [PDF].

Read an interview about the evaluation with Erica Key (Belmont Forum) and David Campbell (Science-Metrix).

For more information about the Belmont Forum, see here.

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