Clara Kühner, Fabienne Will, Bernhard Goodwin, 2023
Science Communication Lab, Deutsches Museum. München: LMU, Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät, Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft und Medienforschung
Abstract: The following report presents the evaluation results of a science communication initiative that took place in February 2023 at the Science Communication Lab of the Deutsches Museum in Munich. Visitors were able to use the climate simulation model “En-ROADS” on a touchscreen table, under the guidance of scientists from the FH Kufstein. En-ROADS is a climate simulation model that predicts the temperature increase in the year 2100 based on different parameter settings such as the share of renewable energies and economic growth. Through the interaction with the climate simulation, the aim was to increase visitors’ understanding and knowledge of the causes of the climate crisis, as well as their perceived self-efficacy to mitigate climate change and their willingness to reduce their own carbon footprint. An initial survey was conducted with 104 visitors before the interaction, and a follow-up survey was conducted with 85 visitors after the interaction to assess the impact of the event on the participants. While there was no change in the areas of understanding, knowledge, and self-efficacy, visitors reported an increased willingness to change their behavior to reduce their own carbon footprint after the interaction with the simulation. Overall, visitors evaluated the interaction with the climate simulation very positively, and the majority indicated that they wanted to use the freely available online version of the simulation in the future and would recommend it to others.
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