Sharing Our Story to Build Our Future: A Case Study of Evaluating a Partnership for Co-Produced Research in Southeast Alaska

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the value of incorporating evaluation into the process of co-produced research in pursuit of climate services. We aim to spur interest in and expand the use of evaluation throughout the climate change and climate services scientific community, whether or not evaluation is a formally required component of funding. We use a case study from Southeast Alaska of the Ellam Yua co-production model implemented among a research center at a large public university and three leadership entities in a small remote community with a majority Alaska Native population. We describe our experiences with evaluation and share what we learned through the process of evaluation, specifically that local workforce development and healing from trauma were significant aspects of project success. This case study shows how important evaluation is for documenting, analyzing, and planning for multiple definitions of success and successfully implementing equitably co-produced research. It also underscores the significance of expanding typical conceptions of climate services to include a more holistic view of using Indigenous priorities and values to support local capacity-building and psychological benefits. Building generalized capacities locally to respond to climate-related stressors was a key part of climate services for our team. Only through Indigenous evaluation did the Kake Climate Partnership partners realize the full transformative potential of the Ellam Yua co-produced research process–to produce climate services and to uncover new understandings of what climate services can be for communities.