Webinar Description

You’ve probably heard the phrase meaningful engagement. Maybe you’ve even used the phrase yourself. But have you ever found yourself wondering, what exactly do we mean by meaningful engagement and how do we achieve it? Many of us recognize that engaging meaningfully with partners is at the heart of effective collaboration. However, it’s not always easy to define what meaningful engagement is, and what it means in practice.

In this webinar, the NERRS Science Collaborative and the NOAA RESTORE Science Program dived into the practical realities of meaningful engagement and built on the January 2024 NERRS Science Collaborative webinar that provided a framework for understanding meaningful engagement. The webinar featured the voices of two collaborative science project teams who shared their project-specific experiences. Together, we dug into examples of what meaningful engagement is, what it looks like in practice, and what strategies we might use to foster it during collaboration.

Collaborative Science Conversations          
The NOAA RESTORE Science and NERRS Science Collaborative programs continue teaming up to bring you the voices of project teams from the field through our Collaborative Conversations webinar series. These sessions dig into the unique value of collaborative science, what it feels like in practice, and tips and strategies for success.

About RESTORE: The NOAA RESTORE Science Program was authorized by Congress in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to carry out research, observation, and monitoring to support the long-term sustainability of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem, including its fisheries. The Science Program supports teams of resource managers, researchers, and stakeholders committed to working together to produce science that helps answer the questions resource managers are facing.

Webinar Summary Resources

• Webinar Recording (YouTube)
• Speaker Bios (Webinar Page)
• Slides and Q&A (PDF)