Collaborations

NISE Network encourages partnerships among museums, universities, and other organizations that support lifelong STEM learning. By collaborating, we can leverage our complementary strengths and resources and achieve outcomes we couldn't do alone!

Collaborating with Community and Youth-Serving Organizations

Collaborating with an existing youth-serving organization on STEM activities is an effective way for museums and university outreach programs to connect with audiences they may not regularly reach, particularly underserved audiences. We have compiled profiles of national youth-serving organizations in Museum & Community Partnerships: Collaboration Guide to assist museums and university outreach programs in developing partnerships with a community organization or a local chapter of a national youth-serving organization. These profiles are intended to provide a brief introduction to each organization: 4-H, Afterschool Alliance, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), Boy Scouts of America (BSA), Girls Inc., Girl Scouts, libraries, National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP), Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Y (YMCA), and YWCA.

Collaborating with Community and Youth-Serving Organizations

cover of the collaboration guide on blue background

Museum & Community Partnerships: Collaboration Guide and additional resources

Professional development guide for educators, researchers, and network leaders from the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network

Children participating in Creek Week in North Carolina making observations and recording data outdoors

STEM Learning Ecosystems

Museums, libraries, schools, and many other community organizations offer programs and environments that are specially designed for lifelong learning. STEM learning ecosystems bring these organizations together to support learning throughout a lifetime: at home, at school, at work, and in the community.

Girls in STEM

A compilation of resources for engaging girls and young women in STEM as well as resources for collaborating with Girl Scouts.

Online Workshop Recording: Museum Community Partnerships - Part 1: Libraries (2017)

Online professional development workshop recording (2017).

Online Workshop Recording: Museum Community Partnerships - Afterschool Programs: Advocating, Collaborating and Bringing Earth and Space Content to Out-of-school Time

Online professional development workshop recording (2018).

Collaborating with Local Scientists and Experts

Working with STEM Experts Guide cover including an image of expert puring a liquid and using a strainer with a girl and her family at a museum public event

Working with STEM Experts: A Guide for Educators in Museums and Other Informal Learning Settings

Professional development guide to help informal STEM educators find, prepare, and work with STEM experts to engage with the public.

Finding astronomy volunteers: Solar System Ambassadors Program, Night Sky Network, and Astronomy Ambassadors

Tools and online workshop recording focused on finding space science experts including Solar System Ambassadors Program, Night Sky Network of astronomy clubs, and AAS Astronomy Ambassadors.

Research Center - Informal Science Education Partnerships (RISE)

Resources for cultivating partnerships between nanoscale science and material scienceresearch centers with informal science education institutions.

Online Workshop Recording: Museum Community Partnerships - Part 3: Working with the Solar System Ambassadors and Night Sky Network

Online professional development workshop recording (2018).

More Resources for Finding and Partnering with Local Scientists and Experts by Kit

Each kit event planning guides includes specific local partnering suggestions connected with the activities and content.

Co-Creation

Reflecting on Your Partnership Journey

Professional learning activity that can be used with a group of partners to reflect on collaborative partnerships.

CC-PES Co-Creation Model showing partners and flow chart

Co-Created Public Engagement with Science (CC-PES) Project Reports (2024)

Summative reports from the Co-Created Public Engagement with Science (CC-PES) Project.

Many event tents setup outside on a basketball court with a lot of people walking around the area.

Co-creating with Communities Project Videos

Co-creating with Communities project videos featuring partnerships in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Mesa, Arizona; Houston, Texas; Brownsville, Texas; Bay Area, California; and San Diego & San Ysidro, California.

Co-creating with Communities

Through two complementary NASA-funded projects, the NISE Network increased the capacity of informal educators to work with local communities to co-create opportunities to learn about NASA science in ways that are locally relevant and inclusive of everyone. Teams in seven locations across the United States are working with subject matter experts, community groups, and educational organizations.

Online Workshop Recording: Co-Creating with Communities - Inspiring Partner Stories

Online workshop recording highlighting the principles and processes of co-creation, as well as partner stories about lessons learned, organization impacts, and more (2025).

Online Workshop Recording: Co-creation & You - Inspiring Partner Stories from Participants of the Co-Created Public Engagement with Science Project

Online workshop recording about the Co-Created Public Engagement with Science (CC-PES) Project that includes highlights from partner's work and findings from the development team (2024).

Online Workshop Recording: Engaging Hispanic/Latinx Communities - Forming Community Partnerships & the Co-creation Process (Part 1)

Online workshop recording about the NISE Network's Engaging Hispanic Communities Initiative, forming partnerships with local Hispanic/Latinx community organizations, and the co-creation process (2024).

Online Workshop Recording: Engaging Hispanic/Latinx Communities - Resources for Public Engagement (Part 2)

Online workshop recording about resources to help engage with local Hispanic/Latinx communities, featuring presenters from the Sparking Interest project led by the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC (2024).

More about Collaboration

Collaboration occurs when organizations and individuals make a commitment to work together and contribute resources and expertise to achieve a common, long-term goal. There are a many reasons to collaborate, but they can be boiled down to just a few: 1. To share resources, expertise, and connections, 2. To build upon existing strengths, and 3. To reach new audiences.

Communities face a variety of challenging and complex problems that can be addressed through collaborative public, private, and nonprofit partnerships. Many of these challenges simply cannot be addressed effectively by one organization acting alone, and require the diverse resources and expertise of government agencies, community-based organizations, state and national organizations, businesses, schools, and individuals. When surveying case studies of local communities who have successfully addressed complex problems, collaborative strategic partnerships are almost always a key ingredient in these success stories. Partnerships can ultimately improve the health and welfare of children, families, and communities.

Collaboration Tools

STEM Learning Ecosystems drawing activity with a pair of hands holding up a tree template drawing

Depict Your Partnership

Professional learning activity that provides groups an opportunity to visualize, reflect on, and share key aspects of public engagement programs and partnerships.

Reflecting on Your Partnership Journey

Professional learning activity that can be used with a group of partners to reflect on collaborative partnerships.

What is Learning Conversation Starter

Cards to spark conversations about what learning looks like.

Collage of What Values Do You Share cards to spark conversations

What Values Do You Share? Conversation Starter

Cards to spark conversations about shared values.

Museum & Community Partnerships: Collaboration Guide and additional resources

Professional development guide for educators, researchers, and network leaders from the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network

Collaborating with Youth

Program design resources

Act for Youth - Youth development program toolkit: Resources for program planning
https://actforyouth.org/program-toolkit/
Afterschool Alliance - Youth voice toolkit
https://www.afterschoolalliance.org/YouthVoiceToolkit/

Partnering with Diversity Serving Professional Societies

Professional STEM societies designed to support under-represented groups are eager to foster interest in STEM careers and diversify the STEM workforce. Many of these societies have local chapters located across the United States; opportunities for collaboration on local public engagement include special events, community outreach, and mentoring programs.

American Association of University Women www.aauw.org
American Indian Science and Engineering Society www.aises.org
LGBTQ+ STEM https://lgbtstem.wordpress.com
National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering www.nacme.org
National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) www.nobcche.org
National Society of Black Engineers www.nsbe.org
MAES - Latinos in Science and Engineering: mymaes.org
Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (oSTEM) for LGBTQ+ people in STEM ostem.org
Out to Innovate™, formerly known as National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP) www.noglstp.org
Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) sacnas.org
Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers www.saseconnect.org
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers www.shpe.org
Society of Women Engineering www.swe.org
Women in Engineering Program Advocates Network www.wepan.org
Women in Technology International www.witi.com