Ag & Natural Resources

Don’t Miss Out! Last Week to Register for the 2021 Leadership in the City Course

Don’t Miss Out! The last day to register is Friday, November 20, 2020!

Are you interested in Extension in urban areas and ready to improve your knowledge, skills, and results?

The Leadership in the City course will help you learn about leadership, networks, innovation, and management. The 5-month online program will prepare you, as an Extension professional, to be relevant locally, responsive statewide, and recognized nationally.

The goal of this comprehensive professional development program is to improve the knowledge, skills, and results of university Extension professionals working in large cities. You will connect with peers from around the country to engage in critical thinking and creative problem solving to become better prepared to be relevant locally, responsive statewide, and recognized nationally.

The program was developed based on a foundation of entrepreneurial theory and urban Extension practice and will build upon existing leadership experiences, management training, and Extension professional development.

You will learn from experienced leaders; apply what you learn in your city, region, or state; engage in critical thinking and creative problem solving; and participate in online collaborative learning. Each competency-based module incorporates interactive digital delivery and the flipped classroom model for active learning and engagement.

Upon completion of the course, you will be better prepared to:

  • Evaluate, illustrate, and build upon their four dimensions as an entrepreneurial leader (traits and drivers; competencies and experiences).
  • Navigate as a leader working in the urban and university contexts.
  • Implement elements of entrepreneurial organizations.

The investment in the program is $500 plus a commitment to work hard and have fun investing 8-14 hours per month. The 5-month online course begins in January 2021. If you have multiple participants from the same institute, you are each entitled to a $100 discount (Promotion code: LITC21-MULT). As of this morning there are only three spots available.

This course is led by Dr. Julie Fox from the Ohio State University Extension.

Complete details and registration information can be found at https://cityextension.osu.edu/leadership.

Registration is Now Open for the 2020 OSU Extension Annual (Virtual) Conference

Conference-2020-Embrace-Change-Together Header

Registration is now open for the 2020 OSU Extension Annual (Virtual) Conference!

 

You are invited to attend and participate in the 2020 OSU Extension Virtual Annual Conference – Embrace Change Together!

This 3-day 2020 virtual conference will highlight how our efforts meet today’s challenges to create a more engaged tomorrow.  This conference will also showcase innovative presenters and sessions full of new ways you can engage our four tracks.

The conference is December 7-9, 2020, beginning at 8:45 a.m.

To register, you will need an approved eRequest #

  • All-Conference Pass: $25
  • Students: $10

Please register prior to Wednesday, December 2, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. 
Follow this link to register.

For any questions, please contact ShaLise Simmons, Event Program Coordinator.

 

Survey on Practical Examples of Urban Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (EbA)

The Friends of Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (FEBA) Urban EbA Working Group has developed this survey to identify practical examples of Urban EbA planning and implementation. The Working Group, co-chaired by IUCN and PlanAdapt, brings together researchers and practitioners from the fields of urban development, EbA and Green-Grey Infrastructure to share successes and failures to help learn and improve future urban EbA initiatives in the Global South and Global North. Your participation in this survey contributes to the knowledge base of the growing area – in theory and practice – of Urban EbA. Follow this link to take the survey.

Sourced from: Friends of EbA

We (All) Need to Talk About Race: Building Extension’s Capacity for Dialogue and Action

For Extension to remain relevant to the mission of meeting the most critical community needs, we must examine the racial inequities that hold us back as institutions and lead efforts to engage diverse communities in learning about race through dialogue. Responses from participants in 26 states who joined a train-the-trainer initiative suggested that despite previous efforts, there is great need for increased education and capacity building to address racism and prioritize racial equity both within our institutions and in the communities we serve. For Extension professionals to effectively engage in this work, it is critical for administrators to show visible support. Follow this link to learn more.

Sourced from: Journal of Extension
Authors:
Eric Walcott, Government and Public Policy Specialist, Michigan State University Extension
Brian Raison, Associate Professor, Ohio State University Extension
Rachel Welborn, Associate Director, Southern Rural Development Center, Mississippi State University
Rich Pirog, Director, Center for Regional Food Systems, Michigan State University
Mary Emery, Department Head, Sociology and Rural Studies, South Dakota State University
Mike Stout, Associate Professor, Oklahoma State University
Laura Hendrix, Associate Professor, University of Arkansas
Marcia Ostrom, Associate Professor, Washington State University

Urban Gardens Growing Strong Amid COVID Pandemic

Mike Levenston stands over a half-harvested stalk of kale, eyeing the autumnal remnants slowly disintegrating into the soil. It’s a familiar scene for Levenston, an urban gardener who has been growing food and community in the garden he founded, dubbed City Farmer, for more than 40 years.

At the time, it was almost unheard of to grow food in cities, and gardens weren’t given much thought in city planning efforts. No longer: Urban gardens are thriving worldwide, especially this year as pandemic-bound city dwellers have sought sustenance in gardens, parks, and other green spaces.

“I’m there seven days a week. It’s the best place for my family to be in COVID times because it’s a garden with lots of space,” Levenston said. “We’re busier than ever because of the backyard garden craze. We sell city compost bins (and) people are picking them up every day, and (there) are a lot of new gardens (in the city).”

Canadians like their gardens, especially in 2020. A report released earlier this month by Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab found that roughly 51% of Canadians grow at least one variety of fruit or vegetable at home. Follow this link to read more.

Sourced from: Morning Ag Clips

Decision-Making Tree for Prioritizing Racial Equity in Resource Allocation

As Extension seeks to respond to the challenges of the 21st century, staff from University of Minnesota Extension’s health and nutrition program area are embracing racial equity as a core focus of their systems change work. They believe that racial equity is an integral part of work across Extension services and that we must improve our capacity to serve Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) community members. Consider, for example, how health and nutrition are connected to disparities in food access, agriculture is connected to disparities in land access, and access to youth programming is connected to disparities in graduation rates in BIPOC communities as compared to predominantly White communities (Hassel, 2004; Horst & Marion, 2018; Raja et al., 2008; Ratkos & Knollenberg, 2015). In Minnesota, this is especially significant, given the state’s ranking as one of the worst in the nation in terms of racial inequality (McCann, 2020).
Follow this link to read more.

Sourced from: Journal of Extension

Jamie Bain
Health and Nutrition Extension Educator

Noelle Harden
Health and Nutrition Extension Educator

Stephanie Heim
Associate Program Director

Center for Family Development
University of Minnesota Extension

 

Leading Edge Dialog Series: Urban Green Infrastructure Workshop

Every Leading Edge Dialogue (LED) held at the 2019 National Urban Extension explored innovative shifts in Extension’s vision of its future and its role in the communities it serves. While this workshop was not an official LED, the discussions that took place regarding Extension’s role (or future) in urban green infrastructure (UGI) as a programming area is a practical example of many of the points raised in the LEDs held during the conference. Follow this link to read the paper.

Sourced from: Western Center for Metropolitan Extension and Research

Microsoft Teams Training

Join members of the OSU Extension Learning and Organizational Development Unit (LOD), on Thursday, November 5 at 2 p.m. for a Microsoft Teams Training. In this training they will review some basic skills and helpful tips in MS Teams. This 60-minute training will be recorded and posted to LOD website for future reference. Follow this link to register.

Sourced from: Learning and Organizational Development