Community Development e-Newsletter

February 2007

From the desk of Ken Martin, AD / Community Development

Starting in two weeks, there is another opportunity to participate in the Foundations of Practice program.  The cost has been reduced and Breeze will be used to deliver the programs.  For more information on the program, please follow the link to the right, which will provide a document about Foundations of Practice.  (The registration link is in the document, on page 2, under the "Fee and Registration" section at the bottom of the page.) 
Quick registration link: http://www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/fop/register.html
I encourage you to consider taking advantage of this opportunity to improve your understanding of community development core competencies.

The demand for sustainable development programs is growing.  Check out the the article below ("Sustainable Development Center Offers Cost Recovery Opportunities") regarding training and cost recovery opportunities for Educators through the Sustainable Development Center.

There are several dates to put on your calendar!  There will be three more Video Communiques presented this year.  These sessions will occur in March, August and November.  Be on the lookout for dates and times.

There are four Spring Conferences scheduled with time allocated to work on OSUE's strategic plan.  As part of those conferences, program areas will be asked to contribute their input so I encourage you to attend and participate in the Spring Conferences.  The dates are April 26 (Columbus), May 1 (West Region), May 2 (North Central Region), and May 3 (South East Region).  Details on time and place will be announced soon.

If you are working in the area of renewable energy, I encourage you to consider attending the March conference in Colorado.  This is an important program area that will be receiving more attention and interest in years ahead.  It is a potential area for specialization for educators that will help to strengthen our educational contributions for the benefit of clients and communities.

"Renewable Energy Options: The Role of Extension Agents in the 21^st Century Energy Economy Conference"
March 19-20, 2007
Denver, Colorado
http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/WR/energy.htm

OSU Extension is willing to cover travel and registration expenses for 3-4 Educators to attend the conference.  If interested, please apply via e-mail to Micki Daniels at daniels.14@osu.edu by March 2.  Please indicate the following in your e-mail:

• Your current work in renewable energy
• How this conference would help you improve and expand your educational efforts in this area
• How you would make the information and materials available to other educators and clients across the state

Sustainable Development Center Now Offering GIS Program

The OSU Extension Sustainable Development Center has now established a new Geographical Information System (GIS) program to meet the growing demands of communities around Ohio who are looking for spatial information to supplement various planning processes.  This program works to contribute to the promotion of sustainability practices for the future by analyzing business and marketing data as well as the evaluation of ever-changing trends in population growth and movement.  The program is focused on organizing and analyzing data and demographics to help with community decision making such as comprehensive planning across the state. 

For more information about the program or ideas regarding upcoming projects or partnerships, please contact Talia Brown, Program Manager / GIS Analyst at brown2934@ag.osu.edu.

Agri-Business Retention and Expansion Roundtables

OSU's Center for Farmland Policy Innovation and the Ohio Business Retention and Expansion Initiative have partnered to produce a roundtable series to explore how BR&E methods can be implemented by local leaders to retain and expand their agricultural sector.  The purpose of the roundtables is to give local leaders interested in strengthening local agriculture the opportunity for small group learning from a topical expert and peer-to-peer exchanges.  Local leaders in farmland protection (county commissioners, township trustees, planning and zoning officials, land trust leaders, etc) are invited to participate in the discussion of this agricultural economic development topic.

Two of the three roundtables were conducted in early February, thanks to local hosts David Civittolo (Medina County) and Mark Mechling (Muskingum County).  the third roundtable, rescheduled due to snow, will be held March 13 from 4pm-6pm at the location below, and will be free of charge.  However, seating is limited (15-20 available) and an RSVP is required.

Ag-BR&E Roundtable
March 13, 2007 4:00-6:00 pm
3900 Campus Drive
Lima, Ohio 45804
Host: OSU Extension Allen County -- Curtis Young

To RSVP, or for more information, please call the Center for Farmland Policy Innovation at :
Phone: 614-247-6479
E-Mail: cffpi@osu.edu
Website: http://cffpi.osu.edu

Designing and Leading Successful Public Participation Initiatives - A Workshop for Extension Professionals

Designing effective public participation efforts enables people to have a voice in community issues.  This workshop, scheduled for March 22 from 9-3:30 in Kottman 333, is designed to help you understand and create meaningful  public participation initiatives.

This in service is particularly applicable to:

• Foundations of Practice I participants
• New Extension professionals
• Professionals wanting to improve community initiatives (e.g. public advisory groups, county land use planning efforts, farmland preservation task forces, economic development committees, watershed management groups, etc.)

Through lecture, small group activities, and peer learning, participants will gain:

• Knowledge of best practices for designing public participation initiatives
• Skills for creating, managing, and evaluating ideas in a public setting
• Methods to ensure all voices are heard
• Tools for identifying and recruiting stakeholders
• Personalized feedback on public participation designs and approaches

All participants will receive a Foundations of Practice public participation curriculum, including slide sets and learning activities ready for use in future programs.  This workshop is part of the Foundations of Practice Community Development Core Competancies for Extension Professionals framework on successful community initiatives. 
Website: http://www.ncrcrd.iastate.edu/projects/corecomp/index.html

To register, go to http://comdev.osu.edu/docs/reg_fop_workshop.doc

For registration questions, contact Shirley Cook (614-292-6232).
For program questions, contact Anne Baird (614-292-8603).

Sustainable Development Center Offers Cost Recovery Opportunities

Interest in planning based on sustainability principles is growing markedly among communities throughout the state of Ohio, providing many opportunities for the OSU Extension Sustainable Development Center.  We are now at the point where there is more work available then we can deliver given our current staffing.

We are looking for Extension professionals who would be interested in partnering with us on the delivery of these highly demanded programs.  Cost recovery dollars are available. 

We plan to hold an in-service on the Sustainable Planning approach sometime in the near future and would urge those who have an interest to come join us.  If you would like further information, please contact the Sustainable Development Center:

Phone: 740-732-2381
E-mail:grunkemeyer.1@osu.edu (Bill Grunkemeyer) 
           or 
           moss.63@osu.edu (Myra  Moss)

Learn How 2 Go

To compete in the Knowledge Economy, over the next couple of decades Ohio needs to produce 450,000 more college graduates than the current rate of graduation from college.  To reach this milestone, colleges must enroll and maintain students from socio-economic groups who have not traditionally attended college.  Two important resources are available for those Extension Professionals who wish to help address the topic of attending college:

The first is The Ohio State University, Office of Economic Access, http://osu.edu/access/

The second resource is a national campaign entitled, "Learn How 2 Go," http://www.knowhow2go.org/

Research shows that the key issue in increasing attendance and success for the targeted students is to assist with information on how to attend college.  Both the student and the parent(s) know the value of college, but they are uncertain what needs to be done to apply to college.

Organizational Capacity Building

The Columbus Museum of Art’s current installation is Optic Nerve:  Perceptual Art of the 60s.  The museum is one of the growing number of institutions in Ohio that are benefiting from OSU Extension’s organizational capacity building for non-governmental organizations through Community Development.  Joe Heimlich and one of his graduate students helped the curator and education staff conceptualize the exhibit from the visitor perspective, determine the dominant outcome message of the exhibit, and reconsider the flow from the mindset of the visitor.  They then gathered front-end data used to rewrite some of the signage, design the educational “center” to the exhibit, and help inform the outcome evaluation that will be done for this, the first scholarly exhibit of this movement since 1964. 

Another project in central Ohio is looking at how those who work within five different cultural and scientific institutions (zoo, science museum, natural and social history museum, conservatory, and art museum) internalize the mission in their work, in their interactions with visitors, and then in their lives.  This study is being conducted by five graduate students and 10 undergraduates working with Joe to answer the questions posed by a consortium of these institutions.  The evaluation, education, and marketing personnel from these institutions want to build collaborative projects and asked OSU Extension to help them get started by working with them and implementing this first study to provide momentum.

Victor Vasarely, French, born in Hungary 1906-1997, Oil on masonite.
19 3/4 x 19 in. Private Collection. Courtesy of Michéle Vasarely.

'Ohio Night Out' - NACDEP

The 2007 NACDEP Annual Conference is roughly 8 weeks away.  Cindy Torppa, our Philly native, is taking the lead in planning something good for Ohio's Night Out on Tuesday evening, April 17^th.  For those interested, take a look at The City Tavern (http://www.citytavern.com).  If you plan to attend the NACDEP conference and you'd like to participate in the 'Ohio Night Out' dinner, please let Cindy Torppa know ASAP (torppa.1@osu.edu).