Newsletter

With widespread food insecurity across the state during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ohio National Guard Soldiers and Airmen were called in March to support regional food bank warehouses and local pantries. In addition to that support, about 15 Guard members helping at the Mid-Ohio Foodbank had a unique task assigned to them at an off-site location – build an urban farm. The Mid-Ohio Farm on the Hilltop in the Hilltop neighborhood just west of downtown Columbus will provide the food bank with quick access to fresh, local produce while also serving as a place to provide hands-on education for the local communities. Follow this link to read more. Sourced from: U.S. Army
The Global Urban Lecture Series is an initiative by UN-Habitat’s partnership with universities worldwide, UNI to bring the knowledge and experiences of urban experts associated with the agency’s work to a wide audience. The series reaches not only the general public but also the 185 partner universities of UNI, and is currently being used both for personal further education purposes and professional training. The series is free and consists of 15-minute lectures on urban topics related to the focus areas of UN-Habitat. Besides the video, each lecture includes a synopsis, a biography of the speaker, an MP3 file, and links to additional reading material for further study. Follow this link to learn more. Soured from: World Urban Campaign
It’s been four years since the city of Columbus was declared the winner of the U.S. Department of Transportation Smart Cities Challenge. Now, several grant-supported projects by The Ohio State University are reaching their conclusions. Researchers at Ohio State agree the work for a smarter Columbus is just getting started. David Cooke, senior associate director of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) and one of the university partners with Smart Columbus, said the lessons learned from the program will have a long-term impact. “What [the smart cities grant] brought to the city of Columbus is to really put us at the forefront of mobility and smart cities research on a national scale,” Cooke said. “[CAR has been] engaged in automotive research for 30 years doing a subset of this work, very specifically on vehicle design and systems development, but mobility is much broader than just the vehicle.” Follow this link to read more. Sourced from: The Ohio State University
What goals do cities give themselves when it comes to food? Looking at them says a lot about the context in which they operate. For instance, objectives regarding food security, nutrition, and access to food are more mobilized by cities in the global south. However, they are not absent from the north, even if they are framed differently. For instance, northern American cities talk about “healthy neighborhoods” and “food deserts,” which also refers to access issues. French cities tend to have goals related to public procurement more often than other cities, echoing the dynamism of national regulations on collective catering. Follow this link to read more. Sourced from: Urban Food Futures
As cities across the country consider ways that they can address the growing inequities throughout their communities, an important element is where a municipality’s money is located and how it is leveraged for greater social impact. As cities begin to set a path for economic recovery post-COVID-19, local leaders should consider their municipality’s relationship with its financial partners as another means toward eliminating economic inequities caused by institutional racism and financial exclusion. Follow this link to learn more. Soured from: Cities Speak
As the United States enters its fifth month battling the COVID-19 pandemic, a patchwork of economic impacts and responses has materialized around the country. The coronavirus first hit large, globally connected cities, but is now spreading rapidly throughout the South and in smaller places. In Northern states and on the West Coast, governments acted quickly and forcefully to shut down businesses and have generally been slower to reopen them. Shutdowns in the South lasted for a relatively short period, only to recommence recently as cases began to spike. Meanwhile, local economies that relied heavily on industries such as tourism, energy, retail, and small business have endured massive setbacks, while those focused in financial services and other global services industries have felt lesser impacts. Follow this link to learn more. Sourced from: Brookings
North Carolina Cooperative Extension recently posted an Urban Agriculture Extension Agent position for Small Farms and Local Foods located in Durham county, an urban area with more than 300,000 residents. Follow this link to view more details about the position. Sourced from: North Carolina State University
The Western Center for Metropolitan Extension and Research has released the next white paper in their Leading Edge Dialogue series: Fulfilling the Land Grant University Mission: Extension and Community-Based Applied Research, co-authored by Lou Swanson (Colorado State University). Major themes of the discussion included: recognizing Extension's emerging role-shift into inter- and multi-disciplinary work across the university system; establishing Extension as a co-creative partner with other public institutions in the work of community development and applied research; and exploring methodologies to advance workforce development and urban-rural interdependencies through programming. Follow this link to learn more. Sourced from: The Western Center for Metropolitan Extension and Research
  All Extension professionals are invited to join this informative webinar series on incorporating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into Extension programs from planning to evaluation. The webinar series will begin Monday, July 13, 2020 at 3 p.m. EDT. Follow this link to learn more. Sourced from: NAEPSDP  
National Urban Extension Leaders (NUEL), in collaboration with the Southern Rural Development Center and Michigan State University, are excited to host a listening dialogue to inform decision makers next steps in addressing inequities internal to urban Extension and supporting urban Extension professionals to meet the needs of the communities served. This supportive dialogue space was designed with all urban Extension professionals in mind, regardless of position or tenure. Everyone living and working in urban areas has ideas on how Extension can better support the community. The report will be reviewed by NUEL to map a strategy complementing current and historical contributions. Feedback will also be shared with state Extension administrators to help inform their next steps. The dialogue will be held on Monday, July 20, 2020, 2-3:30 p.m. EDT.  Follow this link to register. Sourced from: NUEL

Pages