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Last Thursday at the first meeting of the new year, The Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) endorsed the topic for the December 2018 edition of Next Generation Extension - Learning for Leaders. To continue the robust national dialogue on Extension's Role in the Broader University Mission and Engagement, ECOP Chair Ed Jones has invited Sheila Martin Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) Vice President of Economic Development and Community Engagement, and ECOP Member Scott Reed to introduce the new APLU Commission on Economic and Community Engagement (CECE). This one-hour zoom conference will be held December 7, 3-4 p.m. During the conference, directors and administrators will explore Extension's involvement with CECE. To join the zoom conference follow this link. Sourced from: The Extension Committee on Organization and Policy 
When John Wilson became a King County, Washington, assessor two years ago, housing affordability was headed in a downward spiral, especially for the county’s low-income senior citizens, the disabled, and disabled veterans. To help older residents, the state provides a property tax exemption for homeowners over the age of 61 who are on fixed or low incomes. According to the 2017 American Community Survey (ACS) one-year estimates, King County is home to 362,157 residents age 62 and over. Follow this link to read more.  Sourced from: United States Census Bureau 
Cincinnati is among the 10 cities with the highest eviction rates in the country. In four years, Hamilton County had 49,757 eviction filings. According to a LISC study, Cincinnati is 40,000 units short of affordable housing. At Women of Cincy, they believe that if you can change minds, you change behaviors, and if you change behaviors, you can change systems. Too often, people form thoughts based on stereotypes and false narratives. People tend to jump on bandwagon lines of thinking without stopping to form thoughtful assessments. People make assumptions about people we don’t know, about situations we don’t fully understand. When it comes to affordable housing, or lack thereof, these assumptions halt progress. To read more follow this link. Sourced from: Community Commons
Free To Ride is the story of the relentless spirit of community members from across Dayton, Ohio who overcome a suburban contingent fearfully opposed to the expansion of public transit along a commercial corridor, and the system of checks and balances that allowed justice and reason to prevail. Amid growing racial tension in the United States and around the globe, Free To Ride shows that peaceful change is possible and provides communities with a film they can use to build meaningful equity movements in their part of the world. Watch Free To Ride here. Sourced from: The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
Collaboration and transparency are often rallying cries of smart city advocates, with city officials and others usually happy to discuss the projects. Columbus, Ohio, is taking this mantra a step further and has put together its “Smart Columbus Playbook,” an online collection of case studies, strategies, and other related information, including contracts, RFPs, as well as “Concept of Operations” and “System Requirements” documents for the city's various projects. The playbook, which will be updated weekly, is broken into 18 content categories that cover the breadth of the projects underway. Within each category is a suite of articles and other information. It will also include research, case studies, and videos. Follow this link to read more.  Sourced from: Government Technology
Using surveys, satellite images and categorizations from various government agencies, the United states Department of Agriculture divides the U.S. into six major types of land:
  • Pasture/range
  • Forest
  • Cropland
  • Special use
  • Miscellaneous
  • Urban
Even though urban areas make up just 3.6 percent of the total size of the 48 contiguous states, four in five Americans live, work, and play there. With so much of the U.S. population in urban areas, it’s little surprise that these areas contribute an outsize amount to the economy. Follow this link to learn more about land use in America.           Sourced from: Bloomberg
Extension Master Gardener Volunteers (MVG) from Lucas County gathered to celebrate the 2018 class and their efforts across the county. The theme for this year’s recognition celebration was "From Farm to Fork." Their guest was Kurt Bench. Kurt and his family run Shared Legacy Farm in Elmore, Ohio. Kurt shared with the volunteers his family’s rich agriculture roots, and how he has made his own niche and has a very successful certified organic farm that includes a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. As consumers, MGVs where interested in his story and the topic of local foods. MGVs are Extension volunteers and partner with many local organizations and agencies including: Metroparks Toledo, Toledo GROWs, Hawkins Elementary School, Olander Park, and the Garden Forum’s Junior Garden Club. The volunteers also learned about a new opportunity called the Garden Ambassador Program that will be in collaboration with Metro Parks Toledo at the Toledo Botanical Garden and the Shipman Garden at Wildwood Metro Park. In 2018 Master Gardner Volunteers recorded nearly 5,000 hours. Follow this link to learn more about Lucas County Master Gardeners. Sourced from: OSU Extension
The Ohio State University is collaborating with Schmidt Futures to launch the Alliance for the American Dream - an initiative to identify ideas that will foster true social mobility, true equality of opportunity, and a true middle class that is attainable and sustainable. Join them to learn more from the Ohio State Alliance for the American Dream’s finalist teams, as they present their innovative solutions to our fading middle class on December 3, 2018 from 6:30-9 p.m at the Blackwell Inn. To register, please call The Ohio State University Alumni Association at 800- 762-5646 during normal business hours to reserve your seat. Follow this link for Parking information Follow this link to learn more about the Alliance for the American Dream Sourced from: The Ohio State University
The North-Central Regional Caucus of the National Urban Extension Leaders is offering scholarships to urban-serving Extension professionals within the North-Central Region to encourage attendance and participation at the 2019 National Urban Extension Conference in Seattle, Washington, May 20-23. They will be awarding four scholarships in the amount of $250 each. The application deadline is Friday, January 18, 2019. Follow this link for the application.  Sourced from: NUEC 
Helping young people prepare to engage in work and life as productive adults is a central challenge for any society. Yet, many young people in the United States (particularly those from low-income or less educated families), find the path to employment and economic security in adulthood is poorly marked or inaccessible. Using an advanced methodology and longitudinal data, the report examines two main questions:
  • The quality of jobs (measured by wages, benefits, hours, and job satisfaction) held by 29-year-olds who experienced disadvantage in adolescence
  • Whether particular employment, education, and training experiences in adolescence and early adulthood predict higher-quality jobs for 29-year-olds from disadvantaged background
Follow this link to read the complete article. Sourced from: Brookings  

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