Posts By Date

The National Urban Extension Conference was held May 20-24, 2019 in Seattle, WA. It is the only national gathering of Extension professionals who serve cities. The 2019 conference, “Innovation in the City: A Land Grant University Experience,” highlighted strong urban programming and Extension’s opportunity to support the university-level mission of land-grant universities in metropolitan regions. The conference educated and inspired with its urban focused presentations, mobile tours, and networking opportunities with the 350 attendees. The Ohio State University had 17 in attendance at the conference. They were Beth Boomershine, Deb Carney, Nicole Debose, Margaret Fitzpatrick, Julie Fox, Michelle Gaston, Mike Hogan, Sue Hogan, Elena Irwin, Laquore Meadows, Suzanne Mills-Wasniak, Stephen Moore, Amanda Osborne, Roger Rennekamp, Tony Staubach, Robin Stone, and Rebecca Wade-Mdivanian. Ohio State Presentations and Posters at NUEC’19 Watch for upcoming blog articles on a number of these topics.

• Maggie Fitzpatrick - Growing into your New Home
• Julie Fox - Essential Competencies and Innovative Practices for Urban and Latino Engagement
• Julie Fox - Staffing: Preparing the Urban Extension Workforce
• Mike Hogan - Increasing Diversity of MGV Programs
• Elena Irwin - Keynote: The Urban-Rural Continuum and Connection
• Suzanne Mills-Wasniak - The Shelter Farm
• Amanda Osborne - Beet Food Waste
• Tony Staubach - 4-H in the First American City

                  Keynotes, Leading Edge Dialogues, and Mobile Learning Workshops The keynote presentations each day were very focused on urban Extension and covered the topics of Innovation in the City; What Matters to Metro; Diversity, Complexity, and Scale; and The Urban-Rural Continuum and Connection. The Leading Edge Dialogues for Extension leaders spotlighted six critical issues facing urban universities and cities. Each featured an opening from a panel of experts then participants delved into group discussions about the topic. Participants choose from 10 mobile learning workshops which were half-day, off-site learning opportunities about Seattle. To learn more about the conference and sessions offered visit the conference website. Stay tuned to the Extension in the City blog for more articles about the conference. The next National Urban Extension Conference will be held in Atlantic City, New Jersey on May 17-20, 2021.

The Columbus Urban Farm Tour Series is a joint project sponsored by the Franklin County Office of Ohio State University Extension, and the Columbus Urban Farmers Network. The goal of the Columbus Urban Farm Tour Series is to demonstrate to the general public the many benefits of urban farms. There is no fee or advance registration required to participate in these tours which are open to the public. Farm tours will be held rain or shine. Follow this link to learn more. Sourced from: Franklin County Extension 

For 50 years, educators from the nation’s land-grant universities have brought EFNEP – the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program – to low income Americans, giving them the tools they need for better eating and health. Through the shared leadership of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and program directors nationwide, EFNEP’s educators provide tailored lessons on diet quality and physical activity, food resource management, food safety, and food security to meet the specific needs of their respective program participants. Follow this link to read more. Sourced from: USDA

As civic leaders, we are challenged with balancing competing interests, all vying for position within our budgets and policy agendas. Public-space investments usually do not fare well in these calculations. And yet in Akron, they have prioritized their public spaces because the investments we make in them have a protective function in neighborhoods. These places are not just where people gather, but are central to our social, economic, and environmental policy goals. Whether it's offering midnight basketball to combat youth violence or leveraging our plazas to support downtown residential development, supporting healthy public spaces is a strategy to halt population decline and rebuild. Follow this link to read more. Sourced from: Governing