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Many American rust belt cities have risen high, fallen hard, and come back to life – and a case could be made that none rose so high nor fell quite so far as Cleveland, Ohio. The fortune of this city on the shore of Lake Erie has ebbed and flowed in tandem with its iconic river, the Cuyahoga, whose journey to the lake takes it through the city’s heart. Follow this link to read more. Sourced from: Cities Speak  

Register now for the CFAES Teaching & Learning Symposium that will take place on August 13, 2019 at the Fawcett Event Center on the Ohio State Columbus campus. This opportunity provides time to network with fellow educators within the college, as well as build concepts and ideas, and review examples of teaching excellence and innovation for the advancement of student engagement and learning. This year's event will focus on "Teaching Today’s Learners." Through this event, educators as learners are connected to promote and practice the scholarship of teaching, engage in meaningful and authentic teaching-based discourse, and inspire action toward student learning. All members of the college teaching community, including faculty, staff, and graduate students serving as teaching, administrative, and research associates, are encouraged to register and attend this event. This includes colleagues in Columbus, Wooster, and around the state. Follow this link for registration information. Sourced from: CFAES 

The truth is often less salacious and more complicated than the myth that prevails. Through simplification and reorganization, history begins to make narrative sense. Extension is not immune from this phenomenon. Within the Extension system the legend begins with humble beginnings and good intentions until it is raised up by the federal government and spread nationwide through rural communities. The reality is that Extension is an ever-evolving system that extends well beyond the scope of agriculture and education. According to the USDA the roots of Extension go back to the agricultural clubs from the early 1800s. The real story of Extension is one of institutionalization of private and public efforts that are unsustainable in the traditional economic system. At the National Urban Extension Conference (NUEC), professionals from around the nation gathered to discuss the successes and opportunities of urban extension work, but present in nearly every conversation was the understanding that the role of the Extension professional is to facilitate taking a program to scale. As Extension professionals, the responsibility is not to the myth but to educating the people. That education may look very different when compared to a rural environment, but the intent remains the same. It was a privilege to present at the NUEC, but the greatest learning experience was researching the demographic and programmatic trends in Cincinnati, Ohio. The story of Cincinnati is almost in direct opposition to the myth of Extension. Founded in 1788, the city predates the founding of the USDA but not the agricultural heritage of America. Cincinnati is not known for fertile lands, instead the greatest agricultural achievement is pork production and animal processing. While intimate and extremely important, most people aren’t comfortable with the truth behind animal processing. By the time Extension was founded in 1914, Cincinnati was the 10th largest city in America, the initial focus on rural communities left Cincinnati to continue to grow and develop without the initial support of Extension. Fast forward to 2019 and OSU Extension has become a valued member of the community with a wide reach and great support, but there is still a lot more work to do. The time has come to look at existing infrastructure and identify what needs to be taken to scale. Like a lot of urban counterparts, the goal moving forward is greater collaboration with the community and championing their causes. Thanks to the conversations, reflections, presentations, and research, the conclusion that greater collaboration is going to be key to building a stronger and more sustainable Extension will prevail and benefit not only OSU, CFAES, and Extension but the Greater Cincinnati region, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, the nation, and the world.

Samuel Stein’s earliest memory of urban planning as a profession is knowing of a friend of his parents at their synagogue, when he was growing up, who worked in city planning for the City of Providence. “I’m pretty sure he was my first introduction to planning, but I didn’t really get what he did,” Stein says. Follow this link to read more. Sourced from: Next City