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From metropolitan areas in the western United States to the rural counties of the Northeast, public school districts that have closed their doors must educate students who have unequal access to digital learning means. Austin Beutner, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, said his district continues to reach its 700,000-plus students through one of two approaches or a combination of both. The first approach involves the digital learning environment Schoology. Most of the district’s educators and students are trained on it, and the foundation of continued learning with this platform is “an instructional plan that has been developed by the teacher consistent with what’s been happening with the classroom in weeks past.” This method, while the standard for the district, can’t help certain students. About one-quarter of the student body lacks internet access at home, and the district is roughly one-third short of having enough devices for every student. Follow this link to read more. Sourced from: Center for Digital Education
In a study published in Nature Food, academics from the Institute for Sustainable Food at the University of Sheffield investigated the potential for urban horticulture by mapping green spaces and grey spaces across the city. They found that green spaces including parks, gardens, allotments, roadside verges, and woodland cover 45 percent of Sheffield – a figure similar to other UK cities. Allotments cover 1.3 percent of this, while 38 percent of green space comprised of domestic gardens, which have immediate potential to start growing food. The interdisciplinary team used data from Ordnance Survey and Google Earth to reveal that an extra 15 percent of the city’s green space, such as parks and roadside verges, also has potential to be converted into community gardens or allotments. Follow this link to read more. Sourced from: Morning Ag Clips
As more states and localities have implemented closures to help limit the spread of coronavirus, many cities are working overtime to transition a largely in-office workforce to telework. While telework is not possible for those in essential positions such as emergency responders, sanitation workers, and utility workers, those employees who can work from home, should do so to limit the number of workers remaining in city facilities. Follow this link to learn more. Sourced from: Cities Speak
This presentation will describe the origins of the Census Tract; how it evolved into its present-day form, how it is used, and what types of data are applied at tract level. Participants will be treated to a live demonstration of ways to get tract-level data in data.census.gov. The presenter will also highlight some other websites where tract information is used and visualized. The webinar is being held Wednesday, April 22, 2020 from 1-2 p.m. EDT. Follow this link to learn more. Sourced from: The U.S. Census Bureau
Last month, CURA hosted organizations from the Cleveland area and from the Dayton and Cincinnati areas. The panelists included:
  1. Marc White one of the co-Founders and Farm Operations Manager from Rid-All Green Partnership, a local non-profit from the Kinsman Neighborhood located in Cleveland, Ohio. Rid-All Green Partnership is a urban farm that helps educate people living in the area about growing local, healthy food.
  2. Michaela Oldfield, Director of Greater Cincinnati Regional Food Policy Council, Green Umbrella Regional Sustainability Alliance. Green Umbrella Regional Sustainability Alliance serves as the backbone organization for collective and collaborative impact on creating resilient, sustainable region solutions for all.
  3. Nicole Wasmuth, AmeriCorps VISTA and Registered Nurse of Hall Hunger Initiative in Dayton Ohio. Hall Hunger Initiative works with the Dayton, Ohio community partners to create a sustainable and just food system in the Miami Valley area of Ohio.
  4. Alan Wight faculty at Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences and the University of Cincinnati.
The event kicked off with presentations by each of the panelists showing the audience what their organizations do for their local communities and how they support food security:
  • Rid-All Green Partnership in the Cleveland, OH area bring education and training to the Kinsman community about urban farming and healthy food habits. They have several green houses, hood houses, and an aquaponics fishery on site.
  • Green Umbrella in the Cincinnati area, works within a 10 county area to be the convener of collaboration on food policy and environmental change. Their current projects include: healthy soils, farm to school, healthy eating and healthcare, and zero food to landfills.
  • Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences and the University of Cincinnati presentation was on the food mapping efforts they are involved in, in the Cincinnati community. The maps integrate the beauty of art with the sophistication of geographic science to help people in the Cincinnati community understand where they can find local urban farms and edible food.
  • The Hall Hunger Initiative in the Dayton, OH area showed the link between the health system and food system in American and ways to improve upon it.
Follow this link to learn more. Sourced from: CURA
The Center for Community Solutions, in partnership with Advocates for Ohio’s Future, will host webinars each Friday at 1 p.m. in which a series of advocates will discuss what COVID-19 means for policy and what potential policy changes could mean to you. This Friday’s webinar will feature three experts, from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Policy Matters Ohio. The webinar is being held Friday, April 10, 2020, 1-2 p.m. EST. Follow this link to learn more. Sourced from: The Center for Community Solutions.
The coronavirus pandemic has thrown America into a coast-to-coast lockdown, spurring ubiquitous economic impacts. Data on smartphone movement indicates that virtually all regions of the nation are practicing some degree of social distancing, resulting in less foot traffic and sales for businesses. Meanwhile, last week’s release of unemployment insurance claims confirms that every state is seeing a significant rise in layoffs. And yet, while the public health and economic impacts of the virus are already massive, it would not be right to say that the crisis is evenly distributed. Follow this link to read more. Sourced from: Brookings
The Ohio State University Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics seeks applications for an Assistant Professor in Regional/Rural/Urban Economics, with a focus on economic development in rural communities representative of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. We are seeking an individual to develop cutting-edge research, teaching, and Extension program in regional economics that explores the interactions between local rural and urban communities, industries, policies, and economies. Follow this link to learn more. Sourced from: CFAES
The Center for Community Solutions, in partnership with Advocates for Ohio’s Future, will host webinars each Friday at 1 p.m. where a series of advocates will discuss what COVID-19 means for policy and what potential policy changes could mean to you. Their inaugural webinar in this series will feature two experts from Community Catalyst, a national consumer health advocacy organization. The first webinar will take place Friday, April 3, 2020 at 1 p.m. EDT Follow this link to learn more. Sourced from: The Center for Community Solutions
The United States continues to be a country of tremendous economic opportunity, but this opportunity is not shared equally among the nation’s residents. As highlighted by the Shared Prosperity Partnership, success in the 21st century depends on generating growth that benefits individuals of all incomes, races, and ethnicities (Berube et al. 2018). Yet even in the nation’s most successful cities, the failure to distribute the economic opportunities and benefits more evenly across under-served communities has resulted in stark racial and economic disparities. Across the United States, courageous leaders at the local level are responding with creativity and resolve to promote more inclusive growth, but they face a challenging combination of disruptive forces (Poethig et al. 2018). Follow this link to learn more. Sourced from: Brookings

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