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USDA is making available up to $7.5 million for grants through its Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (OUAIP). The competitive grants will support the development of urban agriculture and innovative production projects through two categories, Planning Projects and Implementation Projects.

You are invited to join your regional urban colleagues June 7-9 at the 2023 North-Central NUEL Regional Conference. The conference will be held at Memorial Union on the beautiful campus of the University of Wisconsin - Madison, located in the heart of Madison, Wisconsin. The organizing committee of this year’s conference is committed to providing a conference experience that presents opportunities for you to grow as an Urban Extensionist through purposeful interaction.

To achieve this, we’re breaking from the traditional conference experience. We’ll still have great keynote speakers, your Ignite Presentations, wonderful food, and plenty of time for networking. We’re looking for a new take on the conference breakout session. To engage the audience more authentically, we’re asking you to facilitate breakout sessions in a new way.

As a nod to the Community Development acumen we believe all Extension Professionals should have, we want our breakout sessions to introduce an issue/idea/concept and then work on it - collaboratively. This format will allow for a more participatory experience for attendees and provide an opportunity for collaborative issue identification and resolution.

Facilitated Discussion Sessions will be 75-minutes in length. Facilitators are encouraged to name co-facilitators and/or scribes to document the work of the group during their sessions.

Submitting Your Proposal Is Easy
If you’re ready to submit your proposal for a Facilitated Discussion or an Ignite Presentation, visit this link by January 31, 2023. We’ll notify you on February 10, 2023, if your proposal is selected.

Need inspiration for crafting your proposal? We’re looking for sessions that highlight hot Extension topics, elevate urban outreach, or broker conversations on critical issues. You might consider framing your proposal within one of NUEL’s Program Areas of Strengthening Communities, Protecting the Environment, Improving our Health, Enriching Youth, and Feeding the Future. Additionally, here are some themes that the organizing committee has brainstormed.

If you have questions or want to run an idea by the committee, feel free to reach out:
Durriyyah Kemp - kemp@illinois.edu
Michelle Cox - mcx@illinois.edu
Marlin Bates - batesm@ksu.edu

The vast majority of the state of Ohio is growing older, losing population, and losing workers — a trend offset only by growth happening mostly in Columbus and surrounding areas, a new report shows.

From 2000 to 2020, the state of Ohio saw its population grow by 3%, but if the city of Columbus and surrounding areas are removed from the equation, the rest of the state experienced population loss of about 1%, or 100,000 people, according to a new study from the nonpartisan nonprofit Greater Ohio Policy Center. Read the complete article.

Sourced from Ohio Capital Journal

NUEL’s North Central Regional Conference will be held June 7-9, 2023 on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Join you colleagues and be a part of a conference “shift” to cultivate spaces to discuss hot Extension topics, discover creative ways to elevate urban outreach, engage in thoughtful dialogue about critical issues, and participate in think tank sessions. They are currently seeking facilitators to help lead this dynamic, non-traditional conference experience. If you want to be a part of the change, sign up to attend one of our informational sessions and learn how you can be a part of the conference culture shift!

Call for Facilitators - Informational Session Dates (follow the links to register)
Thursday, December 1, 2022, 1:00 - 2:00 (EST)
Monday, January 9, 2023, 2:00 - 3:00 (EST)