Personal food system mapping is a practical means to engage community participants and educators in individualized and shared learning about food systems, decisions, and behaviors. Moreover, it is a useful approach for introducing the food system concept, which is somewhat abstract. We developed the approach to capture diversity of personal food…

The increase in shale gas drilling in Pennsylvania has resulted in thousands of landowners receiving predrilling testing of their drinking water. Landowners often have difficulty understanding test reports resulting in low awareness of pre-existing problems. Extension and several partners developed a program to improve understanding of…

Measuring the energy and environmental impact of residential energy education efforts is difficult. The E-Conservation residential energy management program uses consumer energy kits to document the impact of energy-efficient improvements. The consumer energy kit provides an incentive for individuals attending energy education workshop, helps…

Extension work also includes a tradition of educational organizing that develops leadership, builds civic capacity, and facilitates learning by bringing people and resources together to identify, deliberate about, and act on important public issues and problems. A practitioner profile illustrates the roles played and the values involved in the…

Cooperative Extension and community colleges have compatble areas in adult education. As they develop a coordinated program, other agencies will add to the area, such as libraries, secondary schools, and governmental agencies. (EB)

A framework for community action leadership development has four components: (1) holistic philosophy of community, vision, learning, and action; (2) action-based values (visioning, leading, learning, building community, developing energy, acting, communicating); (3) the role of leaders in promoting community action; and (4) method and content. (SK)

Reports results from a survey--conducted under the auspices of the Neighborhood Continuing Education Program of Savannah, Georgia--of residents of a former model cities area to find out what education and retraining they might want and need, with implications for extension programing. (MF)

Discusses a survey of 178 gardeners from Newark, New Jersey, and describes Extension's role in improving the life quality and socioeconomic well-being of individuals, families, and neighborhoods through community gardening in an urban environment. (Author)

Empowerment is a multidimensional social process that helps people develop power to use in their lives, communities, and society. The Connecticut People Empowering People program builds on the theory of critical adult education to develop skills and supports for empowerment. (SK)

Cooperative Extension and the community colleges should join forces in solving community problems. (RB)

Clarifies the concept of free space--a setting in which people can meet for public talk and contribute to solving public problems--and the need to integrate it into extension leadership and public policy programs. Offers two case studies and insights about how lessons learned from them can be applied to extension education. (JOW)

Edible Connections brings together the media, the public, and food system stakeholders to increase awareness and understanding of the local food system, strengthen connections among stakeholders, and address food system problems identified by a given community. Extension educators have successfully used it to educate about food access, hunger,…

The authors report the results of research aimed at determining who adopts home practices from published information and to what extent these practices are passed on to others. The study helps explain who uses published material from the Extension Service and suggests where limited publication resources might best be used. (Author/JC)

Extension needs to find its future niche in the urban area where people now are with the same success that it currently enjoys in rural areas. Opportunities for extension programing include at-risk youth and families, environmental quality, and community revitalization. (JOW)

Extension educators broadened their capacity to educate more Latino families about lead poisoning through collaboration with community agencies. Agencies were provided multicultural curriculum materials and staff training to carry the program into the community. (SK)