Progress 09/01/22 to 03/04/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences that were the focus of the Western Rural Development Center's efforts were Cooperative Extension professionals, specialists, and research faculty in the Western U.S. mostly working in Community Development and/or engaged in Extension or research activities correlating to community developmennt including but not limited to: digital equity and access, outdoor recreation economies, and climate education. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Western Rural Development Center has provided opportunities for training and professional devleopment through: Community Development 101 Providiong leadership with colleagues at the other three Regional Rural Development Centers and CD Extension faculty/specialistsfrom across the nation to updateand develop a curriculum on community development principles and practices. A teaser webinar about the curriculum is being preparedwith plans to deliver it in April 2024. Professional Devleopment Meetings/Webinar of the National Extension Climate Initiative Hosted 11 monthly Executive Commitee meetings of the National Extension Climate Initiative Hosted 11 monhtly meetings/webinars. Details of each are available on the NECI website -https://nationalextensionclimateinitiative.net/pd-meetings/ Western Extension Community Devleopent Working Group Hosted 10 monthly working group meetings. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Details of the WRDC's meetings, initiatives, and activities are shared during board and working group meetings, presentations made by the director/associate director,and via emails and newsletters to the listservs managed by the Center. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? GOAL 1: Combat Climate Change to Support America's Working Lands, Natural Resources, and Communities National Extension Climate Initiative -https://nationalextensionclimateinitiative.net/ The National Extension Climate Initiative (NECI) promotes climate change-related education and research across Cooperative Extension and supports an engaged, transparent, inclusive, and ethical culture. The Initiative is open to all professionals representing Land and Sea Grant Universities and their related associations, and organizations and partnerships. Strategies/Actions - Encourage cooperation; strengthen communication; develop, sponsor, collaborate, and promote evidence-based education and training that advances climate change education and outreach; and enhance Extension's capacity for community engaged education on a full range of climate mitigation and adaptation issues. GOAL 5: Expand Opportunities for Economic Development and Improve Quality of Life in Rural and Tribal Communities Area Sector Analysis Process (ASAP) -https://www.usu.edu/wrdc/asap After 16 years of delivering targeted research to western communities, the Western Rural Development Center's Area Sector Analysis Process (ASAP) team finalized its work and the program has been completed. Funded by the NIFA/WRDC and several AFRI grants, ASAP assisted communities in targeted, sustainable economic development by identifying: 1. Community goals and priorities for economic development. 2. Community assets that will help achieve the community's goals and priorities. 3. Industry needs and factors important for locating their operations in a community. 4. Businesses that are consistent with the community's goals and priorities. ASAP By the Numbers Over the years, 53 western communities participated in ASAP with over 1,000 citizens serving on ASAP committees within their communities, and thousands of western rural community residents completed the ASAP goals survey which helped their communities identify economic development opportunities. Western Extension Community Development Working Group The Western Extension Community Development Working Group was created in late 2019 in collaboration with the Western Extension Directors to: Share best practices; Discuss emerging regional issues; Identify gaps in research and outreach; Identify topics and funding sources to pursue multi-state grant funding and then create and submit grant proposals; Develop materials on community development response, resiliency, and rebuilding during and following a pandemic; and Provide professional development opportunities through guest presenters, and as funds are available, face-to-face subgroup meetings and work sessions. In 2022, a seubgroup of this working group completed development of a training curriculum on community development for Extension employees. It was presented to a subcommittee of the Western Extension Directors Association for considerationg of region-wide adoption and delivery. To this day, it remains with WEDA for advancement. Advancing Rural Prosperity and Equity through the New Forest Economy -https://extension.oregonstate.edu/hands-land The WRDC is a partner and sub-recipient of this AFRI grant led by Emily Jane Davis, Oregon State University Extension. The project aims to foster equitable employment and entrepreneurship through the new forest economy in the American West to create more vibrant and prosperous rural communities and Latinx populations that sustain economic growth. Strategies/Actions - Adapt research findings to clearly articulate the paths and barriers to equitable forest work for practitioner audiences in a mixed-media series of Extension publications, web-based extension, and workshops; Increase decision maker awareness of how land management decisions and policies affect equity outcomes for workers and businesses by extending new knowledge to these audiences.

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Rural Connections. Volume 14. Issue 1. Spring/Summer 2022. https://www.usu.edu/wrdc/files/news-publications/RC-SPR-SUM-2022.pdf
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Western Rural Development Center 2022 Annual Report. 2023. https://www.usu.edu/wrdc/publications/AR2022web.pdf
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: National Extension Initiatives Operating Guidelines. 2023. https://nationalextensionclimateinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/NECI-Operating-Guidelines-2023.pdf NOTE: The NIFA Support Acknowledgement was not included in this document; however, it is included on NECI's homepage - https://nationalextensionclimateinitiative.net/

Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences that were the focus of the Western Rural Development Center's efforts were Cooperative Extension professionals, specialists, and research faculty in the Western U.S. mostly working in Community Development and/or engaged in Extension or research activities correlating to community developmennt including but not limited to: digital equity and access, outdoor recreation economies, and climate education. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?National Extension Climate Initiative Hosted and facilitated 11 virtual professional development meetings Hosted monthly Membership Engagement Meetings Western Extension Community Development Working Group Hosted and facilitated 10 monthly meetings How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Details of the WRDC's meetings, initiatives, and activities are shared during board and working group meetings, presentations made by the director/associate director, and via emails and newsletters to the listservs managed by the Center. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1: Combat Climate Change to Support America's Working Lands, Natural Resources, and Communities National Extension Climate Initative The National Extension Climate Initiative (NECI) serves to link climate change-related education and research across Extension program areas and associations. This effort is open to all professionals with the following objectives: Promote climate education and research throughout the Extension system • Communicate regularly through inclusive and transparent practices Represent and coordinate participating Land and Sea Grant Universities, national associations, and related committees, organizations and partnerships Pursue active learning and collaborative efforts that enhance professional development 2022 Activites: Hosted and facilitated 11 virtual professional development meetings Hosted monthly Membership Engagement Meetings Researched and pilot tested the EcoActUs curriculum Developed and implemented NECI's Operating Guidelines Goal 5: Expand Opportunities for Economic Development and Improve Quality of Life in Rural and Tribal Communities Advancing Rural Prosperity and Equity through the New Forest Economy The Western Rural Development Center was invited to partner with Oregon State University on an Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) grant, "Advancing Rural Prosperity and Equity through the New Forest Economy." Objectives for the project include: • The research objective is to combine quantitative and qualitative approaches to identify the community, social, and policy factors that drive or inhibit equitable labor and entrepreneurship in the new forest economy. • The education objective is to design and implement educational programming that directly addresses barriers to equitable employment for Latinx forest workers and businesses. • The Extension objective is to accelerate knowledge transfer to improve the capacity of land managers, economic development practitioners, Exten Area Sector Analysis Process The Western Rural Development Center's Area Sector Analysis Process (ASAP) team continued serving communities throughout the western U.S. The Area Sector Analysis Process, designed by Extension Specialists and Agents for Extension to use in collaboration with community leaders in targeted, sustainable economic development, has already been successfully applied to numerous communities across the region in Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Washington, and Utah. 2023 will mark the final year of ASAP and the team is finalizing its work with communities in Utah and Washington. ASAP assists communities in targeted, sustainable economic development by identifying: 1. Community goals and priorities for economic development 2. Community assets that will help achieve the community's goals and priorities 3. Industry needs and factors important for locating their operations in a community 4. Businesses that are consistent with the community's goals and priorities In 2022, ASAP was implemented in the following counties/communities: • Clallam County, Washington • Grays Harbor County, Washington • Jefferson County, Washington • Pacific County, Washington • Wahkiakum County, Washington Western Extension Community Development Work Group Theobjectives are to share best practices, discuss emerging regional issues, identify gaps in research and outreach and ways to address them, and when applicable identify topics and funding sources to pursue multi-state grant funding, submit grant proposal(s). SUBGROUPS The work group members have identified topics of special interest and have self-selected the subgroup(s) they want to participate with and contribute to. The 2022 subgroups included: Civic Learning • This subgroup developed the "Extension Leadership Program" Initiative and co-created the SEED curriculum. • They identified a need for Extension professionals to receive foundational training around core civic and community building competencies and thus set about to develop an Extension Leadership and Management Certificate Program. • This program has been presented for consideration to the Western Program and Organizational Leadership Committee (WPOLC) a committee of the Western Extension Directors Association. Community Health and Wellness • This subgroup conducted three virtual listening sessions "Health and Wellness Extension Work in the Western Region" to understand the programming efforts and experiences of Extension professionals in the Western Region of the U.S. • Read the qualitative results from the health and wellness listening sessions. • The report is available at https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/extension_curall/2295/ National Survey and Regional and National Listening Sessions In the wake of multiple chronic challenges exasperated by the COVID-19 pandemic, rural communities and small towns across the U.S. are beginning to build back from the associated impacts on their economies, workforces, and communities. These efforts at recovery pose critical questions of where and how to invest. To identify where stakeholders engaged in rural development see the greatest need, the greatest opportunity, and how they view the capacity to address these needs, the Regional Rural Development Centers set out to collect feedback through a Listening Sessions Initiative funded by the Extension Foundation's NTAE program. The feedback will help inform federal agencies' priorities, grant funding opportunities, and future work of the Regional Rural Development Centers. 1. Survey of rural stakeholders distributed nationally in Autumn 2021. 2. Published preliminary findings from the surveys. The 48-page report of survey findings, "Investing in Rural Recovery: Executive Summary," is available on the Center's website at https://www.usu.edu/wrdc/news/rrdc-survey-priorities-2021, along with the executive summary and an interactive dashboard of survey findings. 3. Coordinated and hosted eight listening sessions. In Spring 2022, the Regional Rural Development Centers hosted eight listening sessions - four national sessions and four regional sessions - facilitated by Extension personnel from across the nation. 4. Published the final report "Comprehensive Summary of the National Rural Development Stakeholder Listening Sessions (February 2023)." This report summarizes results from the initiative's eight virtual listening sessions, which convened stakeholders to identify investments needed to fill the gaps between rural communities' assets and opportunities. These facilitated dialogues included four sessions conducted at the regional level focusing on issues of regional importance, and four national sessions on topics of widespread importance.

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Western Rural Development Center 2021 Annual Report. March 11, 2022. https://www.usu.edu/wrdc/files/news-publications/AR2021.pdf
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: I do not have this information from the previous project's PI Don E. Albrecht.