Progress 08/15/23 to 08/14/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The National Extension Tourism (NET) network works to integrate research, education and outreach within Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant to support sustainable tourism, especially in rural communities.The NET conference provides aprime opportunity for Cooperative Extension, Sea Grant, and other partners to come together and discuss tourism and outdoor recreation issues.This conference grant allowed NET to expand its efforts, especially related to diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI), for its 2023 conference and build on progress NET has made under previous USDA funding. In particular,this project aimed toenhance the organization's support for rural and tribal communities looking to increase opportunities for economic development and improve quality of life through sustainable tourism and outdoor recreation. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The primary objectives of our grant proposal were accomplished in the following ways: 1. Increase the number of conference participants from underrepresented higher educational institutions, e.g., 1994s and 1890s; county extension offices; and State Rural Development Councils Based on conference evaluation data (43 responses out of 80 attendees), demographics of conference attendees included: 13 male, 28 female, 1 prefer not to say 32 white or Caucasian, 3 Black or African American, 4 Asian, 2 other, 2 prefer not to say We had 1 attendee from an 1890, 1994, or other Minority Serving Institution (MSI). We had 21 County/Extension/Station staff and 1 Regional Rural Development Center (RRDC) staff. While we may not have been as successful as we were hoping with increasing participation from MSIs, we had at least 25 first-time attendees to the conference (based on evaluation responses). Thanks to this grant and other sponsorship funding, we were able to award nearly $20,000 in scholarships, much of which went to first time attendees and students. 3 people mentioned scholarships as one of the things that helped them attend the conference in the evaluation. People who filled out the evaluation indicated that they were very satisfied with the cost of the conference. We were able to subsidize registration costs by approximately half with an additional discount for students, which was made possible by this grant. 2. Secure a diverse lineup of speakers who are leading diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI) efforts in the tourism and outdoor recreation space NIFA funds were used to organize an amazing panel of DEAI speakers to close the conference, which featured James Edward Mills, Damiam Buchman, Tony Snell Rodriguez, and Sue Slocum. During the panel, entitled "How do we move NET's Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) efforts forward?," the speakers touched on issues in the tourism and outdoor recreation space that affect people of color, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ+ community, and rural communities. People ranked the panel very favorably in the conference evaluation. 3. Provide workshop opportunities and conference sessions that showcase place-making assets and intersections with DEAI issues, including rural livability, new resident attraction and retention, and economic development and prosperity The conference mobile workshops were the most highly ranked item in the conference evaluation. We worked to offer a variety of opportunities that showcased the many different faces of tourism and outdoor recreation in the greater Milwaukee area, including how the city has been transforming its urban river areas into spaces that uplift social justice and DEAI. 4. Incorporate DEAI best practices into conference organization and logistics to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all In addition to working to make the conference accessible and to uplift diverse stories and perspectives, we strived to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all. This included by hosting a first-timers reception on the first night of the conference to facilitate networking between first-time attendees, the NET Design Team, and the Conference Planning Committee and sending daily emails aimed at helping attendees navigate their way through the event. We also reworked our conference evaluation to include DEAI-focused questions - the answers to which will help guide the NET DEAI Committee's work moving forward. Questions focused on current challenges facing our network and ideas about how to move forward. Based on feedback that we received, next steps for NET's DEAI Committee include (1) trying to organize a panel at NET's 2025 conference that showcases DEAI case studies and (2) developing a DEAI statement for NET.

Publications