Beyond the Data: skills for moving sustainable agriculture knowledge to action.

Final report for ENC23-228

Project Type: Professional Development Program
Funds awarded in 2023: $23,700.00
Projected End Date: 03/31/2025
Grant Recipient: University of Nebraska
Region: North Central
State: Nebraska
Project Coordinator:
Barbara Rock
University of Nebraska
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Project Information

Abstract:

Increasing the adoption of sustainable agriculture innovations will require conservation professionals to not only understand and convey the technical aspects, but to understand how to best foster a communication environment that supports behavior change. The project will build participants confidence and motivation to use social science tools in their programming. The training will increase participants understanding of the basic social science and practical tools for reducing barriers for adopting sustainable agriculture practices. They can use these skills to co-create more actionable programs alongside farmers, leading to improved trust with farmers and implementation of more conservation on the land. This project will expand an 8-hour science communication curriculum and train 50 Nebraska Extension, NRCS, and local conservation professionals through two regional workshops. Each region will co-create a communication plan with a focus group of five local farmers.  

Project Objectives:

Educational materials: Complete curriculum for a full day workshop, including agenda, teaching guide, workbook, case studies. The workbook will be  provided to all participants for reference both during the workshop and for them to take and use in the future. 

Participants: The project will train 50 professionals from Extension, NRCS, and local conservation districts. The workshops will also provide the opportunity to build trust and collaboration between these professionals and their organizations as they learn and network together. 

Communication plans: At the end of the workshop & focus groups, participants will have co-created communication plans. Project personnel will create a case study of one plan for each region to share back to participants and more widely through our website.  These plans will help provide the basis for shared sustainable agriculture messaging and methods across the state. 

Project updates, evaluation, and summaries: Project personnel will synthesize program activities and outcome indicators into general public articles for distribution in the NWC newsletter and UNL newsletters. A detailed report of the activities, outputs, survey results, and outcome indicators will be shared with all project participants and NCR-SARE. 

Cooperators

Click linked name(s) to expand/collapse or show everyone's info
  • Crystal Powers
  • Ann Briggs

Education

Educational approach:

The project used a series of workshops and focus groups to teach hands-on. These varied based on client interests from one hour to 8 hour workshops. Participants were encouraged to have a diverse mix of conservation professionals and growers attend.

Education & Outreach Initiatives

Your Conservation Story
Objective:

Participants will create their own elevator pitches.

Description:

Each participant explored their own story, the story of their work, and how to create it into different elevator pitches. They then practiced their pitches with the group.

Outcomes and impacts:

This section was taught at the full workshops and at one focused workshop for 32 research faculty & graduate students. The discussion during the workshop was very involved and the project PIs plan to ask faculty to give their finished stories at their next project meeting.

Survey results were not split out by initiative. Overall 95% of respondents gained knowledge and motivation and 90% said they used the content in their work.

Getting to know farmers (Our story)
Objective:

Participants will understand and practice motivational interviewing.

Description:

Participants will understand and practice motivational interviewing.

Participants learned, discussed, and practiced motivational interviewing fundamentals:

  • active listening
  • listening for change
  • open-ended questions
  • reflections
  • affirmations
  • Conversation basics: engaging, focusing, evoking, planning
Outcomes and impacts:

This section was given at all full day workshops and at one focused workshop for a team of 12 state agency professionals.

Survey results were not split out by initiative. Overall 95% of respondents gained knowledge and motivation and 90% said they used the content in their work.

Choosing appropriate conservation actions (The Story of Now)
Objective:

Analyze different conservation agriculture practices
Prioritize actions to promote in their local region

Description:

Participants narrow the potential actions based on their interviews with farmers using a scoring rubric.

They then analyze the benefits and barriers to adoption, using insights from the previous section of getting to know their local farmers.

Break into small groups:

  • Relative advantage: Benefits vs cost of change
  • Compatibility: How does the change fit previous values, experiences
  • Simplicity: Is the change easy to implement
  • Trialability: Can the change be tried in a low-risk
Outcomes and impacts:

This section was included in all full day workshops.

Survey results were not split out by initiative. Overall 95% of respondents gained knowledge and motivation and 90% said they used the content in their work.

Influencing conservation change
Objective:

Understand how individuals and systems change
Analyze how to influence individual action

Description:

The first section covers individual and systems change theories.

We then work though motivation and ability across three levels: structural, social, and personal.

Small groups work through matrix for the conservation practice selected in the previous section.

Outcomes and impacts:

This section is included in all full day workshops and two focused sessions. One for a Systems Change graduate course with 12 students. Another for an Extension professional development course for 8 participants.

Survey results were not split out by initiative. Overall 95% of respondents gained knowledge and motivation and 90% said they used the content in their work.

Clarifying conservation messages
Objective:

Understand and apply the EAST framework to create impactful messages

Description:

Covers message development around the selected conservation practices.

E: Easy. Includes discussion of identifying jargon

A: Attractive: Including discussion of message framing

S: Social: including data and discussion of trusted messengers

T: Timely

Finish with case studies and discussion of four existing conservation agriculture videos

Outcomes and impacts:

This section was included in all full day workshops and one focused session for six science communication professionals and a lecture for 30 natural resources professionals.

Survey results were not split out by initiative. Overall 95% of respondents gained knowledge and motivation and 90% said they used the content in their work.

Risk Communication
Objective:

Learn and practice answering tough questions, media interviews, and public meetings

Description:

Learn principles and a template for answering tough questions, media interviews, and public meetings.

  • Evaluate 'threat level' of their messaging
  • Practice re-framing
  • Use the Message Box
  • Practice bridging statements

Plan the layout and organization of a public meeting.

Outcomes and impacts:

This is a participant requested section. It was added only for the final full day workshop.

Survey results were not split out by initiative. Overall 95% of respondents gained knowledge and motivation and 90% said they used the content in their work.

Educational & Outreach Activities

7 Curricula, factsheets or educational tools
2 Published press articles, newsletters
2 Webinars / talks / presentations
8 Workshop field days

Participation Summary:

26 Extension
16 NRCS
32 Researchers
179 Agency

Learning Outcomes

240 Participants gained or increased knowledge, skills and/or attitudes about sustainable agriculture topics, practices, strategies, approaches
228 Ag professionals intend to use knowledge, attitudes, skills and/or awareness learned

Project Outcomes

15 New working collaborations
Project outcomes:

During the workshops one of the largest impacts was on-boarding new conservation employees by having discussions with the more experienced. Many new NRCS, NRD, and even some Extension staff have little experience talking with Midwest farmers. All workshops had significant discussion components and learning from those who have been successful communicating with farmers.

95% of participants surveyed said they improved their science communication skills and improved their motivation to use the skills in their work. In a follow up survey 90% of participants said they changed their work practices.

228 Agricultural service provider participants who used knowledge and skills learned through this project (or incorporated project materials) in their educational activities, services, information products and/or tools for farmers
Success stories:
  1. One group of Natural Resource District participants had an upcoming farmer open house. They developed a new messaging campaign around nitrogen efficiency and tried it out. They then wanted to on-board new colleagues and refine their campaign, so requested a second workshop in the final project year where they also invited all their district NRCS colleagues to join in.
  2. Another NRD participant had an upcoming presentation and said after the workshop that he would use what he learned to make significant changes to how he presented to farmers.

 

Information Products

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.