Project Overview
Information Products
Commodities
Practices
- Sustainable Communities: Outreach via Website, Facebook and You Tube channel
Proposal abstract:
The three professional development initiatives in the 2017-2018 Illinois SARE PDP State Plan of Work are: (1) Addressing New Water Quality Challenges; (2) Growing Local Food Systems and Value-Added Agriculture; and (3) Building Soil Health. The first initiative incorporates a new focus area of recent state relevance, while the latter two these initiatives continue areas of concentration from previous plans of work. Programs will focus on providing professional development opportunities for a wide range of educators – University of Illinois Extension staff, USDA employees, related agricultural agency employees, nonprofit organizations committed to sustainable agriculture programming, high school and community college agriculture teachers, and up-and-coming sustainable agriculture educators.
University of Illinois Extension educators are located in 27 multi-county units, with most units comprised of 3 to 5 counties. Currently there are 12 Extension Educators for Local Food Systems and Small Farms, 17 Extension Educators for Horticulture, 5 Extension Educators in Commercial Agriculture, and 5 Extension Educators for Energy and Environmental Stewardship. These and other Extension Educators in Community and Economic
Development, as well as several County Directors, are primary clients for our SARE initiatives. In addition, we recruit participation in professional development programs by staff from nonprofit groups such as the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, the Land Connection, and others, as well as USDA personnel.
Project objectives from proposal:
The three professional development initiatives in the 2017-2018 Illinois SARE PDP State Plan of Work are: (1) Addressing New Water Quality Challenges; (2) Growing Local Food Systems and Value-Added Agriculture; and (3) Building Soil Health.