Building Capacity for Urban Forestry Knowledge Using the eXtension - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Building Capacity for Urban Forestry Knowledge Using the eXtension Network

IUFRO Extension Knowledge Exchange Conference September 26, 2016, Kenora, Canada J.H Campbell and W. Hubbard Southern Regional Extension Forestry Athens, Georgia, U.S.A.

Urbanization: World Trends

 1950 to 2005, level of urbanization increased from 29% to 49% worldwide (2016 UN-Habitat World Cities Report)  81.6% urban population in U.S.

Urbanization: Human Health & Well-being

 Challenges:  Air, water, soil, light, and noise pollution  Traffic  Stress  Crime  Access to nature and parks  Who is impacted  Mitigating challenges

Value of Urban Trees and Forests

 Urban Tree Benefits:

 Air & water quality  Stormwater  Ambient temperature  Wind  Noise  Property value  Cultural  Wildlife habitat  Well-being & health  Beauty  Food  Energy conservation

Building Urban Forestry Knowledge with Online Resources

An Overview of Three Projects

eXtension: Platform for Urban Forestry Knowledge Transfer

 2011 US Forest Service grant ($176K)  Focus on energy conservation and urban trees  Develop online, national resource for diverse audience  Community of Practice (CoP)  Utilize eXtension delivery system  Partners (TX, TN, VA)

eXtension CoP: Urban Forestry & Energy Conservation (UFEC)

 What is a CoP?  Why join?  UFEC CoP  2012: 12 leaders and 7 members  2016: 8 leaders and 53 members  UFEC CoP leader roles:  Identify, develop, and review content, provide expertise, events

eXtension Webpage: Trees for Energy Conservation

 Drupal  Resource development (2012- present):  83 articles  111 FAQs  Peer-reviewed

http://articles.extension.org/trees_for_energy_conservation

 Marketing/ Promotion  Web traffic (Google Analytics)  2,800 sessions, 75/day average (Aug. 2016)  54,024 sessions (since launching in

• Jan. 2013)

 U.S., Australia, India  U.S. cities

Trees for Energy Conservation: Video Series

 2013 US Forest Service Grant (12K)  Project goal  Partners (VA, FL, AL, SC)  Audience  29 videos (2015-2016)  Featured on:  Trees for Energy Conservation  You Tube channel

 Promotion & traffic

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjGWitL5yT9Qz4wThE79yYg

Trees for Energy Conservation: Video Series

eLearn Urban Forestry

 2012 US Forest Service Grant ($165K)  Project goal  Partners (USFS Region 8, TX, SGSF)  Audience  10 eLearning modules  Certificate of completion  SAF, ISA credit  Online location  eXtension Campus  SREF website

 Free!

http://urban.elearn.sref.info/

eLearn Urban Forestry

 Utilization/ training  eXtension Campus (120 registered, 19 certificates)  Required course: UGA Coop Ext Agents  Web Traffic  22,000 page views, low bounce rate, high time per page  People using modules!

 Marketing

http://urban.elearn.sref.info/

Future of Resources

Promoting, Updating, and Maintaining

Increasing Impact of Resources

 Go-to resource  Trends in use  Partnerships

 UGA Agent training  USFS-Urban Forestry South

 Professional development

 Webinars  Videos

 Marketing  Additional funding

Thanks to our Funder & Partners

Funding provided by: US Forest Service, National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council Primary partners: US Forest Service-Region 8, Virginia Tech, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Texas A&M Agrilife Extension, and University of Tennessee. Also, the University of Florida, Clemson University, and Auburn University Cooperative Extension Services; Bartlett Tree Care Experts; Southern Group

• f State Foresters; the University of Georgia; and

many more…

Thank you!

Holly Campbell, Extension Associate Southern Regional Extension Forestry, hcampbell@sref.info Athens, GA, USA Hey from Bill!