Last week the 2021 NEDA Planning Committee announced registration for the 2021 National Meeting, Envisioning the Future of Cooperative Extension - A System Without Borders, to be held October 12-14. For a second consecutive year, the meeting will be held virtually. The purpose of the annual event is to conduct important national dialogue and business by the Cooperative Extension Section. Registration is open exclusively to Cooperative Extension Administrators and Directors of 1862, 1890 and 1994 land-grant institutions and details are found at neda.extension.org. Space is limited to attending leaders, 1 or 2 members of their leadership team, the EDA Team, ECOP Liaisons, and officials of meeting sponsors - USDA-NIFA, Extension Foundation, APLU, and National 4-H Council. The deadline to register is by close of business September 21, 2021. Direct questions about registration to Assistant Director Sandy Ruble, sandyruble@extension.org. Stay tuned to email and the ECOP Monday Minute for the announcements of guest speakers and more details.
Explore New Toolkit - Health Equity & Well-Being Focus: A Resource by and for Extension Directors and Administrators - ECOP’s Budget and Legislative Committee has developed an Advocacy and Education Toolkit - advocacy.extension.org - to provide ECOP leadership and Cooperative Extension System Directors and Administrators with consistent messaging and resources focused on System advocacy and education priorities. These resources include priority language, talking points, and background information for consistency in land-grant university science-to-application messaging. Take a few moments this week to check out the talking points on Health Equity & Well-Being found here. Direct questions and comments to advocacy@extension.org.
Extension's Climate Change Forum Recordings Now Available - The recordings from the April 2021, 3-day the Climate Change in Extension: Elevating and Amplifying Action, is now available at https://nationalextensionclimateinitiative.net/events. Extension faculty, staff, federal representatives, administrators, interested partners and constituents met to address the question: What can/should the Cooperative Extension System do to advance climate change programming? Share this information as appropriate.
New Grant Program to Help Expand Regional Economies and Create High Wage Jobs in Distressed Rural Communities - USDA’s Rural Development Rural Business-Cooperative Service Administrator Karama Neal recently unveiled a new grant program to help rural communities create good-paying jobs and support new business opportunities in high-growth fields. Rural Innovation Stronger Economy is intended to help rural communities identify and maximize local assets and connect to networks and industry clusters within their region. The new grant program encourages a regional, innovation-driven approach to economic development. For more information, see the USDA press release.
NIFA’s Upcoming AFRI RFA Calendar - As requested by stakeholders in NIFA’s Project CAFÉ feedback, NIFA is working to create a more streamlined process. The calendar provides target dates that are subject to change until the RFAs are published in Grants.gov. The current list, now targeted in the May/June 2021 timeframe, applies to continuations, directed and second year RFAs of a multi-year solicitation. Bookmark this https://nifa.usda.gov/upcoming-rfa-calendar and check back often for updates as target dates draw near. Questions regarding this timeline can be directed to either the National Program Leader (NPL) with the associated program or email policy@usda.gov.
