fostering consistency in messaging and materials for water resource outreach and engagement across the state
creating effective, measurable outreach and engagement programming through the use of planning and evaluation
helping education and outreach staff communicate program outcomes and benefits that can increase support from local decision-makers such as county commissioners and SWCD board members
highlighting the excellent work that local water practitioners are doing by showcasing their original materials through the WEP Hub
Program Future
The WEP Hub will include
Many SWCDs face a lack of dedicated funding or support to hire or train staff in outreach, engagement, and communication — in part because decision- makers are reluctant to invest in education when it can be difficult to see the return on the investment. The materials in this Hub will help watershed technical staff set measurable goals for outreach and engagement, track behavior change among their constituents, and communicate results to decision-makers, which could greatly increase support and funding for their outreach programs. The Hub team sees many possibilities for this project — including continued growth of content over time, by using external sources and by creating its own. It also sees opportunities for interactive activities such as online courses or in-person
topical materials for common conservation topics, such as cover crops, grassed waterways, and rain gardens links to multimedia content for use in outreach programming templates for fact sheets and other resources templates to create digitally accessible content resources for social media and graphic design, including instructional videos and links to image libraries resources for program evaluation communication and presentation skill development resources outreach and communication plan templates and examples testimonials, case studies, and success stories from peers resources for audience assessment and other community engagement tool
HUB TOOLS
workshops about program evaluation, communication/teaching in a watershed context, and myriad other topics. The overarching goal is to use the Hub as a nexus for programming and engagement with and among water resource practitioners across Minnesota and beyond.
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