Program Strategy & Structure This theme addresses the ‘how’ of Extension programming; what approaches and strategies are early adopters of C/EW programs using to successfully develop and deliver their programs? Collaboration & Partnerships Success rests upon the relationship-building between Extension and the communities and clientele for whom programs and products are developed and delivered. Within and outside of Extension, collaboration and partnerships were consistently named as keys of C/EW program success. ● “ Listening and collaboration are Extension’s history…” (R04) ● “One of the things that made [the project] so effective was having that collaboration and everyone had different strengths. We had a really wide range of backgrounds and skill sets and I think that really helped.” (R02) ● “What we found successful is if you get different voices in the community, as many voices as you possibly can to provide that input.” (R15) ● “ Collaborative processes ...are the most successful thing , if you're working together towards a common goal. That’s really…the most rewarding work and it also seems to me to be the most effective. It’s where you have the greatest impact. ” (R06) ● “So having solid partnerships and that we or I have buy-in from the very beginning on those efforts ...and building trust as well and respect from my colleagues, whether it's here in (STATE) or the other states that I work in ...because weather is easy to talk about and extreme events are easy to talk about. Climate can be a little bit more tough to talk about and [when] climate change comes in, the conversation becomes even more challenging at times. So the more trust, respect that I have and building those partnerships and ensuring that people are part of that process in the development of it from the beginning ...and that buy in, it's critical .” (R10) ● “I did this work on extreme heat and public health, and that was an opportunity to build a network of collaborators who have continued to work even after the funded programming ended. They've continued to work to implement programs and also to collaborate on further research proposals. So developing that network of collaborators that included university researchers and city staff members and public health professionals ...that's an example of a process that was very rewarding .” (R06) ● One respondent who spoke to its value and strength also noted an important tradeoff of collaboration, what they termed the “polygamist challenge, and that is with each collaboration, it’s like a marriage. You’re developing a relationship. So now you’ve got multiple marriages and how do you keep those marriages up over time? How do you maintain continuity without narrowing your focus a whole lot? And I’ve never been able to figure that one out.” [R06]
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