Community Partner Leadership & Capacity Extension programs hinge not only on internal capacity and resources, but of equal importance, their effectiveness and reach hinges on the capacity of community partners and collaborators. Several respondents emphasized this point and recognized that while they can play a role in facilitating and fostering community
capacity through their programs, they also are dependent on external community capacity to support their Extension programs. Early adopters and leaders of C/EW programs see opportunity in catalyzing and fueling these positive feedback loops with community partners. ● “I guess what makes them (C/EW programs) successful is having those community leaders, having enough community capacity, enough of a sense of urgency or importance for the community to take something on. All of those stars aligning.” (R01) ● “Our county did not at the time have a sustainability person or department and no one was really in charge of sustainability initiatives. So that was an opportunity [for me] to grow into some programming that the community felt was really important. ” (R14) ● Speaking to the point that cities across their state have interest in partnering with Extension on climate programs but typically lack the funding to commit to those partnerships, one respondent stated that “County Extension educators are doing a great job …support going to some municipalities could be done statewide, it could be done across the country. I think that Extension really is trusted and can play a role in education and facilitation and helping communities with local climate projects. ” (R11) Nimble & Responsive to Clientele Needs Nearly all respondents spoke to their C/EW Extension programs being driven by Photo by Binyamin Mellish from Pexels.
and responsive to clientele needs, interests, and demands. Rather than working to fit their programs neatly into expectations or frameworks of their home Extension or LGU institutions, C/EW program early adopters emphasized that
Photo by NOAA on Unsplash.
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