● “I sometimes feel like a little bit of the odd person out; it's cross-cutting. So it doesn't really fit into the usual sort of Extension programming.” (R01) ● “ Another challenge is increasing weather and climate literacy of Extension professionals and confidence as well on how to best integrate the information into their existing programming. So here in (STATE) I'm always trying to emphasize that I'm not asking them to become an expert in another area or to go out and do a program just focused on weather and climate, because most of the time, their stakeholders don't want a presentation about climate science, but there are elements of climate science that they can integrate into existing programs that their stakeholders are interested in. And so, helping folks to feel confident and comfortable doing that and to have the vocabulary and knowledge to do it as well [is important].” (R10) ● “Extension has such a ‘Good-Old-Boy’ mentality. ” (R12) ● “[Extension] is built on this information deficit model of, ‘there are these people, they have
these empty heads, just fill them up and they'll make the right decisions.’ People aren't making bad decisions because they don't have enough information. They're making bad decisions, because of a multitude of other things. They're trapped in a system. They have these values that are from another time. There's so many reasons why they're not making the decisions we wish they would make and it's not information …it's bigger than that. ” (R13)
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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Extension Culture & Programming Several respondents raised challenges related to a lack of diversity, equity and inclusivity within our Extension culture and suggested the need to actively invite and engage more fully around C/EW issues with Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), Multilingual, and LGBTQIA Communities. These observations are especially relevant given that these communities are disproportionately impacted by climate change and extreme weather
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