Sustainable Coastal Communities project of the University of Delaware Sea Grant program. The intent was to make a wider public aware of topics shared during the forums. After publication, in addition to distribution by the Delmarva Farmer to all subscribers, the supplement was distributed throughout Delaware and Maryland during agriculture meetings. It was also distributed to participants in the Ohio 2019 forum.
Our Story -- Keep on Keeping On
Based on our first forums and the most recent, we’ve learned that there can be ongoing tasks to extend impact. We believe this is important as one forum doesn’t change a condition. It gets people to collaborate. We committed to keeping the momentum going to strengthen outcomes. We are doing so by periodic communication strategies; supporting the work of the Strategic Doin g™ groups; reporting on progress and outcomes; capitalizing on new opportunities and adapting future initiatives from the lessons learned. And we are committed to sharing what we’ve learned through professional articles, presentations and investigating add itional sources of funding.
Communications
We have communicated regularly with Strategic Doing™ groups between month 3 to 6. We sent monthly emails and training flyers to all registrants and key stakeholders. We focused on the Strategic Doing™ group progr ess, new resources and publicized professional development or trainings that were offered as a result of the forum. These included initiatives of the Strategic Doing™ groups as well as Extension initiatives that built on the forum content. The goals of these communiques were to maintain and strengthen momentum and to provide updates to key stakeholders.
Strategic Doing™ Groups
For each of the forums, Strategic Doing™ groups continued working for several months. The success of the groups depended on the group leader, commitment, and resources of group participants as well as the ability to resize the project into something doable in a short time. With support from Extension personnel, many groups continued some level of action that made a difference with change efforts sustained over time. For example, in Delaware, health care professionals were invited to conduct screenings at agricultural meetings. That has continued since 2018 to present 2021. Mental Health First Aid training has been offered annually since 2018 in Delaware free of charge thanks to funding and support from community partners. In Maryland, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension (SARE) grant dollars have helped to hold training for agriculture service providers, conduct a statewide forum to discuss farm stress as well as conduct farm stress programming with producers. In 2021, University of
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