Engagement to Enhance Community: An Example of Extension’s Land-Grant Mission in Action

Engagement is a foundational practice for the Extension systems of land-grant universities and is demonstrated through its’ work in partnership with individuals, organizations and communities. This article will share how an Extension-led effort, focused on an aspect of community development, integrated several components of engagement starting with the initial conversation through the evaluation process. Practitioner reflections on two examples that occurred in different states will highlight the processes and tools that helped nurture engagement between faculty and community and support the development of a sustainable and resilient community. The multi-state implementation will illustrate the unique depth and breadth of public participation that can be achieved when academic institutions are focused on engagement to strengthen communities

Resilience in Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: Capacity to Overcome Disasters and Hardships. 2020 Nebraska Rural Poll Results

The definition of resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. Synonyms include toughness, perseverance and grit. Last spring’s severe weather events and this year’s ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are likely testing the resilience of rural Nebraskans. Given that, how do rural Nebraskans rate their communities on dimensions that measure their resiliency? How confident are they that the federal government or local emergency management authorities can contain infectious disease outbreaks? How do they rate their ability to help their community handle adversities? How prepared are rural Nebraskans to deal with financial emergencies? This paper provides a detailed analysis of these questions. This report details 1,979 responses to the 2020 Nebraska Rural Poll, the 25th annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions about resilience. Comparisons are made among different respondent subgroups, that is, comparisons by age, occupation, region, etc. Based on these analyses, some key findings emerged: • Most rural Nebraskans agree that their community contains most elements of resilience: trust among residents, ability to overcome an emergency situation, residents working together to improve the community, people that help each other, community information sharing and community priority and goal setting. • Rural Nebraskans are less likely to say their community treats everyone fairly, actively plans for future disasters, trusts public officials, and look at its successes and failures to learn from the past. • Most rural Nebraskans agree that infectious diseases will have a major impact in the country in the next few years. • Most rural Nebraskans assume that there will be limits on what federal and local governments can do to contain a widespread infectious disease outbreak. • Most rural Nebraskans believe they can help improve their communities when something bad happens and can take setbacks in their community’s progress in stride. • Savings, credit card(s) and a bank loan are the most accessible sources of emergency funds for rural Nebraskans

Exploring the Nebraska Rural Poll, 2020

The Nebraska Rural Poll was initiated in 1996. Over the past 24 years, input has been gathered from over 64,000 nonmetropolitan Nebraskans. 102 separate reports have been produced covering 31 unique topics Trend Analysis Subgroup Comparisons Some questions have been repeated at various intervals of tim

Community Involvement and Leadership in Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: Rural Poll Research Report 19-1

Community leadership and involvement are important parts of community development. Rural communities rely on volunteers for many community development activities as well as local leadership positions. In smaller communities in particular, community members often take on multiple roles. Given these challenges, how involved are rural Nebraskans in community and political activities? How do they feel about the leadership in their community? How often do they have social interactions with others during a typical month? This paper provides a detailed analysis of these questions. This report details 1,776 responses to the 2019 Nebraska Rural Poll, the 24th annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions about their community involvement and community leadership. Trends for some of the questions are examined by comparing data from the 2015 Rural Poll. In addition, comparisons are made among different respondent subgroups, that is, comparisons by age, occupation, region, etc. Based on these analyses, some key findings emerged

Perceptions of Immigration Among Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans: Nebraska Rural Poll Research Report 19-2

The percent of Nebraska’s population that is foreign born has steadily increased during the past decade. In fact, its growth in foreign born population since 2010 ranks in the top 10 among all states. Given these changes, are rural Nebraskans aware of recent immigrants in their community? How do they perceive immigrants and their impacts on rural Nebraska? How do they view various immigration policies? This paper provides a detailed analysis of these questions. This report details 1,776 responses to the 2019 Nebraska Rural Poll, the 24th annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions about immigration. Trends for some of the questions are examined by comparing data from the 2006 Rural Poll. In addition, comparisons are made among different respondent subgroups, that is, comparisons by age, occupation, region, etc. Based on these analyses, some key findings emerged

Trends in Well-Being in Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: Nebraska Rural Poll Research Report 19-3

Nebraska’s economy remained strong in the beginning of 2019. However, the continued weakness of the agriculture sector had the possibility of hampering the state’s economic growth. In addition, the March flooding had the potential for negative economic effects. Given these challenges, how do rural Nebraskans feel about their community? Are they satisfied with the services provided by their community? How do rural Nebraskans believe they are doing and how do they view their future? How satisfied are they with various items that influence their well-being? Have these views changed over the past 24 years? This paper provides a detailed analysis of these questions. This report details 1,776 responses to the 2019 Nebraska Rural Poll, the 24th annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions about their community and well-being. Trends for some of the questions are examined by comparing data from the 23 previous polls to this year’s results. In addition, comparisons are made among different respondent subgroups, that is, comparisons by age, occupation, region, etc. Based on these analyses, some key findings emerged

A Conceptual Framework for Social, Behavioral, and Environmental Change through Stakeholder Engagement in Water Resource Management

Incorporating stakeholder engagement into environmental management may help in the pursuit of novel approaches for addressing complex water resource problems. However, evidence about how and under what circumstances stakeholder engagement enables desirable changes remains elusive. In this paper, we develop a conceptual framework for studying social and environmental changes possible through stakeholder engagement in water resource management, from inception to outcomes. We synthesize concepts from multiple literatures to provide a framework for tracing linkages from contextual conditions, through engagement process design features, to social learning, community capacity building, and behavioral change at individual, group, and group network levels, and ultimately to environmental change. We discuss opportunities to enhance the framework including through empirical applications to delineate scalar and temporal dimensions of social, behavioral, and environmental changes resulting from stakeholder engagement, and the potential for negative outcomes thus far glossed over in research on change through engagement

Engagement to Enhance Community: An Example of Extension’s Land-Grant Mission in Action

Engagement is a foundational practice for the Extension systems of land-grant universities and is demonstrated through its’ work in partnership with individuals, organizations and communities. This article will share how an Extension-led effort, focused on an aspect of community development, integrated several components of engagement starting with the initial conversation through the evaluation process. Practitioner reflections on two examples that occurred in different states will highlight the processes and tools that helped nurture engagement between faculty and community and support the development of a sustainable and resilient community. The multi-state implementation will illustrate the unique depth and breadth of public participation that can be achieved when academic institutions are focused on engagement to strengthen communities

Exploring the Nebraska Rural Poll, 2020

The Nebraska Rural Poll was initiated in 1996. Over the past 24 years, input has been gathered from over 64,000 nonmetropolitan Nebraskans. 102 separate reports have been produced covering 31 unique topics Trend Analysis Subgroup Comparisons Some questions have been repeated at various intervals of tim

Resilience in Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: Capacity to Overcome Disasters and Hardships. 2020 Nebraska Rural Poll Results

The definition of resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. Synonyms include toughness, perseverance and grit. Last spring’s severe weather events and this year’s ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are likely testing the resilience of rural Nebraskans. Given that, how do rural Nebraskans rate their communities on dimensions that measure their resiliency? How confident are they that the federal government or local emergency management authorities can contain infectious disease outbreaks? How do they rate their ability to help their community handle adversities? How prepared are rural Nebraskans to deal with financial emergencies? This paper provides a detailed analysis of these questions. This report details 1,979 responses to the 2020 Nebraska Rural Poll, the 25th annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions about resilience. Comparisons are made among different respondent subgroups, that is, comparisons by age, occupation, region, etc. Based on these analyses, some key findings emerged: • Most rural Nebraskans agree that their community contains most elements of resilience: trust among residents, ability to overcome an emergency situation, residents working together to improve the community, people that help each other, community information sharing and community priority and goal setting. • Rural Nebraskans are less likely to say their community treats everyone fairly, actively plans for future disasters, trusts public officials, and look at its successes and failures to learn from the past. • Most rural Nebraskans agree that infectious diseases will have a major impact in the country in the next few years. • Most rural Nebraskans assume that there will be limits on what federal and local governments can do to contain a widespread infectious disease outbreak. • Most rural Nebraskans believe they can help improve their communities when something bad happens and can take setbacks in their community’s progress in stride. • Savings, credit card(s) and a bank loan are the most accessible sources of emergency funds for rural Nebraskans