Increasing the Impact of Extension Services’ Programs Through Collaborations at the National, State and Local Levels MM M. Cassandra Wiggins, Ed.D North Carolina State University, USA

Collaboration is a process which: 1) people, groups and organizations work together to achieve desired results 2) identify common issues, problems, strategies to achieve desired results 3) recognize differences – more powerful than working separately Children’s Environmental Health

Key Factors influencing the collaborative process: Leadership Communication Community Development Sustainability Participation by citizens Unity Informal organization Successful accomplishments Children’s Environmental Health

Extension Professionals must understand the collaboration process in order to: Seek and secure resources expertise new perspective To effectively address complex problems improve program outcomes increase impact of Extension Services’ Programs achieve program sustainability Children’s Environmental Health

The Children’s Environmental Health Collaboration- An Integrated Model Is a collective approach involving partners and various disciplines planning and implementing one or more change strategies to impact the individual and their immediate environment and community organizations, systems, policies, rules including cultural and economy that are associated with one or more identified issues. Children’s Environmental Health

North Carolina Integrated Program Model NCCES-CEH Collaboration USDA NCAT NCSU EPA Region 4 CEH Collaboration 13 Land-Grant Universities NC State Agencies County Issues County Issues EPA Region 4 Community Development Social, Economic, and Environmental Issues USDA – United States Department of Agriculture NCAT – North Carolina A &T State University NCSU – North Carolina State University NCCES – North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service CEH - Children’s Environmental Health EPA – Environmental Protection Agency

NationalRegionalState CountyCommunit y USDA ( United States Dept. of Agriculture) SERA-IEG-19 Health ( universities and health professionals) Various State AgenciesHealth Departments Healthcare Providers EPA ( Environmental Protection Agency) EPA Region 4 NC Asthma Alliance ( 50 agencies, universities, drug companies, etc.) HospitalsChildcare Facilities Duke UniversitySchoolsPTAs CDC( Center for Disease Control) University -Schools of Public Health Community CollegesChurches HUD ( Housing & Urban Development) PESHU ( Pediatric Environmental Specialty Health Unit) University Teaching & Research Faculty (i.e., Toxicology, Entomology, etc.) Water & Waste Management Civic Organizations Universities Community Centers Contractors, Building Inspectors Youth Organizations RealtorsVolunteers North Carolina Cooperative Extension Children’s Environmental Health Collaborators

The success of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Children’s Environmental Health Collaboration can be attributed to: 1. Shared leadership 2. Focused on identifying shared goals to be accomplished. 3.Achievement of essential trust between partners 4.Establishment of well defined roles and responsibilities 5.Respect for individual team members contributions, values and opinions 6.Active participation from Extension and external partners 7.Team approach to secure resources for project sustainability 8.Multidisciplinary team expertise Children’s Environmental Health

Implications for Future Extension Collaborative Efforts Continue to expand Extension educational outreach efforts on the local, state, national and international levels Virtual Universities - Extension Virtual University Seek funding from Corporations and other funding agencies that are located in several countries – support multi-countries projects International organizations, conferences: opportunity to expand or generate collaborative efforts Children’s Environmental Health

What is Children’s Environmental Health (CEH)? The world’s children are The world’s future