Support stakeholder groups:
- Rely on stakeholder involvement in program development
Mecke, M. (2004) Finding 2
Best Education Practice: Community 
See below for: research findings about outreach with a community.
For the Community, the learning experience:
- Builds on locally existing skills and resources.
- Supports a person who takes responsibility for managing or leading the process, and relies on quality group planning and facilitation techniques.
- Is flexible in response to both process and conditions.
- Provides participants with feedback about the results of their actions.
- Generates and makes use of data about the local condition.
- Takes into consideration the community as a whole, including: socio-political, economic, historical, and cultural influences.
- Evolves from work with a coalition or group.
- Builds effectiveness through linkages to other communities, partners, and resources.
- Takes place close to the location where people practice a behavior of concern.
- Reaches people in multiple ways.
- Relates to long-term community vision and goals.
- Provides training to increase skills needed to accomplish goals identified by the group.
Findings Navigation: Browse by Audience; Browse by Theme; Browse by Best Education Practice; Browse by multiple topics
Lanyon, L. E., Kiernan, N.-E., & Stoltzfus, J. H. (1996) Finding 3
Involve target audience in:
- Choosing and testing preferred technical approaches to solving a problem
Petrzelka, P., Padgitt, S. C., Connelly, K., & Miller, R. (1995) Finding 1
Work with consultants:
- Provide the farmer with the opportunity for continuous dialog with consultant. This outreach process has been shown to result in multiple on-farm management refinements with practices continuing even when dialog with consultants is no longer available as part of a project
Duram, L. A. and K. G. Brown (1999) Finding 2
Two-way communication methods, particularly door-to-door contact where possible, are more successful in soliciting participation for watershed planning initiatives than one-way communication (information) methods. Continue reading →
Curtis, A., & DeLacy, T. (1995) Finding 2
Tap into indigenous knowledge of local land stewards, especially since recommended, best-bet practices may have uncertain results in local application. Continue reading →
Herpel, R. (2004) Finding 1
Encourage community groups
- To assess source water in order to prioritize threats, and to develop and implement action strategies
- To develop outreach strategies such as: public awareness campaigns, water conservation campaigns, pollution prevention activities (such as household hazardous waste collection), application of BMPs on farms, public policy protection strategies
Langston, A. (2004) Finding 1
Involve citizens in a watershed planning group by facilitating their understanding of the problem/situation. Continue reading →
Ribaudo, M. O., & Horan, R. D. (1999) Finding 1
Look to these conditions for opportunities to provide education that is more likely to be effective:
- Actions that improve water quality also increase profitability
- The producers’ own water quality is at stake
- The on-farm cost of water quality impairments are shown to be sufficiently large
- Education is accompanied by training for management skills of immediate need to the producer
Padgitt, S. C. (1989) Finding 3
Sources of information that most influenced farmer views about problems associated with groundwater and agricultural chemical use were: farm magazines and newspapers; general newspapers and news on radio and television; educational/research agency reports; personal observation Continue reading →
Pflugh, K. K., Shaw, J. A., Yacovelli, E., & Hagen, L. V. (1995) Finding 3
Grassroots community-based education efforts are effective in reaching at-risk urban anglers with fish consumption advisory information, as members of this group tend not to have access to traditional government communication networks such as press releases, brochures, flyers, and legal notices. Continue reading →
