The Cooperative Extension System (CES) in the 1990's is using public-private partnerships to help expand its capacity to offer youth programming in environmental education and other areas.

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These partnerships are a strategy to harness the resources and expertise of many stakeholders in confronting complex problems. The future quality of our environment, for example, may well depend on how well we do today in imparting values of stewardship, general science knowledge, and social skills to the general public and our youth.

Partnerships Create Synergy ×Ö´®3

The CES has a long tradition of national, State, and local government partnerships. As Extension increases its cooperation with the private sector, each partner, including CES, can coordinate and reallocate existing resources, to reach more clientele than they could if any one partner did it alone. Corporations become full participants in the development process by providing human and material resources, including leadership, subject matter expertise, and financial support. The following are examples of public-private partnerships: ×Ö´®2

?Environmental Stewardship through Partnerships. 4-H is expanding and modifying its traditional nonformal natural resource education for youth. Through a novel public-private partnership, the National 4-H Council and the USDA Extension Service have recruited five environmentally concerned corporations to provide leadership and resource support in creating and promoting a new environmental curriculum for youth. Joint chairs include executives from Monsanto Company, the Extension Service, and the Cooperative Extension System. ×Ö´®7

Five committees—chaired by private sector representatives from Amoco Corporation, Deere & Company, Waste Management, Inc., Monsanto Company, and International Paper Company—focus on energy conservation; forestry, rangeland, and wildlife; waste management; clear water and air; and conservation of natural resources. Members of the full committee include county agents, State specialists, Federal program leaders, and other interested organizations. The private partners are investing resources in developing and producing new education products. For further information, contact National Program Leader, Extension Service, 4-H and Youth Development, Room 3860 South Building, USDA, Washington, DC 20250-0900.

?America the Beautiful—Acre by Acre is a tree planting program for youth. Through a public-private partnership between International Paper Company (IP) and Extension's Southern Region, foresters in 1991 are helping 4-H'ers in 8 Southern States to plant 5 million tree seedlings supplied by IP. CES and IP are planning to create a national program in the coming years. For further information, contact Southern Region Extension Forester, Cooperative Extension Service, Hoke Smith Building, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602.

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?Water Riches is a 4-H water quality curriculum for youngsters 8-10 years of age in Nebraska, through a partnership with the Nebraska WellDrillers Association and the State's Natural Resource Districts. The video and print materials are formatted like a network news program around five critical water issues: how we use it, where it comes from, above and below the ground, groundwater pollution, and keeping it safe. Water Riches involved 8,500 youth in Nebraska last year, and 5 States have adopted it. For further information, contact Extension Specialist, 4-H Youth Development, 114 Agricultural Hall, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583-0700. ×Ö´®5

?National Drinking Water Week, the first week in May, is supported by CES. It is a collaborative effort of public and private organizations to help people increase their understanding of drinking water as a valuable resource.

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The ES Water Initiative Team sends packets of information with news releases, fact-sheets, tips, clip art, and a proclamation to every county Extension office nationwide. Counties use hundreds of newspaper articles, radio programs, and television broadcasts. Water quality information is also incorporated into agriculture, home economics, and youth newsletters.

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In many counties, agents plan activities with schools and other youth groups, such as classroom presentations, daylong student programs, science project mentoring, field trips, poster contests, and essay contests. Agents also plan seminars, workshops, tours, exhibits, and other educational activities for the public, including water testing by rural homeowners, which is encouraged by exhibits staffed in malls and banks. For further information, contact Extension Service, Room 3328 South Building, USDA, Washington, DC 20250-0900.

?Youth at Risk, a CES national initiative, has seven centers for action funded by the Kellogg Foundation to provide technical assistance to 69 federally funded pilot sites selected in 1991 alone. Two of these centers for action, at the University of California and Michigan State University, will focus on providing science, reading, and technology literacy. The California Science Experiences and Resources for Informal Educational Settings (SERIES) curriculum contains environmentally oriented modules on recycling, waste management, and agriculture.

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The Michigan State curriculum, SPACES, a comprehensive three-part experience, aims at helping young people develop technical skills and concern for our planet, as well as for themselves. It includes a segment called Our Common Earth, which offers experiential activities for children to explore global environmental issues and begin to solve real-life, local environmental problems. Adventure in Science (AIS) is an all-volunteer program aimed at stimulating pre-high-school students to be excited about and pursue math and science. Under this program, scientists and engineers are volunteers in out-of-school programming. For further information on the centers for action, contact Community Cares Project Director, National 4-H Council, 7100 Connecticut Ave., Chevy Chase, MD 20815.

When Partnerships Work Best

Partnerships work best when each organization evaluates its strengths and weaknesses. Each group needs flexibility and patience to understand and respect the goals of the others. Extension has a vast infrastructure, a variety of educational delivery systems, and a wide array of staffing patterns and training expertise to share with potential partners who lack ready access to such an educational network. ×Ö´®1

The formation of broad-based alliances or coalitions may be most beneficial when a community or State wants to focus many resources on a complex problem. Coalitions can include a large number of partners who have similar goals, but who may be competing for similar clientele. Since members of the coalition may disagree on the approach or message to be communicated, the coalitions are most useful in cases where a balanced view of a given issue will provide effective results—for example, in the case of water contamination or youth at risk. ×Ö´®5