6th UF Water Institute Symposium Abstract

Submitter's Name	Charles Barrett
Session Name	Poster Session - Agricultural/Silvicultural Water
Poster Number	1
Author(s)	Mace Bauer,  UF/IFAS Extension Columbia
	Wendy-Lin Bartels,  University of Florida, School of Forest Resources and Conservation
	Kelly Morgan, University of Florida Southwest Florida Research and Education Center
	Charles Barrett, UF/IFAS Extension (Presenting Author)
	Inter-Agency partnerships: What makes them work, what makes them challenging, and what is your role as an Extension professional
	Extension professionals are compelled to participate in a broad range of partnerships to develop their programmatic expertise and fulfill obligations or expectations in the community. This professional development program was developed to prepare Extension agents to more effectively engage in multi-stakeholder inter-agency partnerships in their counties. The specific objectives of the program were to: 1) Examine diverse examples of inter-agency partnerships to identify elements that lead to success and key barriers associated with creating and sustaining these multi-stakeholder groups; 2) Reflect on the multiple roles Extension professionals play (as leaders and participants); 3) Discuss experiences with monitoring, documenting, and reporting partnership success; and 4) Explore Extension agent needs for further training and available resources. The professional development program combined a panel of speakers, PowerPoint presentations and interactive activities. Fifteen Extension professionals spent over four hours discussing the complexities and opportunities associated with inter-agency partnerships. A diversity of Extension areas were represented, including family and consumer services, production agriculture (vegetables and row crops), water resources, insects, and coastal systems. To close the program, participants considered the challenges they confronted as Extension professionals and listed the types of support that might help them to be more effective in catalyzing and sustaining inter-agency partnerships. Following the program, participants were provided an Executive Summary highlighting the topics discussed during the program: Key insights on inter-agency partnerships; support needed for extension professionals; main take home messages; main challenges and barriers; and key opportunities and issues.