Asset-based community development

1.       News you can use

First off, thanks to everyone who had a hand in the Extension conference. It was GREAT to see everyone. I am feeling absolutely energized; I hope that you are as well.

 During the conference, Dave Shideler (AgEcon), Sissy Osteen, and I taught a session about asset-based community development (ABCD). I wanted to make the topic of this week's post ABCD while it is fresh in my mind.

2. Question of the week: What is asset-based community development (ABCD)?

Basically, asset-based community development (ABCD) is a strategy that identifies and builds upon a community’s existing assets that can be leveraged to prosper the community. In other words, it's about identifying the resources available in your community and using them to an advantage.

3. Fun housing picture

Instead of a picture, I'll tell you about the ABCD activity that we did during the session. We organized the room to districts (NE, NW, SE, SW) and had each participant write down community assets for each of the following categories: (1) human capital; (2) social capital (3) physical capital (4) environmental capital (5) financial capital.

Each district had a chance to share as we worked through the categories. At the end, the districts had a chance to look for "themes" based on all categories and reflect back to the group.This would be a fun activity to do in the community. It would be interesting to hear what members list as assets.

I hope I am not out on a limb by saying that we had fun while we did this activity.

4. Anything else that I can think of ...

Asset-based community development is all about thinking of your community in a different way. If you were not able to attend the session this week, or would like to know more, please let me know. We can figure out a way to get you the information (Centra?)

That is all for this week... thank you!

GP

January is National Radon Action Month

1. News you can use

January is National Radon Action Month. 

Why do we care? According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "Exposure to radon in the home is responsible for an estimated 20,000 lung cancer deaths each year."

2. Housing questions of the week:

What is radon?

• Radon is a radioactive, cancer-causing gas.
• Radon is an odorless, tasteless, and invisible
• Radon comes from the natural (radioactive) breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water and gets into the air

How do I know if my home has high radon levels?

• The ONLY way to know if your home has elevated radon levels is to test
• There are many low-cost, reliable radon testing kits on the market
• Radon is measured in picocuries per liter (pCi/L). Any reading higher than 4 pCi/L is considered high

3. Picture of the week: Radon map of Oklahoma

Again, the only way to know if a home has elevated radon levels is to test.

However, the EPA has produced a radon map that indicates the likelihood of having elevated levels. As you can see, for most of Oklahoma, the probability of elevated radon is low (Zone 3). There are a handful of Zone 2 counties. If you'd like to see a bigger map, please visit http://www.epa.gov/radon/pdfs/zonemapcolor.pdf

4. Anything else I can think of...

If you are interest in learning more about radon, I will do a Centra training. Please let me know if you are interested and I will get it scheduled!

 

Leilana Mckindra with Ag Communication is working on a release for National Radon Action month. Since this is time sensitive, I am going to suggest that she send it directly to the media. I hope that this is OK with everyone! She will send it to all of you at the same time.

Thank you!