The Cornell Community and Rural Development Institute (CaRDI) recently presented its annual Innovator Awards to three successful collaborative programs in New York state: The Cornell Program on Environmental Conflict Management (CPECM), the Healthy Families project and the New Farmers New Markets Program.
Selected by the CaRDI Steering Committee, the programs and projects exhibited innovations that clearly contribute to community and rural development. These programs, in their own way, provided research-based information to policy-makers and community leaders, said Eric J. Lerner, Cornell extension associate with the CaRDI program. He explained that these projects expand collaborative relationships among scientific disciplines, between research, extension and teaching, and with new clientele groups.
Paul Eberts, professor of rural sociology and director of CaRDI, presented the awards at the December ceremony at Cornell along with Francille M. Firebaugh, dean of the College of Human Ecology, and William B. Lacy, director of Cornell Cooperative Extension. Walter Lynn, Cornell professor of civil and environmental engineering, stood in for Daryl B. Lund, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Descriptions of the award-winning programs follow:
·The Cornell Program on Environmental Conflict Management (CPECM) was established in 1994 as a forum for exchange on collaborative approaches to resolving multiparty environmental, community development and public-policy disputes. CPECM is a program within the Cornell Center for the Environment, and the program now works in three geographic areas: the Northeastern United States, Central America and Southeast Asia. It deals with a wide range of issues, including watershed and protected areas management, agricultural and rural development policy, and community planning and development.
·The Healthy Families project was an interagency collaboration between Cornell Cooperative Extension and the New York State Department of Health's Supplemental Feeding Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). The project enhanced nutrition education opportunities for women and parents of infants and children who also participated in the WIC program.
The Healthy Families project was implemented in targeted communities in Delaware, Herkimer and Oneida counties from June 1993 through September 1996. Participants improved management of their food resources, adopted recommended nutrition practices, learned how to introduce new foods to their children, enhanced their parent-child relationships, improved home safety and increased their self-esteem and pride in caring for their families.
·The New Farmers New Markets Program is an ongoing effort by Cornell Cooperative Extension in New York City, Dutchess County Extension and collaborating not-for-profit groups to provide educational programs that expand the farmers' market system by generating sustainable job opportunities and promoting community-based economic development.