UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A symposium centering around community engagement and applied research will take place Nov. 7–8 at Penn State University Park.
The event — hosted by faculty in the rural sociology program in the College of Agricultural Sciences and titled “Community-University Partnerships for Radical Community Transformation: Co-Creating Agri-Food System Interventions” — is aimed at community organizations, researchers and extension professionals interested in building more collaborative and democratic relationships with one another.
Registration is required by Nov. 1.
Event organizers said sessions and discussions will revolve around the challenges and barriers to creating innovative and equitable partnerships serving historically underserved populations.
Justine Lindemann, assistant professor of community development and resilience, explained that while Extension has a mandate to serve the entire population of a state, Extension services have historically served a disproportionately rural and white agrarian population. This means that urban communities, communities of color and even small-holder farmers and other non-traditional farmers remain underserved.
“One of the many goals of this symposium is to include historically underserved and underrepresented populations in the conversation, and expand our collective imaginary about who Extension serves,” she added.
Kristina Brant, assistant professor of rural sociology at Penn State, said another goal of the event is to create connections between Extension professionals and researchers at the University that otherwise might not exist.
“I’ve met faculty who wished they knew more Extension educators and Extension educators who wished they knew more faculty,” Brant said. “We hope to break down silos and provide a space to bring folks who are interested in doing community-engaged work together.”
Lindemann said another aim of the symposium is to establish a collaborative dialogue between researchers and communities.
“So often, these relationships are one-sided: a one-way transfer of knowledge from institutions to the public,” Lindemann said. “I hope that the symposium will help build more collaborative community-university partnerships centered around liberatory food systems transformation.”
Brant said limited funding is available to assist Extension educators who are based outside of Centre County and wish to attend. Those interested are urged to RSVP early to create an accurate estimate of the number of educators who could benefit from this support.
For more information or to register, visit the symposium’s website.
This event is funded by a Social Science Research Institute working group grant and supported by the Penn State Center for Economic and Community Development.