FW: Publications, Tools, Learning, and Funding

From our colleagues at USDA-Rural Development

 

From: Agans, Suzette - RD, Washington, DC [mailto:Suzette.Agans@wdc.usda.gov]
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2014 8:14 AM
Subject: Publications, Tools, Learning, and Funding

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

Optimism Takes Root in the Spring
Springtime is when people are accustomed to seeing new growth, and so it is with the regional economy in early 2014. Recent data point to progress on a range of key economic indicators, from employment to manufacturing, and Financial Update's "EconBrief" discusses what they might imply going forward.

 

Economic & Financial Highlights
View the latest series of charts from our Economic & Financial Highlights page, including new data on core capital goods, Federal Reserve assets and liabilities, house prices, and unemployment claims.

 

Economic Gardening: A Homegrown Approach to Growth
How effective are economic development strategies that seek to grow local entrepreneurship and small businesses? Todd Johnson at Gallup and Dell Gines at the Kansas City Fed explore the successes and challenges associated with this approach in an Economic Development podcast. ( audio [12:47] | transcript)

 

 

TOOLS

A Practical Playbook - The de Beaumont Foundation, the Duke University Department of Community and Family Medicine, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have developed A Practical Playbook: Public Health & Primary Care Together that offers a new vision for linking health care and community wealth building. The Playbook offers toolkits to complete community health needs assessments, guides for achieving health equity, and a range of other resources to help communities, local governments, and healthcare professionals advance community health. Find Out More»

 

EPA Releases EnviroAtlas Ecosystem Mapping Tool -  http://enviroatlas.epa.gov/enviroatlas/ - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released EnviroAtlas, a web-based interactive tool that integrates over 300 separate data layers, helps decision makers understand the implications of planning and policy decisions on our fragile ecosystems and the communities who depend on goods and services from these ecosystems. EnviroAtlas is designed for people from all levels of government, professionals, researchers, educators, non-governmental organizations, and anyone interested in considering the benefits or impacts of a decision, such as siting a new road or city park.

EnviroAtlas can help people learn about ecosystems, and how they provide us with benefits such as clean air and water; opportunities for recreation; and protection from severe weather, such as hurricanes and floods. EnviroAtlas also highlights how ecosystems provide habitats for plants, fish, and wildlife as well as the materials people need to produce food, clothing, shelter, and pharmaceuticals, and provides maps on all of these topics.

EnviroAtlas integrates geospatial data from a variety of sources to allow users to visualize and analyze how decisions impact ecosystems and their ability to provide goods and services. Communities are often faced with difficult decisions, such as trade-offs between transportation, residential or commercial development and maintaining local wetlands, urban greenspaces, or urban forests. EnviroAtlas helps communities better understand the potential benefits and drawbacks of their decisions by providing data, maps, information and tools to analyze relationships between nature, health and well-being, and the economy.

EnviroAtlas combines hundreds of data layers developed through collaboration between EPA; US Geological Survey; US Forest Service; other federal, state, and non-profit organizations; and several universities. Using powerful web application tools, it lets users generate customized maps and images that show the condition of their local community’s air, water, and landscape; as well as population density and other demographic data. Users can investigate land cover patterns, see how ecosystem services reduce pollution, and view closer to true scale data to compare them across selected communities.

EnviroAtlas is available to anybody with access to a computer and an internet connection. No special software is needed. It is currently not optimized for smartphone or tablet use, but a mobile-friendly version is planned for the future. Using tools like EnviroAtlas to make informed decisions will help ensure that people can continue to enjoy economic, social, and environmental benefits of ecosystems now and in the future.

LEARNING

 

New Short Film Shares Western Communities’ Lessons Learned on Preparing for Boom and Bust Cycles

Energy development is booming in the West, bringing new jobs and economic growth.  However, many communities that have seen energy booms in the past have found that those booms eventually end, leaving local and regional leaders to deal with economic, fiscal, social, and environmental challenges.  “Preparing for the Boom,” a new 20-minute film from the Sonoran Institute and Future West, shares lessons learned from communities that have experienced energy-related growth and decline in the voices of local elected officials and other local and regional leaders from places like Bakken, MT; Saratoga, WY; and Garfield County, CO.  The film highlights successes, missed opportunities, and recommendations in order to help today’s energy communities learn from the experiences of others so they can chart a more promising course through energy booms and beyond.  Click here to watch “Preparing for the Boom.” 

 

 

FUNDING.

 

RECORDED WEBINAR: Promise Zones, recorded rural webinar, draft application materials and updated webpage: https://www.onecpd.info/promise-zones/ (I found I could not access this site on some computers, if this happens to you, try another one).

 

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Accepting Fellowship Applications From Artists and Scholars in the United States and Canada - DEADLINE: September 19, 2014. The annual fellowship program seeks to further the development of scholars and artists by helping them engage in research in any field of knowledge and creation in any of the arts, under the freest possible conditions....

 

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation Accepting Applications for 2014-15 Observers Program - DEADLINE: July 31, 2014. Twenty-five emerging directors and choreographers will receive a stipend (plus travel expenses) to observe the work of master directors and choreographers as they create productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and at leading regional theaters across the country....

 

William H. Johnson Foundation for the Arts Invites Applications From African-American Artists -DEADLINE: September 15, 2014

The $25,000 prize is awarded annually to an early-career African-American artist working in the area of painting, photography, sculpture, printmaking, installation, and/or a new genre....

 

Moyer Foundation Seeks Applications for Youth Grief, Substance Abuse Programs - DEADLINE: August 14, 2014

Grants of up to $10,000 will be awarded to organizations in Pennsylvania and Washington that serve children and teens in the areas of bereavement and grief support and/or drug and alcohol dependency....

 

Council on Economic Education Seeks Applications for Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Teaching Champion Award - DEADLINE: May 30, 2014. The $5,000 award recognizes K-12 teachers who instill in students an understanding of economics and the tools to make informed and responsible decisions that they will carry with them as they grow into successful and productive adults....

 

Wild Ones Invites Applications for Native Plant Education Projects -DEADLINE: October 15, 2014

Grants of up to $500 will be awarded in support of projects designed to strengthen an appreciation for nature among young people....

 

Westinghouse Electric Invites Applications for STEM-Based Projects - DEADLINE: November 14, 2014

Grants of up to $3,000 will be awarded to three schools in support of a creative, hands-on project focused on science, technology, engineering, or mathematics....

 

 

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Newsletters and email from where I gather this information include:

 

v  Foundation Center RFP Service -  To subscribe or unsubscribe, or to change your e-mail address, visit: http://foundationcenter.org/newsletters/

v  To subscribe to the RAC Health Listserv - click here to go to the subscription form.

v  Electronic newsletter of the RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, Rural Entrepreneurship News. To subscribe, http://team.energizingentrepreneurs.org/news2/public_html/lists/?p=subscribe  

v  Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City newsletter: http://www.kansascityfed.org/alert/’

v  Blue Avocado Nonprofit Magazine - They have a newsletter on boards and nonprofit management, down-to-earth and useful.  http://www.blueavocado.org/

v  Rural LISC e-newsletter - http://www.lisc.org/rural

v  National Association for Development Organizations (NADO) – www.nado.org

v  ERS - A notification service is provided by USDA's Economic Research Service for Charts of Note and other research to keep you informed of the latest and most relevant research on the topics that interest you. You can subscribe at http://www.ers.usda.gov/Updates/

v  Department of Labor – Email Subscription Service - https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDOL/subscriber/new?topic_id=USDOL_167

v  Good Done Great - Knowledge Sites – webinars and websites geared to nonprofits – to subscribe - http://4good.us1.list-manage.com/profile?u=04c75b52bdc230f3f32ad149d&id=7dc46f4ba6&e=53110692a1

v  Orton Family Foundation – email sign-up - http://www.orton.org/sign_up

 

This is the bulk of them, a few others are random.

 

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