Community-Based Capacity Building
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Florida’s residents, local governments, and communities face challenges such as land use and growth and the interface between rural/urban and incorporated/ unincorporated areas and climate change.
Florida Extension programs focus on teaching alternative strategies that can be used to address these issues and to build leadership in our communities to direct developments.
Narrower Topics
Climate Change
Climate change refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g., by using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. Climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external forcings such as modulations of the solar cycles, volcanic eruptions and persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use.
Land Use
The occupation or reservation of land or water area for any human activity or any defined purpose. It also includes use of the air space above the land or water.
Wildland-Urban Interface
The common area where human settlements and built structures are intermixed and/or adjacent to undeveloped land in which the vegetation is permitted to grow without significant human interference.
Publications
Sustaining Community Change through Participatory Action Research: A Framework for Enduring Impact in Agricultural Systems
Ysabel Polanco andJohn Diaz
Participatory action research (PAR) has emerged as a transformative methodology in agricultural development, blending collaborative inquiry with direct action to generate locally relevant, sustainable change. This final article in a series on PAR focuses on sustaining the impacts, relationships, and innovations generated through these community-based research endeavors. Written by Ysabel Polanco and John Diaz, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, February 2026.
Ten Benefits of Urban Gardens: Focus on Socio-Economic Crises
Mysha Clarke
Over 90 percent of Floridians live in urban areas. Many city dwellers are disconnected from or have limited exposure to the natural world. Urban green spaces, among them urban gardens, can provide various benefits to people and wildlife. These urban gardens provide important avenues for people to maintain their mental and physical health, reduce stress, and improve their general well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of urban green spaces. Community efforts to grapple with the evolving pandemic present an opportunity to reconsider the benefits of urban gardens This publication is intended to assist Extension agents, gardeners, garden managers, and urban planners interested in adding new gardens and supporting and promoting existing gardens in Florida’s urban communities. To that end, it lists and explains 10 major benefits urban gardens provide to ecosystems and people.