Building a Network for Extension Literacy - the Climate Learning Network.

The Climate Learning Network (CLN) is a national program coordinated through eXtension with the goal of creating a network of certified climate literate Extension agents. CLN works with the USDA Regional Climate Hubs and the USDA NIFA AFRI Coordinated Agricultural Projects (CAPs) to translate the results of climate change research results and other relevant climate science to an Extension audience. CLN also uses new technologies and processes for rapid development of climate literacy curriculum for Extension audiences.

CLN has developed a new Webinar Based eLearning Deployment (WebBED) system that facilitates rapid development of media rich, interactive eLearning modules based on material delivered by experts in a webinar setting. CLN initially had an aggressive timeline, which demanded rapid production of 6 eLearning modules, WebBED was developed to meet this deadline. The WebBED framework will continue to be used to develop a curriculum based on the Extension climate literacy competencies identified by an expert advisory board during a 2 day virtual competency development program.

The first topic for WebBED deployment was climate change communication. A major challenge in delivering this information to an Extension audience is dealing with diverse beliefs throughout the nation and within Extension itself. To address this, Dr. Steve McNulty developed a new approach to climate communication called ELFLAND. ELFLAND uses commonality within diverse audiences to remove the politics and emotion from climate discussions allowing an honest discussion of climate risk and adaptation.