FLOOD03743

• County: Statewide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: 25th Annual Celebration Hazards Research and Applications Workshop
• Date: 7/9/2000
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

e

e

e

PSOO-25

Mark F. Hansen, Ph.D.
Michigan State University Extension
121 E. Maple Street, PO Box 121
Mason,M148854-0319
[e-mail]
[phone]

Poster Session - Hazards Research and Applications Workshop

The Extension Disaster Education Network

After the 1993 Mississippi and Missouri River flooding, the Illinois and Missouri Cooperative
Extension Services were deluged with requests for assistance, ranging from sanitation of flooded
homes, to repairing and rebuilding facilities, to helping assess growing capabilities of farm fields
that were now covered with silt. These state Cooperative Extension Services (CES) found that 1)
CES was relatively unknown in the disaster response arena, 2) their staff members needed more
experience and training to respond to disasters, as well as educational tools which they could put
to use, and 3) Extension staff needed to better understand the disaster response process and how
CES can fit into it. As a result, a USDA grant was approved which allowed the 12 state
Extension Service systems in the North Central Region to jointly explore ways to be better
prepared. Today a 3D-state network entitled "Extension Disaster Education Network" (EDEN)
collaborates to enhance or develop educational materials and resources, and to identify
methodologies to train and equip their staff members. A web site was developed
<htto://www.al!ctr.lsu.eduleden/> with separate state resource pages and links, as a tool for
Extension educators and other interested users.

This Poster display provides an interactive opportunity to become familiar with EDEN and using
the EDEN web site as a resource. Participants will be able to a) learn about EDEN and the
efforts that CES is attempting to provide, b) observe the EDEN web site and it's capabilities, c)
determine if their respective state is one of the current 30 EDEN member states, and d) identify
the EDEN contact person(s) in their state if they are a member, and e) learn how to join EDEN if
their state is not already a member,

The very mission statement of EDEN demonstrates the network's commitment to mitigation,
preparation, and recovery:

"The mission of the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) is to reduce the
impact of natural and man made disasters through coordinated interdisciplinary and
multi-state research and education programs addressing disaster mitigation,
preparation, and recovery."

EDEN Mission Statement