Community Engagement for Cooperative Extension: Using Interactive Maps to Understand Communities

Abstract

Before a plan for community engagement can be effectively developed, it is important to first vunderstand the community. Interactive Geographic Information Systems (GIS) maps are a useful tool to gather and visualize data that can describe a community, and have been used to inform Extension program design and planning in multiple other states, including California, Minnesota, and Florida. The University of Arizona’s (UA) Community Research, Evaluation, and Development (CRED) Team, from the Norton School of Human Ecology, created GIS maps to support the UA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (UA SNAP-Ed) efforts across the state of Arizona. These interactive GIS maps can be a useful resource for all of University of Arizona’s Cooperative Extension (Extension) programs to assist in planning and implementing community engagement work. By using the maps to identify a community’s existing resources and gaps in services, Extension can identify a community’s strengths and areas of need that could be supported by Extension efforts.