Division of Forestry's Education and Outreach Strategic Plan
Purpose
The Division of Forestry’s Education and Outreach Strategic Plan (E&O Plan) describes how the division will use education and outreach to help implement its Strategic Direction. The plan focuses mainly on internal division efforts and strategies and reflects what the division sees as our niche in education and outreach efforts based on our stated roles in the Strategic Direction.
On June 19, 2014, FLT approved the division’s Education and Outreach Strategic Plan [PDF]. The plan is at a strategic level and does not include implementation steps for the most part. The plan includes the following elements:
- a vision for the division's education and outreach work;
- desired education and outreach outcomes across division programs;
- audience priorities for various division programs;
- specific roles regarding certain, division-wide education and outreach tools;
- a description of where better data and information is needed regarding education and outreach efforts prior to implementing new efforts;
- a system for better collaboration, integration and evaluation of education and outreach work among division programs; and
- a structure for the division’s new Forestry Education Leadership Team (FELT) which will be responsible for determining implementation of the plan.
FELT will be initiated late summer or early fall of 2014 (see page 46 of the E&O Plan for details on the structure and charge of this team). FELT will reach out to internal and external partners as they begin to work on implementation steps for the E&O Plan.
Education and Outreach Strategic Plan process
This project started with an informal assessment phase. An assessment report [PDF] was released in February 2013 and included the following components:
- an inventory of current education and outreach activities;
- a survey of partners regarding the quality of our education and outreach;
- partnerships and the strengths that they and the division bring to education and outreach work;
- interviews with division staff to understand the current state of our education and outreach efforts; and
- an analysis of our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis).
The products from the assessment phase helped inform the planning phase. The draft plan was opened for staff and partner feedback on April 29, 2014. After a three-week input period, comments and questions were reviewed, considered and answered.