CICEET Progress Report for the period 9/01/08 Through 2/15/09

Project Title: Dissemination and Deployment of a Web-Based Tool to Support Natural Resource-Based Planning at the Local Level
Principal Investigator(s): David W. Dickson, Chester L. Arnold, Emily H. Wilson
Project Start Date: 11/01/07
Report Compiled By: David Dickson

Figures

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• The Rhode Island team has completed a beta version of their online Community Resource Inventory website. To help enhance the tool’s visibility and usage, the RI team has decided to include it in the broader RI Digital Atlas website, a new website that serves as RI’s premier online mapping resource for communities. The site is now being reviewed by local planning officials and other potential users. The final version should be available in June 2009. The url will be: http://www.edc.uri.edu/atlas

Objective 2: Train the South Carolina and Minnesota NEMO programs to create and deploy this tool, along with the accompanying educational program.

• We held a CRI workshop in Groton, CT on January 13 & 14, 2009. Due to interest from the NEMO Network, we decided to open the training to any interested programs. As a result, in addition to Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Minnesota, representatives from the New York and Delaware NEMO programs also participated. Each team consisted of an outreach educator and a GIS/Web specialist. The workshop provided an overview of CT’s Online CRI Tool, a preview of the RI’s adaptation of the CRI, a discussion of how the CRI is integrated with outreach education efforts and an explanation of the tools and software used to build the site. Each of the projects teams were provided an opportunity to plan out how to adapt the CRI to their states and solicit feedback on those plans from the larger group. Each of these states have begun to build their sites.
• The Connecticut and Rhode Island teams have begun work on a CRI Cookbook that will layout how to build an online CRI site. To make this widely accessible and easy to update we have decided to turn the cookbook into web resource that shows step-by-step how the site was created. It became clear during the workshop that each NEMO program is going to use different tools and programs to accomplish the same tasks. The cookbook will highlight these different approaches and seek to evaluate the pros and cons of each.

Objective 3: Report on the use and impact of the tool in targeted coastal communities in the four states.

• The CRI Workshop in January included a discussion of ways to monitor the usage of the CRI sites. Each team is building usage tracking into the design of their site.

Objective 4: Promote the tool and the project through the National NEMO and National Geospatial Technology Extension networks.

• The National NEMO Network continues to promote this project though its website, newsletter, workshops, presentations, and consultations with other states.
• The CRI Initiative was highlighted at the NEMO U6, the national conference of the NEMO Network, in October 2008.
• The CRI Initiative was also highlighted in the National NEMO Network progress report, a Catalyst for Community Land Use Change.
• The initiative was also highlighted in a presentation at the USDA CSREES Water Quality Conference in St. Louis, MO in February 2009.

Data Generated to date
N/A

Project Objectives for Next Reporting Period
Objective 1: Enhance the UConn Online Community Resource Inventory (CRI) tool with the addition of coastal habitat data, and then “franchise” it for Rhode Island.

• Complete RI CRI website & release to representatives of target audience for feedback.

Objective 2: Train the South Carolina and Minnesota NEMO programs to create and deploy this tool, along with the accompanying educational program.

• Continue to draft online CRI “cookbook”
• Complete beta versions of Online CRI websites in Minnesota and South Carolina.

Objective 3: Report on the use and impact of the tool in targeted coastal communities in the four states.

• Continue to track usage of CT CRI site
• Begin to track usage of RI CRI site

Objective 4: Promote the tool and the project through the National NEMO and National Geospatial Technology Extension networks.

• Continue to promote project through NEMO Network presentations and publications.
• This project will be featured during a presentation at the National NPS Conference in Portland Oregon in May 2009 and the Coastal Zone Conference in Boston, MA in July 2009.

Expenditures
Expenditures are in the range anticipated for the work accomplished to date.