Bridging Brown County was created in 1999 in the wake of a tornado, a disaster which made evident a lack of connections between residents across our rural area. University of Minnesota Extension educators developed a 9-month leadership education program in a model that was eventually replicated in 4 additional counties. In 2020, however, capacities demanded an overhaul of the program structure. Collaboration with local leaders resulted in a new model that reduced educator demand from 45 to 10 days and travel from approximately 1750 to 450 miles per year, simultaneously expanding networking opportunities for participants to a multi-county level.
In the field of community development, we know that only one thing is for certain: change. But how can we reflect the changing needs of communities while maintaining programming that has been historically successful? Innovation is key, and we believe that our progress with the continuous refinement of our Bridging Programs provides excellent examples of how community partnerships and the implementation of technology can sustain successful programming while adapting to changing needs of our communities. In the case of restructuring the Bridging Programs, the model ultimately opted for was not an obvious “best choice.” Concerns that were voiced before implementation have manifested in some cases, and we are continuing to work with local coordinators to refine through the applications of technology and collaboration. This iterative process is central to the work we do as community developers. I hope to present our learnings from this program’s structural transition in two parts: 1.process notes from the collaborative effort; and 2. impacts of the avenue of restructure which was ultimately decided upon. While Extension served as a central hub of communication and facilitation resources, each local partner organization made idiosyncratic decisions from which effects have rippled out over the past two years, making this case study applicable to multiple community relationship contexts. Our learning has been enriched by the complexity of each partnership, and we hope to gain more insights from audiences who may have experienced a similar shift or are looking to make changes in the future.
