The goal of the NIFA Housing and Environmental Health Program is to contribute to the quality of life for consumers through sustainable housing initiatives, including safe and healthy housing; energy efficiency; disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.
NIFA works with partners to provide research, education, extension, and outreach programs for consumers and professionals in housing, health, and environmental fields to help people make informed decisions about homes and environmental issues.
Extension Disaster Education Network
The Extension Disaster Education Network’s (EDEN) mission is to reduce the impact of disasters through science based education. EDEN’s overarching goal is to improve the nation’s ability to mitigate, prepare for, prevent, respond to, and recover from disasters. EDEN has an affiliation of all 50 states and U.S. territories. USDA NIFA supports EDEN through a cooperative agreement with funding to Purdue University. This institution provides subawards to states developing special initiatives that address food and agriculture defense, including agrosecurity. For more information, check out the EDEN website. Click here to view previously funded abstracts.
Healthy Homes Partnership
The goal of the Healthy Homes Partnership is to link resources of NIFA and the state land-grant universities with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for a public outreach education program to reduce housing deficiencies and risks associated with childhood diseases and injuries. This interagency agreement enables work through the land-grant universities in the Cooperative Extension System to assist with implementation of the federal interagency priorities for Advancing Healthy Housing – A Strategy for Action by specific contributions of NIFA through Extension to support: Goal 4: Educate the Public About Healthy Homes. https://extensionhealthyhomes.org/
Smith-Lever Special Needs Competitive Grants Program
Within the states and territories, the Cooperative Extension System has repeatedly served as the trusted community organization that has helped to enable families, communities, and businesses to successfully prepare for, respond to and cope with disaster losses and critical incidents. Once a disaster has occurred, the local extension outreach includes: 1) Communicating practical science-based risk information, 2) Developing relevant educational experiences and programs, 3) Working with individuals and communities to open new communication channels, and 4) Mitigating losses and facilitating recovery. NIFA intends to fund Special Needs projects to implement applied scientific programs that serve public needs in preparation for, during and after local or regional emergency situations.
State Energy Extension Partnership
Creating sustainable solutions for energy efficiency and renewable energy benefits the environment, strengthens the nation's energy security, creates jobs, and improves our economy. Transforming the way we use energy requires strategic collaborations and partnerships to integrate resources, education and outreach to accelerate adoption of energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean energy technologies, and evidenced-based practices. USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Rural Development partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to develop a nationwide State Energy Extension Partnership (SEEP) through local collaboration of the Land-Grant University System, Cooperative Extension Service, and State Energy Offices. This partnership facilitates nationwide community-based education and outreach programs that support energy efficiency, and provide environmental and economic advantages for individuals, communities, businesses and government. https://www.energy.gov/
National Extension Energy Initiative
The National Extension Energy Initiative (NEEI) provides extension educators professional development opportunities through sharing experiences and information, learning from successes and challenges, and building new partnerships for energy education from all program areas: Agriculture and Natural Resources; Family & Consumer Sciences; 4-H Youth Development; and Community Development.
https://anrep.org/initiatives.php