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About EFANS

The University of Minnesota Extension Center for Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (EFANS) was formed in June 2008.

EFANS mission, vision, values, and goals were developed through a collaborative process and are intended to provide focus and guide our work.

EFANS mission, vision, values, goals, initiatives, and programs

EFANS mission, vision, values, goals, initiatives, and programs:

Center-wide initiatives

Program directory

Mission

Provide effective, research-based education and integrate diverse perspectives to address critical issues impacting Minnesota's food, agriculture, and natural resources

Extension mission: Making a difference by connecting community needs and University resources to address critical issues in Minnesota

Vision

Be Minnesota's trusted leader for bringing together diverse content expertise, research, and education, to enable citizens to make informed decisions leading to safe, nutritious, affordable food; environmentally and economically sound agriculture; and sustainable natural resources for future generations.

Values

Relevant – pertinent, logically connected to a current issue

Trusted – deserving of confidence, known for accuracy and integrity

Balanced – bringing a respectful, open-minded approach

Resourceful – meets challenges effectively, with creativity and imagination

Practical – concerned with usefulness, applicability, and action

Knowledgeable – having an extensive understanding; educated and well-informed

Sustainable – capacity to endure; adapts to changing conditions and contexts in ways that maximize abundance, minimize scarcity, and maintain well-being and productivity over time

Accountable – responsible for defining, producing, and explaining results; acts effectively to achieve intended outcomes and impacts

Goals

Goals across all EFANS programming:

  1. Strengthen the impact, effectiveness, and efficiency of our education to enable our audiences to make informed decisions and take action
  2. Improve the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of food, agricultural, and natural resource production systems and support them in providing access to safe nutritious, affordable food
  3. Increase citizens' ability to protect and improve water, land, and other natural resources
  4. Provide knowledge on climate change, tools and resources, and education to ensure the resilience of agricultural and natural resource systems
  5. Facilitate understanding and promote informed decision-making about energy conservation and the use of renewable resources for products and energy