Water Outreach Education – Facilitating Access to Resources and Best Practices
A resource for natural resource professionals
Water Outreach Education – Facilitating Access to Resources and Best Practices (BEPs) is a collaborative effort: to identify Best Education Practices (BEPs); to promote use of BEPs for water-management education; and to improve access to education resources and strategies — developed in partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) and public and private Clean and Safe Water organizations. Elaine L. Andrews, Principal Investigator.
As part of the original project, we created a Water Outreach Education website, https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/wateroutreach/ . Content was redirected from that website to the Convenor website in June 2026.
On the Convenor site, National Extension Water Outreach Education introduces two primary initiatives. One is the Water Outreach Education project. Water Outreach Education project content builds on original research and related University of Wisconsin initiatives, such the many projects described on the Convenor site. Refer to:
- Community-based education about the environment
- Drinking Water and Human Health
- Youth Water Education
Our goal is to increase public understanding and involvement in community decision-making about water issues through improved education practices and improved access to education resources. The original website offered interactive tools for natural resource professionals and environmental educators to help realize their natural resource management goals by exploring research-based advice, skills and resources. These tools are preserved on Convenor in the form of PDFs of decision flow charts and audience-specific research findings.
For more information:
Andrews, E. 2009. Changing public behavior with help from target audience research. Proceedings for the Southern Region Technology Transfer and Extension in Natural Resources conference (pp 17-27), August 2006, Hot Springs, AK [PDF]. USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station General Technical Report SRS–116. Retrieved June 2017 at, https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/gtr/gtr_srs116.pdf
Stevens, M. & E. Andrews. 2006. Outreach that makes a difference! Target audiences for water education – A research meta-analysis [PDF]. Retrieved June 2017 from https://fyi.uwex.edu/wateroutreach/files/2015/12/Target-Audience-meta-analysis-March08_all_Sept12_2015.pdf . Content from that website has since been redirected to the Convenor website. An audience research summary is also available.
Andrews, E. & K. Reilly. 2005. Water Outreach Education Tools for NPS Programming: The Best in Education Practices, Target Audience Research, Programs, and Materials. Proceedings of the 4th National Conference, Nonpoint Source and Stormwater Pollution Education Programs (pp 61-68) [PDF]. Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, Illinois, 60022; 847/835-6837.
Stevens, M., K. Reilly, & E. Andrews. 2002. Water Outreach Education Facilitating Access to Resources and Best Practices: Study of Provider Needs [PDF]. University of Wisconsin, Environmental Resources Center, https://fyi.uwex.edu/wateroutreach/files/2016/03/SPNFinalReport.pdf. Content from that website has since been redirected to the Convenor website.