Cooperative Extension in Urban America: Place-Based Approaches for Improving Health

While the bulk of Cooperative Extension’s (Extension) historical work has been with rural populations, its future work should also address the needs of those living in urban areas. The opportunity to live a long and healthy life is paramount among those needs. Cooperative Extension’ National Framework for Health Equity and Well-Being (Framework) provides a roadmap by which Cooperative Extension can help ensure that all people have that opportunity. The central premise of the Framework is that future work of Extension must include but extend beyond the promotion of healthy behaviors to place-based approaches for improving conditions in which people live, learn, work, and play. Recommendations for doing so include advancing health equity as a systemwide value, integrating data science with community voice to surface health inequities, investing in health-focused work, initiating new partnerships, and utilizing community development principles to influence social determinants of health. This article sequentially introduces the reader to the five recommendations and highlights how each of those recommendations is already being put into practice in urban areas of the United States.