Tribal-State Relations Training
The State of Minnesota has instituted a two-day Tribal-State Relations Training to provide an opportunity to learn about American Indian Tribal Governments, histories, cultures and traditions, in order to empower state employees to work effectively with American Indians and promote authentic and respectful relationships between state agencies and American Indian Tribes. This is a truly unique opportunity. Training incorporates the customs of the host Tribal Nation and includes panel discussions with Tribal Nation leaders, Tribal Government staff, community members and elders.
This training has historically been designed for and available to state employees. However, BWSR’s local government partners may be able to participate. Local government staff and officials interested in registering for this training need to complete the External attendee request form and must identify in the request that you work with BWSR.
To learn more about and to register for this training, please visit: https://www.dot.state.mn.us/tribaltraining/class.html
Designing Meetings that are Productive
Effective and productive meetings occur when attention is given to the meeting planning and preparation elements. A necessary first step in ensuring meeting success is to make sure the meeting design is based on solid process design and planning. Jeff Bracken in The International Association of Facilitators Handbook of Group Facilitation shares an approach that has worked consistently which he refers to as “Eight Ps” approach for process design at meetings. Those are:
- Perspective – Work from a fact-based context and know your audience
- Purpose – Understand and share what the “ask” is to the participants
- People – Inclusivity and diverse perspectives are important
- Product – Identify and define the desired outcome of the meeting
- Process – Select and design a process that integrates opportunities for input engagement
- Place – Chose a place that is handicapped accessible, has adequate parking and visit the location before the meeting to be familiar with the physical place
- Practice – Do a dry run of the process, review information to be shared and have a Plan B
- Personal preparation – Be mentally and physically ready to perform
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2024 BWSR Academy
The 2024 BWSR Academy was held at Cragun’s Conference Center on Oct. 29-31. We had nearly 500 registrants over the three days and reached the daily venue cap of 420 on Wednesday. Sixty-three concurrent sessions were offered with 134 trainers volunteering their time and expertise. One attendee summed up the 2024 Academy in the evaluation as “Well organized! Overall high-quality sessions with great networking opportunities.”
Working on Academy occurs year-round. Our LGU partners and agency partners should look for a session survey in early February. The RFP process for the 2025 and 2026 Academy is complete. The 2025 Academy will be held Oct. 21-23 at Cragun’s Conference Center. Thank you to those who attended and hope to see you in 2025!
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Thank you for completing your Individual Development Plan
Thank you to everyone who completed or updated their Individual Development Plan (IDP). Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 18 of this year 396 people identified over 2,500 technical training needs in their IDPs. A summary of the training needs identified statewide can be found on the 2024 IDP Results page.
What happens next? Throughout November this information will be reviewed by your Area Technical Training Team (ATTT) to determine the local training priorities. Those priorities will then be compiled at the state level and used to develop the training plan for 2025.
Didn’t complete your IDP or have new training needs? Communicate your technical training needs directly to your ATTT and add them to your IDP today. We regularly pull updated information from the IDP tool and use it for direct email advertisement when applicable trainings are being held.
Want to get started right now? Here are some training resources already available:
ArcGIS Pro Training
Did you miss the ArcGIS Pro Training provided by NRCS earlier this year? Are you not on the USDA network? TTCP will provide a basic ArcGIS Pro training to employees that missed the NRCS training or that are not on the USDA network. Topics such as importing an ArcMap map, editing shapefiles, and creating maps will be demonstrated. We have added two sessions – Dec. 16, 2024 in Mankato, MN and Jan. 28, 2025 in Alexandria, MN. All locations will be the exact same training, so you only need to sign up for one. Due to limited space, those outside of the TTCP partnership will be limited to two participants for this round of GIS training. Additional information and a link to register can be found on the Basic ArcGIS Pro page.
2024 Shared Training Calendar
An updated working version of the 2024 training calendar is now available. This 12 month view of training offerings is regularly updated and provides information about upcoming training events, including potential dates and locations. Please see the legend at the top and note that the further out a training is proposed the more likely adjustments will need to be made. The dates, locations, and other details are always tentative until the event is posted on the Training Calendar.
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Minnesota Wetland Professional Certification Program |
Draft WCA Rule Listening Session for Local Government Staff
Nov. 25 - 1-3:30 p.m. & Dec. 17 - 1-3:30 p.m.
BWSR will be conduct two listening sessions to solicit comments and respond to questions on the draft Wetland Conservation Act (WCA) rule from Local Government staff responsible for implementing the WCA, Soil & Water Conservation District staff who serve on a Technical Evaluation Panel (TEP), and consultants who represent a WCA Local Government Unit (LGU).
Registration is required if you wish to participate in one of these online sessions. A complete Draft WCA Rule will be posted at least one week prior to the first session, and session registrants will be notified when it is posted. Sessions will be recorded and posted on this page. These sessions are just one of the options for providing input on the Draft WCA Rule.
Registration link: https://www.cognitoforms.com/BWSR9/DraftWCARuleListeningSessionForLocalGovernmentStaff
Technical Training & Certification Program Trainings
Tech Talk Webinars: Mondays at 1 p.m.
- Dec. 9 Strategic Harvested Forage Management (ICPS 827)
- Dec. 16 Virtual Fence
November
December
January
- Monthly Jan. 9 to Dec. 10, Sustainable Forestry Education Cooperative 2024 Forestry Webinar Series, SFEC, Online
- Nov. 19, Minnesota Ground Water Association Conference, MGWA, Brooklyn Center
- Nov. 21, Dec. 5, Dec. 19, Improving Restorations Webinar Series, UMN Extension, Online
- Dec. 2-4, MASWCD Annual Convention, Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Bloomington
- Dec. 4-6, Minnesota Watersheds Annual Conference, Minnesota Watersheds, Nisswa
- Dec. 9-11, Association of Minnesota Counties Annual Conference, Association of Minnesota Counties, Bloomington
- Jan. 23, Exploring the Boundaries of Virtual Fence Webinar 3: Virtual Fence Economics, Online, Rangelands Gateway
- Jan. 28-30, MECA Annual Conference & Trade Show, Minnesota Erosion Control Association, St. Cloud
- Jan. 29-30, Soil Management Summit (formerly Conservation Tillage Conference), U of M, Mankato
- Jan. 29-30, Tribal-State Relations Training, State of Minnesota, Mahnomen
- Feb. 26-27, Tribal-State Relations Training, State of Minnesota, Granite Fall
- March 26-27, Tribal-State Relations Training, State of Minnesota, Tower
- April 23-24, Tribal-State Relations Training, State of Minnesota, Grand Portage
- May 14-15, Tribal-State Relations Training, State of Minnesota, Carlton
- June 24-25, Tribal-State Relations Training, State of Minnesota, Onamia
Not all training takes place in a classroom. Check out the links below to learn at a time and place of your choosing.
We’ve also put together a searchable library of recorded modules, webinars, videos and other resources to help our staff and partners find professional development information on a variety of topics. You can visit BWSR's Online Learning page to find web based technical training resources sorted by category.
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Program Contacts
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