Building community resilience, coordination, and collaboration for individual and regional red blotch disease management.

SUMMARY

The goal of this project is to increase the adoption of grapevine red blotch disease (GRBD) management practices at the individual and regional scale. To accomplish the goal, this outreach project supported and empowered viticulture specialists with the educational resources and technical skills to advocate for adoption of practices within their organizations and when attempting collective action with neighboring vineyards. During the first project year, we conducted a needs assessment (survey; interviews) with those involved in the technical aspects of grape growing (“viticulture specialists”). We used the resulting information to generate tailored, durable multimedia educational materials to help viticulture specialists communicate GRBD knowledge, better understand how practices are adopted, and successfully advocate for action. We developed and delivered technical workshops for viticulture specialists, focusing on skills development to initiate conversations about GRBD, engage in collective action with neighboring vineyards to reach breakthrough collaborative decisions, advocate for science-based decisions, and communicate the science of RBD to non-technical audiences. The workshops and educational resources are currently being deployed in Napa County, and will be condensed and generalized, with resources made widely available through our online presence, personal interactions, and professional networks. Project activities are being assessed using pre- and post- workshop quantitative surveys and follow-up interviews to determine the impact on collaboration, quality of decision-making on GRBD, and adoption of management practices.