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Household food insecurity and poor well-being have increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and resulting lockdown measures. Home food growing has been associated with improved food access and well-being, but it is unknown what role it plays during food supply crises and lockdown. It is also unclear how home food growing and social restrictions may affect opinions about growing food in urban areas (i.e. urban agriculture; UA).

A cross-sectional online survey was conducted during the UK national lockdown in March-April 2020 to measure home food growing, perceived food insecurity, well-being, and opinions of UA. The participants were 477 UK-based adults (369 female, mean age 39.57 years ± 13.36); 152 participants were engaged in home food growing prior to the pandemic. Responses were compared to data collected from a separate sample of participants before the pandemic (N=583) to explore potential shifts in opinions about UA.

Participants who engaged in home food growing had lower levels of food insecurity (U_­=19894.50, z=−3.649, p<0.001, r=−0.167) and higher well-being (U=19566.50, z=−3.666, p<0.001, r=−0.168) than those not engaged in home food growing. Perceived food insecurity partially mediated the relationship between home food growing and well-being; home food growing was associated with less food insecurity, which in turn was associated with better well-being. There were no differences in opinions of UA compared to the sample of participants from before the pandemic.

Home food growing may have had a protective effect over perceived food security and well-being in the early stages the pandemic. Opinions of UA were positive and unchanged compared to data collected pre-pandemic. Policies that support home food growing and access to suitable growing spaces and resources may be beneficial for food system resilience and well-being.

Growing a business in tough times isn't easy, but it can be done.

Middle‐level professionals working in one‐person library or information units, usually women, frequently experience obstacles to career progression, which are seen as insurmountable. Examines some of these obstacles, and suggests a possible approach to career planning incorporating a number of different strategies for change.

District-university partners increasingly rely on “grow-your-own” licensure programs to address teacher shortages. Because vacancies in special education represent a chronic issue, our district-university partnership developed LEAP – the Licensed Educators’ Accelerated Pathway, successfully preparing 26 paraprofessionals as special education teachers (SEs). We describe a model university-district partnership in which we collaborated to design and implement paraprofessionals’ SE licensure program.

In this general review, we describe a district-university partnership collaboration that resolved barriers experienced by paraprofessionals working toward licensure in special education (Essential #4, Reflection and Innovation). The specialized design and partnership solutions were grounded in SE preparation research literature.

25 (28 entered the program and 25 completed) paraprofessionals from one large urban and several regional districts completed special education licensure through LEAP. Slightly more than half of LEAP participants were Black or Hispanic (see Table 1), contributing to the diversification of SE workforce. University-district partnership was successful in designing and delivering a program that allowed participants: a) to remain employed, b) attend evening classes in their geographic region or online, c) complete all field experiences in sponsoring districts (Essential #2) and d) receive concierge advising from a “completion coach.” We describe solutions to barriers experienced by paraprofessionals and advocate for district-university collaboration to address chronic teacher shortages.

Limitations include lack of data on success of program completers during their first year of teaching as they began this work in Fall 2023. Further, because the participating district was large and urban, generalization of program details for small and rural districts is difficult.

Practical tips for developing grow-your-own special education licensure programs are providing. Detailed descriptions of barriers candidates experienced and ways the district-university partners resolved these issues are included. Programs like the one described has the potential to positively impact teacher pipeline issues.

The program described provided highly-trained teachers to fill chronic vacancies in special education in three participating districts/agencies. Because students receiving special education services are at risk for school failure and are disproportionately impacted by teacher turnover, addressing this area through grow-your-own licensure programs represents a diversity, equity and inclusion initiative. Further, upskilling diverse paraprofessionals to licensed teacher roles represent an economic boost, which they might not otherwise have achieved.

Available research literature signals alarm over persistent teacher shortages in hard-to-staff districts and lack of diversity in the teacher workforce, but few published accounts describe successful programs. Partner collaboration fostered a re-imagining of course formatting and delivery to accommodate adult learners, avoiding problems often reported with alternative programs.

Although there is great potential for diversity, library and information science (LIS) is a relatively homogenous profession. Increasing the presence of librarians of color may help to improve diversity within LIS. However, recruiting ethnic minorities into LIS has proven to be difficult despite various initiative including scholarships, fellowships, and locally focused programs. The central questions explored in this research can be divided into two parts: (1) Why do ethnic minorities choose librarianship as a profession? (2) What would motivate members of minority groups to join a profession in which they cannot see themselves?

The research was conducted through semi-structured, qualitative interviews of 32 ethnic minority students from one of four ethnic minority groups (African American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American) currently enrolled in an LIS graduate program. Eleven themes emerged from the data: libraries, librarians, library work experience, LIS graduate program, career plans and goals, education and family, support, mentors, ethnicity and community, acculturation, and views of diversity.

The findings seem to support many assumptions regarding expectations and career goals. The findings related to libraries, librarians, mentors, and support illustrate that many recruitment initiatives are starting in the right place. However, the most noteworthy findings were those that centered on identity, acculturation, and diversity because they dealt with issues that are not often considered or discussed by many in the profession outside of ethnic minority organizations.

In my previous article I emphasised the importance of having a Company Training Plan. I explained that a company training plan attempts to answer certain fundamental manpower questions such as these — in what jobs should we, now and in the future, be training people; how many should be under training within each category; over what period of time should this training be extended and when should it come to fruition? I then invited you to take part in a participative exercise designed to convince you that these matters are not within the competence of the training manager to decide, that the training plan should reflect and implement the overall company objectives and, accordingly, the training plan should be determined by the top management. I also made the point that a company training plan should grow out of the company training needs assessment. I made a distinction between the COMPANY TRAINING NEEDS ASSESSMENT and the COMPANY TRAINING PLAN. CTNA is the aggregate of all identifiable needs of the company irrespective of whether it is possible or desirable to satisfy them; the company training plan is what results from taking the CTNA and fixing the priorities — making a choice of which needs to meet. I made a further point: that in the situation in which you find yourself, you may have to make these managerial decisions yourself, in isolation, in default of their being made by the management. In this case the training manager has no alternative, in the short‐term, but to accept the unsatisfactory situation and work for correct management involvement in the longer term.

Considers why being able to find new roles for employees within the organization is of growing importance.

Explains the need for organizations to identify what skills they will need in future and understand the individual strengths of the people they already employ. Argues that “growing your own timber” is a more effective proposition than buying in new resource.

Emphasizes the need to deal constructively with blockers – employees in key positions who the organization feels are not now optimal for that role.

Highlights the need for individual workers to understand that their personal and professional growth is a prerequisite for their ongoing professional capability.

Looks at the impact on individual employees, and on organizations, of the social change towards greater flexibility in the workforce.

Argues that organizational development, talent management, learning development and people engagement will be key to the strategies for enabling organizations to find new roles for existing staff.

This article describes an apprenticeship scheme, including National Vocational Qualifications, introduced by UK health and fitness company Cannons Health and Fitness, which covers the training needs of team members working in the exercise and fitness area as well as a range of training that supports the business side of running health and fitness facilities.

Situates the initiative in the context of the company's “Grow Your Own” employee‐development scheme, and examines the training from the perspectives of the company itself and the training provider.

Shows that 20 Cannon team members a month are currently joining the program, and forecasts that around 300 team members will be accredited by the end of 2007.

Shows that successful work‐based training is about delivering courses that not only fit in with trainees' work commitments but also complement employers' needs. Cannons already had a good infrastructure in place. The introduction of NVQ‐level training has helped to make its employees more employable.

Demonstrates that it is possible significantly to improve a company's training provision by adding accreditation.

Succession planning is more than knowing who will take the reins if the corporate jet crashes tomorrow. It's about growing your own talent to ensure your company's future over the long term.