Avian Flu Workshop

On November 30, 2006, at the Student Center in the Capital Union Building at Penn State Harrisburg (in Middletown, PA), a workshop on avian flu was held. About 150 people attended, making this a very successful event. The Prime Sponsor was the Pennsylvania Department of Public Health, which provided support to make this event available to the public without cost. Co-sponsors include the New Baldwin Corridor Coalition, the South Central Assembly for Effective Governance, the Penn State Harrisburg School of Public Affairs, and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. Avian flu is a potentially dangerous global problem that requires local action. Thos workshop addressed community emergency preparedness in anticipation of the possibility of a pandemic.

Among issues discussed: recognition of the potentially global nature of avian flu and the need for local action; the need for coordination across different groups, organizations, and levels of government; bridging the gap across government, emergency managers, health organizations, nonprofits, the private sector, and so on; the need to emphasize preparedness at all levels, including families and individuals.

The purpose of this event was to engage in dialogue among citizens, government, nonprofits, health care organizations, business, and educational institutions to assess how best to address the challenges of a possible avian flu pandemic. The intended audience for this event was citizens, government officials, emergency management personnel, and those working in nonprofits, business, health care, and educational institutions.

One of the action steps suggested by those in the audience was that the resources provided by this workshop be made available on the web, so that the wider community could benefit from the event. This web site is the result of that idea. Included in this site is the program from that event, biographies of those making comments, Power Point presentations that were used at that time. There is also a page that includes web resources related to avian flu.

Local Solutions to Global Problems

Mission statement: To engage in dialogue among citizens, government, nonprofits, business, and educational institutions to assess how best to address the challenges of a possible avian flu pandemic.

Target audience: Citizens, government, nonprofits, business, and educational institutions.

Outcome: Agreement on a collaborative strategy, designed to break down "silos" in addressing a major challenge to ongoing operations of government, educational institutions, the private sector, and other organizations.