APPAM Communities Rural Policy Research & Issues

Session Submission Type: APPAM Communities

Community Group Description

I am proposing a rural community gathering for people who live in rural areas, work on policy that impacts rural areas, or who are simply interested in rural matters. Although rural areas of the US have many issues that look the same as issues in urban areas (poverty, housing shortage, workforce shortage, childcare shortage), quite often the solutions must be approached in a different way. The distances and population sparsity of rural areas have a major impact on economies of scale, which in turn affects how policy around these issues must be implemented and the cost of policy implementation. However, because of the wide range of socioeconomic and demographic differences around the country, rural itself can look very different from state to state or even within a state. This gathering would be an opportunity for rural policy professionals from different parts of the country to discuss issues and for those who are simply interested, to learn more about rural issues. Points of discussion could include but are not limited to:

• The impact of economies of scale in rural policy.


• How to talk about rural issues to urban policymakers and funders.


• Practical issues around locating appropriate and useful data on rural areas.


• Challenges and value of discussing rural issues with colleagues in other states.

Policy Area

• APPAM Communities

Moderator

• Marnie Werner, MN Center for Rural Policy & Development

Organizers

• Marnie Werner, MN Center for Rural Policy & Development

• Alyssa Ratledge, MDRC