Rural Development

Seeing the forest through the trees - a northwoods community makes a plan on climate

This blog overviews the 2015 Itasca County Rural Climate Dialogue in Grand Rapids, MN.

Don't let Big Meat eat our bumper crop

The last few years have not been good for the factory farm industry.  High prices for corn and other crops (in part driven by the growth of ethanol) made feed costs incredibly high, while at the same time, environmental and animal welfare advocates have been winning ballot and marketplace battles to shift more meat production out of intensive confinement and industrial systems.  Hog a

WEBINAR: Stevens County Rural Climate Dialogues

This past June, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and the Jefferson Center co-hosted the first Rural Climate Dialogue in Morris, Minnesota. The Rural Climate Dialogues are part of an effort to spur rural leadership and build resiliency in the face of extreme weather conditions and a changing climate.

One rural community responds to climate change

This blog overviews the 2014 Stevens County Climate Dialogue.

Rural youth and climate: An invitation to attend the Morris Climate Dialogue

A student dialogue at the Morris Area High School set the stage for our 2014 Stevens County Climate Dialogue

Morris citizens to discuss responses to extreme weather in ﬁrst Rural Climate Dialogue, June 12–14

A “Citizen Jury” will come together June 12–14 in Morris, Minn. for an intense three-day deliberative forum to discuss risks posed by climate change and develop a shared, community-based response to changing weather patterns, extreme weather events, and their community.

A rural response to climate change

Rural communities are more susceptible to the threats of climate change and will play an integral role in addressing its causes. Whether rural communities engage in climate conversations through their children, through community deliberation processes like the Rural Climate Dialogue, or through other avenues, these hard conversations have to happen.

Climate hubs: A step forward

It’s a big week in the agriculture world. Just days before Obama signed the new Farm Bill into law, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the locations of seven regional hubs for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Rural Climate Network expands

The second Rural Climate Network newsletter was released last week, featuring updates on how rural America is responding to the climate challenge.

Why is the U.S. Getting in the Way of International Efforts to Make Clean Water a Basic Human Right?

On November 21, 2013 the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee (The Committee) adopted a resolution on “The human right to safe drinking water and sanitation.” There, all UN member states agreed that the rights to water and sanitation are derived from the right to an adequate standard of living.