Minnesota Rural Urban Connections Project » Uncategorized

Rural and Urban Collaborations On the Rise

Christy James — Mon, 10 May 2010 19:50:31 +0000

We have noticed that blogs regarding rural communities and revitalization in Minnesota seem to be popping up all over the place. The Minnesota Horizons blog offers communities the chance to chat about efforts to create economic prosperity in their communities. Minnesota Public Radio recently launched Ground Level, a blog that explores ways that residents are facing the future of their communities. The Blandin Foundation has a blog about their Blandin Broadband Initiative, which we will learn more about at a Northeast Minnesota Video conference, later today.

In a recent Star tribune article titled The New Pioneers, Kristin Tillotson wrote about how young people are moving from the city to rural areas to start out as first-time farmers and create a life on the land for their futures and blog about it!

Our South Dakota friend and colleague, Mike Knutson, who blogs about the future of rural life on his Reimagine Rural blog shared with us that “I find it interesting that when I first started blogging 1 ½ years ago, there was not much conversation happening online about rural. That’s changed in the last six months, and my rss reader is definitely filling up. That’s a good thing.”

So, we know there are a lot of great rural and urban connections out there. Some are detailed in blogs and reports, others are discussed over coffee and pie at the local diner. What rural urban connections are happening in your area? Share them with us on this blog! Either reply to this post or click on the Rural Urban Connections button and tab on this blog. Keep up the great work!

Rural Urban Connections Video Conferences

Christy James — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 06:44:30 +0000

Spring is here in full bloom and so is our next round of video conferences!

We are still gathering examples of rural urban connections, partnerships and frameworks that are occurring across the state. We will be presenting our findings at the Symposium on Small Towns and Rural Urban Gathering on June 9th and 10th.

So, it’s not too late to join in on the discussion during one of the video conferences listed below. Click on the Video Conference button to the left for more detailed information about the following video conferences and registration information.

We look forward to your participation!

Northeast Minnesota Video Conference
WHEN: Monday, May 10, from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Featured Connections: Broadband Telecommunications, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development

Northwest Minnesota Video Conference
WHEN: Tuesday, May 18th, from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Featured Connections: Workforce Development and Education

East Central Minnesota Video Conference
WHEN: Wednesday, May 26th, from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Featured Connections: Arts

West Central Minnesota Video Conference
WHEN: Thursday, June 3rd, from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Featured Connections: Local Foods

Registration for Symposium on Small Towns Now Open!

rurb — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:03:51 +0000

In tough economic times, the importance of connecting with people and ideas outside of our local situations becomes vital. Join with us this June in Morris, Minnesota, to engage our shared ingenuity and optimism at the 2010 Symposium on Small Towns and Rural-Urban Gathering entitled “Finding Solutions and Redefining Communities.”

The Symposium and Rural Urban Gathering will be focusing on leadership, capacity building and practical improvements for small communities and strengthening rural-urban connections to build back a thriving Minnesota for all.

The University of Minnesota, Morris Center for Small Towns and Minnesota Rural Partners, Inc. and their Rural Urban Connections project are pleased to co-host this event. The Symposium will be a one-day event on June 10, 2010. The Rural Urban Gathering begins the evening of June 9.

Highlights this year include:

Gubernatorial candidates discussing “How Public Policies are Improving Rural Small Town Viability” during the popular policy forum;
Colleen Landkamer, Minnesota State Director for USDA Rural Development and former President of the National Association of Counties as a featured speaker;
A featured panel that will emphasize small communities with big success stories; and
Information-packed small breakout sessions and a festive Showcase Fair. Please contact the Center for Small Towns to learn more about Showcase opportunities for your community or organization.

The Rural-Urban Gathering will be held on the evening of June 9, 2010, hosted by Minnesota Rural Partners, Inc. The focus of the gathering will be on the formation of the Rural-Urban Partnering Council with its emphasis on education, workforce and entrepreneurship to increase innovation and wealth creation across Minnesota. All are welcome to attend and to consider becoming a member of the inaugural Council.

The Symposium and Rural-Urban Gathering will include a good mix of people with a wide range of perspectives, practical ideas for conserving resources, small breakout sessions to spur your imagination to help your own communities and wholesome local food! The location is on the open landscape of University of Minnesota Morris and the City of Morris which have become a hub for discussions on the status of small towns and home to exemplary research and demonstration programs on renewable energy and sustainability initiatives.

Visit www.centerforsmalltowns.org and rurb.mn for the full Conference Schedule and more information and to register for this event.

Registration is only $65 for the Symposium on June 10; join in on the Rural-Urban Gathering on the evening of June 9 for no additional fee. Generous contributions from sponsors are making numerous scholarships available with the already low cost to attend. Please check the box on the Registration page to indicate your interest.

The participation level is very encouraging; we are excited to see you all here! If you have any questions, please feel free to call Barb at the Center for Small Towns at 320-589-6451 or email her at hessebj@morris.umn.edu.

Google Networks good for rural? Or rural good for Google?

rurb — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:08:24 +0000

The following article was previously posted by Ann Treacy on the Blandin on Broadband blog on March 2, 2010. We have received permission to reprint this article on our blog.

Craig Settles wrote an interesting piece in the Daily Yonder about the Google Network opportunity from a rural perspective. There were a lot of great points that might help rural communities consider their options:

Google is looking for quick deployment; terrain and low population density usually works against rural areas in terms of quick deployment
Most rural communities only have so many resources to dedicate to an effort like this and this is a long shot. Perhaps there’s a more realistic approach that deserves attention.
Google wants a profitable network. For broadband providers commercial accounts are generally more profitable than resident accounts and most rural areas have fewer businesses than urban counterparts. So making the case of profitability is difficult.
Resident accounts can be costly because they require more customer support. That’s going to be most true in areas where broadband is new and customers are still learning – and for many rural areas, broadband will be new.

I’ve greatly distilled the points – but I think I got the major ones. I agree with much of the observations – especially having worked for an ISP for a couple of years. The article points that that with most providers, a greater customer base doesn’t mean greater profit – nor does local increase in economic development bring profits to the provider:

“It’s extremely difficult for private sector companies to financially benefit from many of broadband’s economic development benefits to communities,” Galen says, “because these do not directly impact companies’ bottom line. Therefore, communities have to spend a lot of time with potential partners working on this puzzle, or else face failure by the private partner in the long run.”

But, and I’m not guaranteeing this, Google is different. Broadband subscriptions are not Google’s only revenue stream. I don’t understand how they make a big chunk of their money – but one example is their adwords. They make money every time someone clicks on a Google ad. An increase in the user base means an increase in clicks. An increase in businesses online means a potential increase in ads sold. A increase in economic development means a potential increase in revenue spent on online ads. And that’s just one segment of their revenue stream. That’s the genius of Google, in my opinion, they have developed entirely new ways to make money.

This might be optimistic of me – and I hardly speak for Google – but I think the fact that Google does benefit from an increase in users will make a difference. I spoke about the flip side of this idea last week – spurred by comments from Chris Mitchell. Google’s bread and butter is not providing connectivity so that may cause other problems – or maybe the diversity will work. It’s part of the gamble.

And speaking of gamble, there’s at least one more Minnesota community who has thrown in the hat for their chance at the Google Fiber network: Shakopee and Scott County are looking into the option.

We are curious what your thoughts are about this issue? Would your community benefit from a Google Network?

What is Rurb.MN?

rurb — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:30:19 +0000

During the past months, some of our partners have asked for clarification about our aims. They want to know “What do you mean? What’s different about a Rural-Urban Connections approach compared with our current development frameworks?” Well, we’re glad you asked and we hope that the following helps clarify our goals.

Alongside colleagues with organizations as diverse as the United Nations and the Rural Policy Research Institute, we believe it is time for a new approach to development. Instead of the traditional competing interests of rural VS urban America, we believe it’s time to recognize how interconnected our interests, needs and futures are.

As Brian Dabson (President and CEO of the Rural Policy Research Institute) writes

… there is a high degree of connectedness between metropolitan and rural America. No bright lines separate the two types of areas, either geographically or economically. If metropolitan American is to drive national prosperity, metropolitan areas will need a healthy and sustainable rural economy and culture. Likewise, if rural America is to flourish, it will surely depend on vibrant, well-functioning cities and suburbs.”

So a rural urban framework is one that holds both types of areas in focus as decisions are made and resources are invested. A rural urban framework does this because interdependencies between these regions require it. Rural and urban communities share natural resources, populations, markets, and infrastructure. Urban communities need food, energy, unique experiences and clean water, all of which come from rural areas. Rural communities depend on urban consumers, urban jobs, specialized services found in metropolitan centers.

The United Nations Development Programme’s publication “Rural-Urban Connections Analysis” suggests that the benefits of taking a combined Rural AND Urban framework (rather than parallel development approaches) are numerous, including

Breaking rural to urban poverty cycles
Generating positive rural urban synergies
Environmental Sustainability
More resilient local, regional and national economies
Governance Structures appropriate to spatial realities

Our old ways of planning for either rural or urban areas don’t reflect reality and won’t assist with future growth and sustainability. Even our dichotomous definitions of “rural” vs “urban” are no longer adequate. As Dabson points out:

Despite official definitions that distinguish urban from rural, and metropolitan from nonmetropolitan, the realities of settlement, commuting, and migration patterns suggest a far more complicated interface in which much mixing occurs among urban and rural populations, and rural areas themselves exhibit a great deal of diversity.

International research in the developing world and elsewhere has taken a new focus on the Peri-Urban Interface, the area where urban and rural coexist; Where farming and suburban development, manufacturing and tourism, all co-exist and require careful planning consideration.

Rurb.MN is part of Minnesota’s effort at championing this new, joint perspective; advocating for the combined interests of both rural and urban communities. This perspective has an established track record. Below we’ve listed some examples of national and international initiatives that have successfully leveraged a rural-urban linkages framework towards regional development and sustainability.

PLUREL: Peri-Urban Land Use Relationships. It’s a European integrated research project within the European Commissions sixth framework programme. http://www.plurel.net/

CURE: Convention for a Sustainable Urban and Rural Europe http://www.cureforsustainability.eu/index.php?id=5594

Finland’s Northern Rural-Urban Living Lab is one of The European Network of Living Labs, which is an innovation-based initiative aimed at jobs and economic development. http://www.openlivinglabs.eu/northern-rural-urban.html

As you become aware of other rural-urban examples, please post them here on the Rurb.MN blog.

On the lighter and domestic side, Facebook users can visit the “Kentucky Rural Urban Network.”

Finally, here are two articles that can help with conversations about why rural-urban connections are an important area of focus.

The first, Rural-Urban Interdependence: Why Metropolitan And Rural America Need Each Other, comes from the Brookings Institute and is written by Brian Dabson of Missouri’s Rural Policy Research Institute.

To find this article, please visit http://www.brookings.edu/projects/blueprint/whatis.aspx and scroll down to “Additional Resources.”

The second, Bridging The Divide: Rural-Urban Interactions And Livelihood Strategies, reflects an international development perspective.

To find this article, please visit
http://www.iied.org/pubs/search.php?k=Bridging+the+Divide&z=Search

Renewable Energy Initiatives are Buzzin’ in Southwest Minnesota!

Christy James — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:08:23 +0000

We had a lively discussion during our video conference on Wednesday, February 24^th . We heard several great examples of rural urban renewable energy initiatives that are occurring in this part of the state. We also heard examples of rural urban connections that involved community-based efforts, higher education and the arts.

Our next video conference will be on Thursday, March 4, from 3:30 – 5:00 PM. Featured connections will be local food networks and entrepreneurship in southern Minnesota. For more information click on our video conferences page.

Below are some of the rural urban renewable energy examples that were discussed during the video conference this past Wednesday.

Hill Grocery House in Montevideo, MN. This is the first ground source heat based home in Montevideo. This innovative low-income affordable, renewable energy home has many partners, including Habitat for Humanity West Central MN, Clean Up the River Environment (CURE), and has utilized expertise from a number of partners across the state, including Habitat for Humanity MN and the Center for Sustainable Building Research.

We also heard many examples of renewable energy projects that are being led by the Southwest Initiative Foundation. These include: Renewable Energy Development Initiative (REDI), a Renewable Energy Loan Program that funds community wind projects, the Youth Energy Summit (YES!) program in SW Minnesota.

We learned about a new online resource, REDI Resources, that connects communities with resources that help them plan, implement, and manage clean energy projects. Check it out at www.rediresources.org.

We heard from three of the YES! projects across southwest Minnesota:

Willmar Community Greenhouse YES! Project (Youth Energy Summit)

Goals: Collaborate with community groups and businesses for the purpose of growing local produce year round. This project will demonstrate the energy saving and health benefits of growing produce at the local level.

Morris Student Energy Leadership Team (SELT) YES!

Goals: SELT addresses Reducing, Recycling, Reusing and Cleaning of the Earth’s resources through projects with monthly Environmental Education, Action, and Political components around recycling, protecting the river, energy monitoring, and electronic waste collection.

Hutchinson FFA YES!

Mission/Goals: Reduce the number of dumpsters used at the High School and reduce the waste being disposed of at the landfill, diverting it to recycling and composting facilities.

There are several renewable energy initiatives that are being researched and developed at the West Central Research and Outreach Center at the University of MN Morris. We heard examples of Biomass and Wind to Hydrogen to Ammonia projects that are being developed at this center.

We heard from Windustry, a nonprofit, based in Minneapolis, who talked about wind resource maps and estimates that show an increase in the potential for Wind energy in the United States.

Other examples of rural urban connections in southwest Minnesota not related to renewable energy include:

The Arts Meander is an art crawl in the Upper Minnesota River Valley that has helped to brand this area as a cultural mecca and draws people from urban areas and surrounding states the first weekend in October each year.

A community-based effort called Pioneering A Healthier Marshall that seeks to improve the health of citizens living in and around Marshall.

Solar Installations Curriculum that is being developed at Ridgewater College.

Southwest Amateur Sports Commission in Marshall, is one of seven regional sports centers in Minnesota. These regional centers concentrate state efforts and resources in a number of communities to maximize the economic and social benefits of amateur sports.

We know there are many more examples of rural urban connections occurring in SW Minnesota and across Minnesota. We hope that the examples mentioned above will generate ideas and examples of rural urban connections happening in your area.

Share your examples with us! Click on the Submit Examples of Rural Urban Connections button on this page or fill out the Rural Urban Connections Form.

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Southwest Minnesota Video Conference

Featured Connections: Renewable Energy

This video conference was held on Wednesday, February 24th, from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. Forty-eight people attended at the following six locations:

Montevideo: Montevideo High School – Library
1501 William Ave, Montevideo, MN

Marshall: Marshall High School – Fine Arts Conference Room
400 Tiger Drive – Fine Arts Entrance, Marshall, MN

Willmar: Willmar High School – Library
2701 30th Street NE, Willmar, MN

Hutchinson: Hutchinson High School – Library
1200 Roberts Road, Hutchinson, MN

Morris: U of MN Morris – Humanities / Fine Arts Building, Room 7
600 E 4th St, Morris, MN

Edina: Edina High School – Professional Library Room
6754 Valley View Road Edina, MN

Minnesota Launches Pilot Project Aimed at Strengthening Rural and Urban Connections to Foster Innovation

rurb — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:24:54 +0000

Minnesotans invited to contribute via video conferences, e-mail, blog, Twitter

As part of a cooperative effort with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development, Minnesota Rural Partners, Inc. is hosting a series of video conferences through May 2010 to encourage conversations across the state about rural and urban connections that impact individual lives, communities, and work. The goal is to foster increased innovation and job growth by leveraging the strengths of rural and urban areas.

“There’s always been an interdependence between rural and urban areas, with our food supply being one important example of that,” said Jane Leonard, president of Minnesota Rural Partners, Inc. “Today, more people are realizing the value of those rural urban connections, and the benefits that come from increasing access to local sources of healthy foods, developing green energy, caring for our water resources and spurring other innovations that can lead to business growth for the entire state. We want to get Minnesotans talking and thinking about the interdependence between rural and urban areas, as well as future opportunities arising from stronger rural urban connections.”

Minnesotans are invited to share ideas and examples of rural urban connections, collaborations and partnerships related to business, workforce, education, arts, food, broadband, health care, energy, and other areas. The video conferences will culminate in the Symposium on Small Towns and Rural urban Gathering at the University of Minnesota, Morris, on June 9 and 10. People who are interested in opportunities developing through rural urban connections are invited to attend the symposium, as well as to help establish the new Minnesota Rural Urban Partnering Council, which will be forming at the Morris symposium.

“Rural and urban areas have always been inextricably tied,” said USDA Rural Development State Director Colleen Landkamer. “As we move ahead, the health of Minnesota’s economy as a whole will be shaped by how well we use our resources to strengthen those rural and urban connections throughout the state.”

Based on input they receive, Minnesota Rural Partners, Inc. will be mapping existing rural urban connections and examining how to expand them. “Through the process, we hope to renew the framework for ongoing rural urban dialogue and build new partnerships,” said Leonard.

Participants are asked to register for video conferences in advance at http://blog.rurb.mn/video conferences/. The next video conferences will be:

Wed., Feb. 17 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Central Minnesota, and will focus on rural urban connections, collaborations and partnerships related to manufacturing, workforce readiness and renewable energy, with video conference sites at:
- Brainerd – Central Lakes College, 501 West College Drive, ITV Room C224;
- Staples – Central Lakes College – 1830 Airport Road, Main Campus – ITV Room B103;
- Little Falls – Midstate Education District Building, 15738 Highway 27, District Office Conference Room;
- St. Cloud – Small Business Development Center, 616 Roosevelt Road, Suite #100, https://www.stcloudstate.edu/sbdc/contact.asp for directions;
- Saint Paul – TIES, 1667 Snelling Ave. North, Video Conference Room.

Wed., Feb. 24 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Southwest Minnesota, and will focus on rural urban connections, collaborations and partnerships related to renewable energy, with video conference sites at:
- Montevideo – Montevideo High School, 1501 William Ave., in the Library (check in at the office);
- Marshall – Marshall High School, 400 Tiger Drive, Fine Arts Conference Room, Fine Arts Entrance;
- Willmar – Willmar High School, 2701 30^th St. NE, Library (check in at the office);
- Hutchinson – Hutchinson High School, 1200 Roberts Road, Library (check in at the office);
- Morris – University of Minnesota Morris, Humanities / Fine Arts Building, 600 East 4^th Street, HFA Room 7, parking in North Lot; and
- Edina – Edina High School, 6754 Valley View Road, Professional Library (check in at the office)

Upcoming video conferences and their locations will be posted online at http://blog.rurb.mn, click on video conferences. Those unable to attend the video conferences can provide input online through e-mail at feedback@rurb.mn, on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rurbmn or comment at http://blog.rurb.mn.

Rural Australia – Summer Down Under in Hamilton, Victoria

Jane Leonard — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:12:50 +0000

Minnesota Rural Partners, Inc. President Jane Leonard is currently on a long planned, personal sabbatical to Australia. While she is there, she is also talking to colleagues about rural urban issues and opportunities. Here is one of her occasional entries sharing what she is learning in Australia.

We’ve arrived in Hamilton, Victoria, Australia, for the first of three rural development exchanges with colleagues down under. Lots of interest here in regional development strategies and increasing understanding of rural-urban interdependencies. Here’s a shot of the outskirts of town after a summer rainstorm.

First Rural Urban Connections Video Conference a Success!

Christy James — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:46:57 +0000

Our first rural urban connections video conference between SE Minnesota and the Twin Cities was held on Tuesday, January 19th. We had 5 sites with presenters in both Adams and Houston, Minnesota. The rural urban connection stories we heard about focused on education – wow are things happening in those areas – online education from rural to metro, higher ed, and more.

We learned a lot from this pilot, not only about some technical difficulties, but that perhaps the video conferences should have an industry focus because of the synergy it produces.
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Innovative Education Initiatives in SE Minnesota

February 4, 2010 in Education | Tags: connections, Education, online learning, PSEO, rural, video conference, virtual academy | by Christy James

Last month we had our first rural urban connections video conference. The topic of that video conference was Innovative Education Initiatives in SE Minnesota. We had 5 video conference sites with presenters in both Adams and Houston, Minnesota. They discussed successful online, interactive learning programs in their communities and the connections that have resulted from these projects.

Below is a brief summary about their respective initiatives.

Minnesota Virtual Academy, Houston, MN

The Houston Public School District serves over 450 local kids. In 2002 they started their 1^st online school, the Minnesota Virtual Academy, with grades k-2. Now they have K-8 and High School online learning programs and they serve 1600 students across MN. While the majority of their students live in the Twin Cities Metro area, in 2009, they served students in all but three counties in Minnesota.

In 2009, the Minnesota Virtual Academy was approached by a community leader in NE Minneapolis, to assist them in learning how best to reach out to and serve the growing Somali population in Minneapolis.

For more information, contact Kim Ross, Superintendent, Houston Public Schools

Southland High School, Adams, MN & Riverland Community College, Austin, MN

Since 2008, Southland High School has been part of a pilot study with Riverland Community College to show the effectiveness and cost savings of implementing Distance Learning Interactive Television into their regular school setting. They have found it to be a very successful partnership both academically and financially for both institutions. They have just completed their first semester with all of their students achieving grades no lower than a B+, while saving the school district about $25,000 in Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) costs for their first semester. They believe that this model can be applied across Southeastern Minnesota, not only to PSEO courses, but also in their regular high school curricular areas.

For more information, contact Ryan Luft, Principal, Southland High School in Adams, MN

What types of rural and urban education connections are happening in your community?

Check out our video conference page for future video conference dates, locations and topics.

Share your rural and urban connections with us!

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Southeast Minnesota Video Conference

This video conference was held on Tuesday, January 19, from 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Fifteen people attended at the following six locations:

Adams MN: Southland Senior High – The Media Center
203 2nd Street Northwest, Adams, MN

Byron, MN: Byron Senior High – Room 2205
1887 2nd Ave NW, Byron, MN

Houston, MN: Houston High School – District Office Conference Room
306 East Elm Street, Houston, MN

Owatonna, MN: Riverland College – Room 130
965 Alexander Drive Southwest, Owatonna, MN

St. Paul, MN: TIES – Video Conference Room
1667 Snelling Avenue N. St. Paul, MN

Winona, MN: Winona State University – Somsen Hall – Room 110
175 West Mark Street, Winona, MN

The idea is to share ideas – Rural Urban Connections to Innovation

Jane Leonard — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 06:08:27 +0000

You have to share ideas to prime the innovation pump. That’s why the Minnesota Rural Partners, Inc. team is putting together the Rural Urban Connections project, now underway in cooperation with USDA Rural Development.

Its simple idea is to share ideas, about rural urban connections in Minnesota – in your life and work – that help rural and urban people, places, and businesses and organizations thrive. There’s always been interdependency between rural and urban resources, producers, markets, but we don’t always deliberately call it out or intentionally build on it.

We really need an integrated approach to rural, urban, and suburban community and economic development and planning in Minnesota, if we want to thrive – not just survive. Innovation and wealth creation in social and economic enterprise in Minnesota depends on a good understanding and application of the rural urban connections we have now and into the future.

Urban (including suburban) people have to face it. Access to and sustainability of the big three –food, energy, and water resources — all depends on having an understanding and support of, and respect for the rural people and places that steward those resources.

This isn’t a new idea. In fact, back in May 1968, former Minnesota Governor and then-U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman gave a speech in Washington, D.C. to the leaders of the nation’s “rural-oriented industries” on the topic: “Rural/Urban Balance – Whose Responsibility?”

Freeman said: “We are met here today to discuss this portion [rural] of America in a period when almost all of the national conscience is focused on yet another segment of the land, the great cities.

“It is almost as if we were two Nations; one rural, one urban, with separate problems, separate solutions, separate destinies. But in fact – as well as rhetoric – we are still one Nation, indivisible, with indivisible problems, indivisible solutions; with but one destiny. And unless we recognize this, we shall never overcome the terrible strains that threaten to rend the social fabric of our land.”

Powerful words. A powerful confrontation of reality, so relevant to our challenges, and opportunities today. We’ll be sharing more of that speech in the months ahead, so stay tuned.

To answer the 2010 question of rural urban balance, we will begin simply, to collect through videoconferences and other online forms of social gatherings – the stories, examples, experiences you have of rural urban connections in businesses, food and agriculture, arts, health care, education, telecom & info technology, workforce development, energy, environment, and other areas that emerge from these conversations and idea-sharing opportunities. Check the schedule (to be posted towards the end of January) and other ways to provide your input at www.rurb.mn.

The first videoconference is in southeast Minnesota on January 19 from 4 to 5 p.m. Sites include Adams, Houston, Owatonna (pending) and the TIES offices in St. Paul. Contact Pam Matchie for specific location directions and to RSVP (pmatchie@decisionresourceassociates.com).

Along the way, with the help of our Graduate Research Assistant at the UM Center for Regional and Urban Affairs, we’ll start physically mapping those connection stories you contribute. We’ll all either be astounded at the number and depth, or worried that not enough connections exist to prime the innovation pump and sustain our state.

And, mark your calendars and please attend the University of Minnesota, Morris, Center for Small Towns’ annual Small Town Symposium, June 9-10 http://www.morris.umn.edu/services/cst/symposium/2010

At the Symposium, we’ll be hosting the Rural Urban Gathering, to share what we’ve collected between January and May 2010 on rural urban connections, and to ask you to consider joining the Rural Urban Partnering Task Force, to keep supporting existing and emerging rural urban connections.

We are co-hosting the Small Town Symposium because we believe deeply in the work of the Center. They are a catalyst for the innovations happening at the University and in and around Morris on sustainable community development. The University of Minnesota Morris was GREEN before it was fashionable. They were GREEN because they knew western Minnesota needed to figure out how to reinvent its economy and what better lab than a university town with experiment and outreach centers.

We are co-hosting the Symposium because it was cancelled last year due to the poor economy. It’s crucial that people gather face-to-face to inspire, cajole, take risks together and go out better prepared to help their own communities do the same. The worst thing we can do these days is to hunker down. We have to go out and help each other reset to a new, better normal.

So –

add your two cents to this discussion blog – stories, experiences, examples of rural-urban connections in your life and work
sign up for a videoconference near you (the schedule will be posted later in January)

And please go to our Twitter site to join in the discussion at 140 characters or less! http://twitter.com/rurbmn

Minnesota Community Pride Contest Back for 2010!

We’ll provide more details in May, but start thinking now about entering your community in the 2010 Minnesota Community Pride contest, brought back by popular demand thanks to Minnesota Rural Partners, Inc., the Minnesota State Fair, and MinnPost.com.

A new category will be, you guessed it: Rural Urban Connections!

All communities entered and winners will be recognized at the Minnesota State Fair on Sunday, September 5, in Carousel Park. See www.reinventingminnesota.org to see which communities were award winners last year. Share your ideas, share your pride with your neighbors statewide.