Rural Development

Piloted in Minnesota, the Rural Climate Dialogues began from the idea that rural citizens hold the solutions for addressing climate change in their communities. Our intensive work in three communities (Winona, Grand Rapids and Morris) has been globally recognized by the International Association for Public Participation as a creative and innovative form of community engagement that is empowering rural communities to take leadership in the transition to clean energy.

The Best of the Midwest Rural Assembly

Today and tomorrow, we'll be with government and community leaders in Souix Falls, South Dakota at the Midwest Rural Assembly to talk about the challenges and opportunities facing rural communities.

Join Government and Rural Leaders at Summit

No part of the U.S. has been spared from the current financial crisis, but rural communities—already among the nations poorest—have been hit particularly hard.

Rural Summit to Bring Together Policymakers, Rural Residents

USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager and other national, state and local-level policymakers will join rural residents at the Midwest Rural Assembly in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, August 10-11.

Seeing the forest through the corn

Forest land home to rare bird species isn't the usual image that comes to mind when we think of Iowa. But the Yellow River Forest area in northeast Iowa totals 135,000 acres of unfragmented forest.

New Ag Secretary Faces Big Challenges

The U.S. agriculture economy is undergoing a transition on many fronts.

African Immigrants Finding a Home in Rural Minnesota

Minnesota has always attracted new immigrant populations. The wonderful movie Sweet Land tells the more traditional immigrant story of the Minnesota plains and the culture clashes of the 1920s. Over the last decade, the state has become one of the country's most popular destinations for African immigrants, now estimated at 80,000 people.

African Immigrants in Minnesota

A short report on African immigrants living in rural Minnesota.

First Rural African Summit to Meet in St. Cloud on October 26-27

The opportunities and challenges facing African immigrants living in Minnesota's rural communities will be the subject of the first Rural African Summit on October 26-27 in St. Cloud, Minnesota. There are currently over 20,000 Africans living in rural areas of Minnesota.

A 21st Century New Deal?

I’ve probably heard and read dozens of times over the past two weeks that this is the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression. Our stock market and confidence in the banking system are allegedly on the brink of a 1929-style collapse.

China Meets Lou T Fisk

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I drove out to Western Minnesota to check in on Ms. Shi Yan.

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