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.

John Howard Interview

Interview with Rural Climate Dialogues participant John Howard of Winona, MN

Eight Questions for Trump’s Department of Agriculture pick

The next Secretary of Agriculture will have to hit the ground running, because the manure is hitting the fan. Farm income has fallen for three straight years.

A more inclusive place for all

The past few months have been as much about looking ahead as they have been about coping with life in post-election America, a space that feels post-apocalyptic for many.

Minnesota rural residents and state agencies work together on climate

At the State Convening, rural participants identified and presented their shared climate action priorities, and state agency staff also presented on a number of key climate issues for rural Minnesota.

Rural Minnesotans build community solutions to climate change

Minneapolis, MN–The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) and the Jefferson Center, today, released a report detailing two years of work in Greater Minnesota to build community solutions to climate change.  

The legacy of lost credibility in fly over country

In country star Jason Aldean’s song Fly over States, he overhears first class passengers on a flight from New York to LA, looking down on the countryside and wondering, “who’d want to live down there, in the middle of nowhere.” Aldean then flips the dismissive line into a proud anthem about the middle of the country.

Raising Rural Voices on Climate Change

This blog overviews day 1 of the 2016 Rural Climate Dialogues State Convening.

Let’s make sure the Clean Power Plan provides opportunity for rural, low-income communities

This month marks the one-year anniversary of the announcement of the Clean Power Plan, President Obama and the EPA’s regulation to reduce carbon pollution from existing power plants.

The Clean Power Plan

The Clean Power Plan is the most significant policy shaping the future of the United States’ energy sector. As such, it will affect rural communities that have long produced much of the nation’s energy supply. Although rural counties house only 15 percent of U.S.

Climate Democracy for Rural Communities

In early March, farmers and rural residents of southeast Minnesota gathered for three intensive days of presentations, discussion and deliberation around the thorny issue of climate change. The Winona, Minnesota Climate Dialogue participants, most of them in shirts and jeans, were a blend of ages, cultural backgrounds and jobs.

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