Enhancing Rural Economic Opportunities, Community Resilience, and Entrepreneurship
The quality of rural life is affected by the migration of people into and out of rural communities, the evolution of agriculture and industry, local social organization, and public policy. During the course of this multi-year, multi-state project, the team of researchers from land-grant universities across the U.S. examined the forces that shape rural communities and identifying emerging threats and opportunities. As a collaborative interdisciplinary group, this project tackled multifaceted issues in many states, including natural disasters, food deserts, local foods, climate change, diversity, jobs, housing, infrastructure, and disease. Researchers also anaylized the impact of different development strategies on rural wealth creation, including natural resource-based strategies (such as energy production), amenity-based strategies (like tourism), and knowledge-based strategies (for example, attracting the creative class).
Funding Agency: USDA and Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences
Start Date: October, 2017 End Date: September, 2022