Rural Sustainability

The University of Minnesota ERC and SELS is sponsoring a series of forums in libraries to engage residents in dialogue with field experts to consider, discuss, and debate issues relating to the sustainable development of rural communities and landscapes. The Experiment in Rural Cooperation (ERC) is the University of Minnesota Southeast Minnesota Regional Sustainable Development Partnership. The ERC and the Southeast Library System (SELS) are natural partners to bring a diverse group of subject specialists into libraries to talk about new technologies to build stronger rural communities. Each of the forums, held in a different library, will be led by a field expert and target one pressing and complex issue encountered by rural residents. SELS and the ERC expect that the forums will inform, equip, and energize participants to work together to improve the quality of life of rural communities. The interactive programs will build on the ERC's library collection of unique titles and expand on its unusual resources to include online media presentations. Programs by the field experts include asset-based communities, renewable energy, and rural design.