Equity

Collaborative Strategies for Rural Health & Economic Prosperity
Insights and recommendations to do rural development and rural health differently—moving collectively toward equitable rural development with projects grounded in place and a people-centered vision of community impact.

Safe Drinking Water: Rural Economic Justice Case Study
This short case study has insights on what will it take for rural communities to drive their own clean water solutions and breaks down the structural challenges that keep rural communities from accessing clean water solutions.

Equitable Economic Development Playbook Initiative
International Economic Development Council (IEDC)
IEDC’s Equitable Economic Development Playbook Initiative is IEDC’s flagship Race, Equity, and Economic Development program.

Strategies to Address Rural Flooding
Insights from practitioners in rural places experiencing repeated disasters on what it will take to for rural communities to drive their own solutions.

Maternal health in rural America
National Rural Health Association
This NRHA white paper notes the lack of access to rural obstetric care as a known and growing concern. It supports a multifactorial approach to workforce, local access, regional care models, and social drivers of health to provide obstetric services in rural areas.

Rural Environmental Justice: Community Flooding Case Study
This short case study has insights and tips on addressing the causes and conditions contributing to flooding in rural places, as well as to envision and build thriving futures of equitable rural prosperity.

Advancing Rural Health Equity Through Partnerships, Data, And Finance
Partners for Rural Transformation
Partnerships and data-driven strategies are essential for addressing health disparities in rural America. Learn more from an event hosted by the Partners for Rural Transformation and the Urban Institute.

The Equity of Economic Opportunity in Rural America
The Center on Rural Innovation (CORI)
Research on rural America’s economic opportunity from CORI highlights growing disparities due to the knowledge economy’s focus on urban areas. It emphasizes the need for equitable policy and investment in rural regions to address systemic inequities and enable rural participation in the knowledge economy.

Resilience and Recovery: Insights from the July 2022 Eastern Kentucky Flood
Housing Assistance Council (HAC)
Reflecting on the Eastern Kentucky flood in 2022, the Housing Assistance Council highlighted challenges limiting the resilience of rural communities, including the prohibitive cost of flood insurance, affordable housing shortages, and floods affecting the labor force.

The Rural Aperture Project: Leveraging Data to Gain New Insights Into Rural America
Center on Rural Innovation (CORI)
The Rural Aperture Project uses data to redefine rural America’s narrative, focusing on its diversity and economic realities. This resource, essential for practitioners and policymakers, offers accessible data for informed rural development strategies and storytelling.

Federal Farm Bill: Big Impacts in Rural Communities
Rural Development Initiatives (RDI)
Despite its name, the Farm Bill impacts far more than just farmers and ranchers. It’s a complex package of federal legislation signed into law every five years that has sweeping effects. Rural Development Initiatives explains what’s in the Farm Bill and what it could mean for rural communities if the Farm Bill is not extended.

Resources to Advance Rural Prosperity & Racial Equity
ChangeLab Solutions
Resilience and ingenuity are hallmarks of rural communities, stemming from their unique cultural and social histories. Given the diversity and varied strengths in rural places, policy solutions need to be tailored to the conditions and lived experiences of people in those communities.