Aspen CSG partner, The Brookings Institution, has a strong history of investing in rural policy research and collaborating with rural practitioners to address rural issues.
Their Reimagining Rural Policy Initiative, in particular, provides analysis and recommendations to improve the effectiveness, coherence, and relevance of US federal rural policy. Through analysis, convenings, and direct engagement with policymakers and rural stakeholders, the project shapes a new policy discourse on federal leadership to promote equitable rural development. It advances targeted, evidence-based policy solutions to create the conditions for improved resilience, wellbeing, and equity in rural communities.
Brookings’ Reimagine Rural podcast also connects listeners to rural towns across America, sharing stories of how local people are enacting positive change in their communities and learning how public investment in rural people and places can lead to increased and equitable prosperity.
Further resources from Brookings include:
- Why US Rural Policy Matters: This article works to counteract the all too common anti-rural rhetoric in policy discussions online and on Capitol Hill. Read about the danger of rural stereotypes and how a misunderstanding of rural leads to brushing aside essential rural policy issues.
- Policy Lessons From the ‘Reimagine Rural’ Podcast: Read about what insights Tony Pipa, host of the Reimagine Rural podcast, has found in his discussions with local leaders, investors, and small-business owners from rural towns across the US. Many of these lessons are broadly applicable to rural communities working to scale development and success.
- Five Recommendations for 2023 Farm Bill and Federal Implementation: Brookings has compiled five takeaway lessons from their rural research that would enable policy solutions to maximize the public benefit of the federal resources from the 2023 Farm Bill.
- Maximizing Rural Broadband Investments: This policy brief offers analysis and recommendations to policymakers, internet service providers (ISPs or providers), and practitioners to enable authentic community engagement and increase the likelihood of successfully delivering broadband to rural communities across rural America.
