Rural Indiana's Top Ten Priorities Named at RISE 2020 Congress
Rural Citizens, Community Leaders and Service Providers Set New Agenda.
Danville, Indiana (June 13, 2007) - Nearly 200 rural citizens, community leaders and service providers established the top ten rural priorities for Indiana today during the first-ever RISE 2020 Congress. RISE 2020, the Rural Indiana Strategy for Excellence, is a fifteen-year cultural framework designed to help rural communities be great places to live, learn, work, and play. The ten priorities were chosen from 38 recommendations presented during the event held at the Hendricks County 4-H Fairgrounds and Conference Complex.
"The value of this new agenda is two-fold," said William Graham, Mayor of Scottsburg and Chairman of the Indiana Rural Development Council, the conference's host. "First, it is important for people to come together to discuss ideas, develop a platform and share it with leaders from communities, regions, businesses, universities, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations. Second, the RISE 2020 Congress provided an opportunity to create a new voice for rural communities and their issues."
"The strength of RISE 2020 is that it moves beyond the traditional sectors and moves community conversations toward a foundation and seven pillars," said Dr. Sam Cordes, Co-Director of the Purdue [University] Center for Regional Development. "Upon the foundation of a new rural constituency, the seven pillars capture the spirit and opportunities of community - Regional Frameworks; Asset-Based Community Development; Civic Leadership and Engagement; Rural Innovation Culture; Youth Engagement; Wealth Creation and Retention; and Diversity, Access and Inclusiveness. While planning is often done in sectors, RISE 2020 illustrates that sectors overlap to create pillars and those pillars hold up a community."
The Rural Priorities Agenda has been in the works for some time. Leading up to the RISE 2020 Congress, rural leaders and service providers worked in eight sector groups to identify critical issues and their specific needs. The sector groups presented reports at the Congress and every attendee got to vote for their three most important issues resulting in the top ten agenda. "This effort calls on leaders from business, non-profit organizations, governments, and philanthropies to move beyond their traditional planning sectors and reach out to each other to work together as communities," said Graham.
"An important aspect of RISE 2020 is its inclusive nature. From our work groups to this Congress, the process has been open to all who wanted to participate," added Graham. "Successful rural communities will establish partnerships with each other and with suburban and urban areas. We must all work together to make Indiana a prosperous place."
RISE 2020 is a collaborative effort stewarded by the Indiana Rural Development Council, Inc. (IRDC) and its numerous partners. IRDC is a private-public partnership that advocates for the vitality of rural Indiana. Its purpose is to facilitate efforts of citizens and other stakeholders to meet the economic and social needs of rural Indiana by cultivating innovative ideas with rural communities to be great places to live, learn, work, and play.
Click here to see the Top Ten Rural Priorities. To view the Rural Priorities Report, click here.