Sustainable Communities Initiative
This article was posted in 2000.
Background
In recent months, North Carolina's state-level leadership has committed itself to an ambitious agenda for rural advancement. This agenda includes initiatives to give young children a strong start in life, to insure Internet access statewide, to build and improve community water and sewer systems, to invest in promising rural businesses and to reinvigorate agriculture.
As impressive and far-reaching as they are, these initiatives alone cannot bring new vitality, new prosperity to rural North Carolina. To be successful in the 21st century, rural communities must be able to create a clear vision for their own future. They must have a commitment to broad involvement in decision-making; an understanding of the dynamic balance among economic opportunity, social well being and environmental quality; and the ability to anticipate and plan for the long-term future.
While North Carolina's rural communities have long been blessed with committed, hard-working leaders, many do not have the necessary resources to plan strategically for the future they desire. In response, the North Carolina Rural Prosperity Task Force recommended in February 2000 a Sustainable Communities Initiative to equip rural communities with the tools they need to meet the economic, social, educational, civic and environmental challenges of the new century. The task force directed the Rural Center to champion and coordinate the effort.
Project Overview
The Rural Center began development of the Sustainable Communities Initiative in the spring of 2000 with the following goals:
- To increase access to leadership development opportunities for rural leaders, particularly those who live and work in distressed communities;
- To increase access to technical assistance and financial resources that help rural communities build internal capacity for the development of sustainable economies and communities;
- To increase community capacity to solve multidimensional problems through the use of inclusive problem-solving and planning processes; and
- To increase community ability to develop and implement sustainable economic development projects in distressed communities.
Toward this end, the Sustainable Communities Initiative is being designed around the following three components:
A rural leadership development fund. The objective of the Leadership Opportunities Fund will be to provide needs-based scholarships to present and future rural leaders who wish to participate in leadership development programs. Emphasis will be placed on programs that provide training in community collaboration and comprehensive economic development. As a first step, the Rural Center will conduct an assessment to identify community leadership needs and eligible leadership programs.
A rural technical assistance program. The Civic Enterprise Planning and Support Program will serve to help rural communities undertake collaborative and comprehensive planning to solve local problems and to connect to an array of resources and services. The program is an outgrowth of the work undertaken by MDC, Inc. with the support of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and the involvement of state, nonprofit and community organizations.
A model civic venture fund. The Civic Venture Fund will provide a dedicated source of grant money to help communities implement projects that address multiple, integrated issues and result in sustainable enterprises and communities. The fund will support projects that can demonstrate a clear return on the investment - including civic, economic, social, environmental and educational returns.
Timeline
The initiative will be divided into three major steps to take place over five years.
Phase I will involve planning and development of the initiative's three major program components. Also included in Phase I will be the creation and start-up of a Sustainable Communities Advisory Council.
Phase II will involve funding development and program initiation, and Phase III will involve planning for the programs' long term future. Phases I and II will be accomplished in the first two years of the demonstration cycle. Phase III will be accomplished during the last three years of the cycle.
Funding
Funding for the Sustainable Communities Initiative will be provided through a variety of public and privates sources. To date, funds have been committed by the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, Appalachian Regional Commission and anonymous sources.
Progress to Date
The Sustainable Communities Initiative is in its infancy, with the Rural Center and its partners beginning to shape the vision presented by the North Carolina Rural Prosperity Task Force.
In October 2000, the Sustainable Communities Advisory Council will be named to aid in establishing the initiative. The council will be made up of task force members, state and local government leaders, educational organizations serving rural areas, representatives of nonprofits reflecting diverse rural interests, and representatives of groups that may be potential users of the initiative's programs. The council will initially serve to develop the framework for each of the initiative's major components.
Rural Center Contact
Robin Pulver
Vice President for Community and Human Resource Development
N.C. Rural Economic Development Center
4021 Carya Drive
Raleigh, NC 27610
Telephone: 919-250-4314
Fax: 919-250-4325
E-Mail: pulver@ncruralcenter.org
