Date: May 26, 2pm-3pm (ET)/1pm-2pm (CT)/12pm-1pm (MT)

Knowing how communities can obtain and use financial data is critical. In this session, you will learn how to utilize financial data in planning and refining strategies that focus on strengthening community resilience. Results from an on-going research project funded by the National Science Foundation will be part of the presentation.

Use this link to register for the event!

https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/webinars/

The National Science Foundation has awarded our project on rural smart shrinkage a second grant, for $1.5 million, to continue our research on small and shrinking communities in Iowa. We will be updating this website with more information starting in Fall 2020.

https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1952007&HistoricalAwards=false

https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/12/16/iowa-towns-shrink-smart

Kimberly Zarecor spoke to KCUR about the potential of a tuition-free program in a shrinking Kansas town.

https://www.kcur.org/post/shrinking-kansas-town-pins-its-hopes-growth-promise-free-tuition#stream/0

https://cpa.ds.npr.org/kcur/audio/2019/12/MiniEpisode1Mixdown5_0.mp3 (for a longer conversation on the topic)

David Peters on the KCUR podcast, “My Fellow Kansans” about smart shrinkage in rural Kansas towns.

https://www.kcur.org/post/s2-episode-3-rural-and-shrinking-smartly

Reporter Graham Ambrose spoke with Kimberly Zarecor and David Peters for this article on shrinking towns around the Quad Cities.

https://qctimes.com/news/local/shrink-smart-is-a-new-model-for-communities-that-are/article_0fbc145b-86b4-5f5d-9c02-d901d9b61780.html

David Peters presented on rural demographics at the Rural Development Symposium sponsored by Iowa State University Extension & Outreach on August 15, 2019.

https://www.register.extension.iastate.edu/rural/presentations

Research team members Kimberly Zarecor and David Peters helped to organize an NSF-funded workshop within the theme of Sustainable Urban Systems at Iowa State on Aug. 12-13, 2019. PI Zarecor, along with colleagues Ulrike Passe from Architecture and Jan Thompson from Natural Resource Ecology & Management, co-led the organization of the event with the assistance of an organizing committee including Co-PI Peters who presented one of the position papers.

https://register.extension.iastate.edu/susruri 

A team at Iowa State University is examining the relationship between population loss and quality of life in small and shrinking rural communities. Global economic and social trends predict that the number of people living in small towns and rural areas will continue to shrink. Policy makers have to decide how to manage these communities, which are often described as in decline and without many options for economic growth. The Rural Shrink Smart Project takes an in-depth look at a group of towns in Iowa to understand why some small communities continue to see stable and improving metrics on quality of life even as they shrink. This keynote session will present new findings, based on qualitative and quantitative data analysis, about people’s perceptions of life in small places and what local governments can do to stabilize and improve quality of life in their communities by adopting shrink smart strategies.

https://elgl.org/elgl19-keynote-the-rural-shrink-smart-project/ 

Iowa State faculty Ulrike Passe (Architecture), Jan Thompson (Natural Resource Ecology and Management), and Kimberly Zarecor (Architecture) have received funding from the National Science Foundation to led a workshop in August 2019 on Redesigning the Urban-Rural Interface (RURI) along the Mississippi River Watershed. Organizing committee members include project researcher David Peters (Sociology). Please find more information in the call for position statements:

https://scc.design.iastate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2019/05/ISU_SUSRURI.pdf  

Zarecor to Give ELGL2019 (Engaging Local Government Leaders) Keynote Session in Durham, NC (May 15-17, 2019)

ELGL19 Keynote: The Rural Shrink Smart Project

Researchers Sara Hamideh and Kimberly Zarecor were interviewed on Talk of Iowa with host Charity Nebbe on Nov. 15. Listen to the interview starting at min. 31.

https://www.iowapublicradio.org/post/celebrating-50-years-national-trail-system#stream/0 

Research in the news at Iowa State.

Press Release: https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2018/10/31/shrink-smart

Iowa State Daily: http://www.iowastatedaily.com/app_content/iowa-state-small-town-shrinkage/article_4a398abc-e790-11e8-bbb4-676e5e9af0f2.html

The team has published our first peer-reviewed publication based on analysis of our Iowa Small Town Poll data set using Entrepreneurial Social Infrastructure (ESI) as a framework to understand smart shrinkage in rural communities.

Peters, D., Hamideh, S., Zarecor, K., Ghandour, M. “Using Entrepreneurial Social Infrastructure to Understand Smart Shrinkage in Small Towns,” Journal of Rural Studies, vol. 64 (November 2018): 39-49.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2018.10.001https://register.extension.iastate.edu/susruri 

Listen to Sara Hamideh, Eric Davis, and Kimberly Zarecor talk with host Ben Kittelson about our work on rural smart shrinkage.

Podcast: The Shrink Smart Project – Managing Population Loss in Rural Communities

Kimberly Zarecor and David Peters will present at the Iowa Leagues of Cities Annual Meeting in Council Bluffs, Iowa on Sept. 13. Our workshop will share our preliminary results and research design with League members.

Cityscape – July 2018

Iowa NPR journalist Mary Hansen interviewed Kimberly Zarecor on smart shrinkage and how it might be useful for rural Illinois communities.

https://illinoisnewsroom.org/2018/08/24/shrinking-illinois/ 

Iowa NPR reporter Amy Mayer talks with faculty researcher Sara Hamideh about ‘brain gain’ and how some small Iowa towns are able to attract new residents.

http://www.iowapublicradio.org/post/how-some-small-towns-are-achieving-brain-gain

The Mississippi newspaper, The Natchez Democrat, picked up our shrink smart research in this July 6, 2018 editorial:

Communities can learn to shrink smarter

Our research as reported on NPR gets a mention in this editorial in the The Daily Independent in Ashland, Kentucky.

http://www.dailyindependent.com/opinion/tri-state-and-the-shrink-smart-project/article_38d9d966-796d-11e8-9416-1f6f524dea32.html 

David Peters talks with Iowa Gazette reporter B.A. Morelli about smart shrinkage for Iowa Ideas Magazine. Bancroft, one of the Iowa Small Town Poll communities, is featured in the story.

https://www.thegazette.com/IowaIdeas/stories/regional-development/some-towns-continue-to-shrink-but-many-iowans-are-choosing-to-stay-bancroft-shrink-smart-rural-towns-20180624