Policy Theme Teams

Themes

Research and policy activities within the RPLC are guided by systematically testing and advancing comparative policy analyses applied to pressing rural and northern policy challenges and opportunities. We have assembled teams of participants to:

  • consider themes of relevance to rural and northern places;
  • prepare reports on current research insights and policy responses related to the theme;
    • propose actions to the RPLC KM Activity Teams that will mobilize this knowledge within researcher, policy, practitioner, and public contexts; and
    • propose future directions for research and education.

These themes and activities are assessed and modified over the duration of the project to be responsive to our research insights, partners’ interests, and rural community priorities.
Our initial selection of policy themes included Human Capital and Migration,Natural Resource Development, Governance, and Infrastructure and Services. In 2015 we added the Transformation in Indigenous Communities theme team. These themes are multi-faceted, remain on regional and national policy agendas (Caldwell 2010; OECD 2005b; University of Nebraska 2012), have repeatedly emerged in the ICRPS Institute, and reflect the strengths of our current faculty and partners.