In our work with rural communities we often hear three very important statements: "We love this place," "This place is really changing," and "We don't know how to give our community life again."
Based on proven results in Miner County, the Rural Learning Center team helps bring hope to rural people who've been kicked (and kicking themselves) for decades of decline. We continue to learn many lessons that help us form the principles and values of our work. This is what we believe.
- Every place is different
- The wisdom and talent is here
- A different conversation
- Slow change
- Behave ourselves
- Swim together
- Special leaders
- It's all connected
- Share the learning
- Live the story
1- Every place is different
There's a saying at the Rural Learning Center: "If you've seen one small town, you've seen one small town." Each small town, region and rural system has unique issues that can sidetrack its best efforts of building a stronger future. Ideas that work one place might not work in another. We work to discover the real questions, and then solutions, for each unique situation.
2- The wisdom and talent is here
The talent and wisdom any community needs already lives there. Nobody 'out there' can make change happen for you. It takes local, hands-on change agents backed by ownership and support from the entire community.
That means inviting everyone to participate from the start-from the fringe of the community to the leadership core, youngest to oldest and everyone in between. Value every single person, and invite them to work on things that really matter to them. That's how you get things done.
3- A different conversation
Talking about the weather and the ball game won't change anything. We can learn so much, and let breakthrough ideas emerge, if we come together to discuss the whole picture of what is happening in our communities. That means genuinely listening to each other, and diving into self-discovery about our true shared history (often so we can let go of it) and our 'now' reality.
4- Slow change
Turning rural decline around is tough work, and it doesn't produce results overnight. Solving tough problems takes a different approach. We have to let go of the 'results now!' mentality, and commit to the long haul.
5- Behave ourselves
If we want to spark transformation, we need to take responsibility for our actions. By digging deep into our history and our present, we begin to recognize our own handprints on the good and the bad. We see the need to unlearn old habits and change the behavior that got us into this spot in the first place.
6- Swim together
Sometimes we get so busy swimming along and doing our own thing, we don't see that we're all going in different directions instead of moving the community forward together. When collaboration gets radical-when we swim with unified hopes, dreams and ideas-it makes this challenging work shine.
7-Special leaders
A different kind of community takes a different kind of leadership. No handful of people making all the decisions. No convincing the community my idea is best. This work calls for bold, empathic leaders willing to open up to the hearts of the people. It's a special job description that includes engaging, challenging, inspiring, listening to and supporting the whole community.
8- It's all connected
There's a bigger picture that we rarely see. All the people, organizations, assets, activities, problems and systems that make up a community are connected and interdependent. We need to step back and see how the dots connect before pushing too far in any one direction.
9- Share the learning
Since we're all in this together, there's no sense in hiding what we learn along the way. Share the stories. Open up the how's and why's. Turn this work into open source. It's all a way for us to learn and celebrate new thinking along the way.
10- Living the Story
It's one thing to say we believe this stuff. It's meaningless if we don't live it. The Rural Learning Center is not a quick fix consultant, and we are not an expert with all the answers. We really live rural, and we work every day to uncover the real questions and solutions out there. We approach this work as explorers, as partners in your discovery.
Learn a bit more about us:Miner County Roots how we came to be), Remarkable Results (how we've reimagined rural so far), Who we are (staff, board, friends and partners), What we do (strategies and services), or What we're working on now (our current projects).
