Conferences

RUPRI facilitates dialogue among scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. As such, we hold conferences on a variety of topics relevant to rural communities.

Quaint downtown corner with buildings

2021 Cultural Wealth Conference

February 23 & 25, 2021 • Virtual Conference

Theme: The Role of the Arts and Cultural Capital in Rural Innovation and Entrepreneurship

RUPRI is hosting a virtual research agenda-setting conference on the important role that arts and cultural capital play in rural innovation, community well-being, and rural community sustainability and resiliency. This virtual conference will ask the research community to explore issues of rural cultural capital through basic research and collaborations with researchers.

Small Downtown Storefronts

2022 Small Cities Conference

May 2022 • Muncie, IN

Theme: Thinking Regionally: Research, Policy, & Practice

Non-metropolitan places regularly encounter public policy challenges spanning multiple communities and jurisdictions. Effectively confronting the challenges facing rural communities, towns, and smaller cities requires both a better understanding of regional linkages and greater interaction between the academics who study these issues and the policymakers who address them.