It is impossible to consider the challenges, needs, and opportunities facing rural America or to consider the rural impacts of public policies and programs without taking full account of the international context. The impact of trade agreements and policies on agriculture and on the scale and type of Federal support for crop production, the dramatic consequences for rural small towns of relocating manufacturing activities to other countries, and the global competition for capital, natural resources, and skilled labor and its implications for rural competitiveness, are just a few examples. It also true that rural people and places across the globe have many challenges in common, which have given rise to exciting innovations in policy and practice in different contexts. There is much to be gained for rural America to be exposed to these innovations and for rural America to share its learnings with others. RUPRI’s International Dialogue program is intended to open up international channels for exchanges of ideas, opportunities, and experiences in rural and regional development among policymakers, academics, and practitioners.
RUPRI is developing a set of institutional linkages worldwide that span the competencies of research (including teaching), policy analysis and engagement, dissemination and outreach, and decision support tools.
U.S. Institutions
Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs (TSPA) (http://truman.missouri.edu/index.asp)
TSPA at the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) is RUPRI’s academic home. The school has many international linkages through students, alumni, and faculty with long-term strategic partnerships with universities in Ireland, South Africa, and Korea. MU’s European Union Center (http://eu.missouri.edu/), also located with the Truman School, seeks to build stronger ties among European and Americans through outreach, educational, and research program. International Comparative Rural Policies Studies (ICRPS) (http://www.icrps.com/home.html)program is a one-year specialization for graduate students and practitioners interested in the formulation, analysis and impact of rural policy and the comparison of policies and their implementation in different countries and regions.
Georgetown University Law Center (http://www.law.georgetown.edu/ )
German Marshall Fund of the United States (http://www.gmfus.org/)
RUPRI partners with the Harrison Institute for Public Law (http://www.law.georgetown.edu/clinics/hi/) and GMF’s Trade & Development Program
(http://www.gmfus.org/trade/template/index.cfm) on assessing the implications of trade agreements for U.S. agricultural and rural development policies.
International Institutions
Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA) (http://www.iica.int/)
RUPRI has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with IICA to cooperate on educational, applied research, and knowledge management activities in the areas of regional and national placed-based rural development, rural governance, entrepreneurship and economic development, and sustainable development. IICA is an inter-governmental institution working with 34 member states across the Americas.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (http://www.oecd.org/home/)
RUPRI has long-established working relationships with two OECD Secretariat departments. The Directorate for Public Governance & Territorial Development (http://www.oecd.org/department/0,2688,en_2649_33735_1_1_1_1_1,00.html) has expertise in regional development, regional competitiveness, and rural development and is closely allied with the RUPRI Center for Regional Competitiveness. The OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs & Local Development (http://www.oecd.org/department/0,2688,en_2649_33956792_1_1_1_1_1,00.html), which encompasses the LEED (Local Economic & Employment Development) program and activities relating to entrepreneurship and tourism, has worked with RUPRI and the RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship (http://www.energizingentrepreneurs.org/) on conference papers and presentations and expert consultations in Europe.
International Rural Network (IRN) (http://www.international-rural-network.org/)
IRN is an international not-for-profit organization that provides opportunities for rural communities worldwide to learn from each other, and to foster improved communications between practitioners, communities, rural organizations, policy makers and academics around issues of sustainable rural community development. RUPRI was the U.S. host of the last IRN conference held in Virginia in 2005.
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) (http://www.iitb.ac.in/)
RUPRI has entered into an informal agreement with the Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management (http://www.som.iitb.ac.in/cgi-bin/index.cgi) at IITB to collaborate on entrepreneurship teaching and research.
