Global Leaders to Describe Community,
Rural Futures at Minnesota Rural Summit

(Redwood Falls, MN, June 28, 2001)   U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson (invited) and Kate O’Dubhchair, designer of the European Union’s rural policy statement, will provide a vision and call to action for national and international partnerships to support rural and community development at the first-ever Joint International Summit on Community and Rural Development on July 22-25 in Duluth, Minnesota. 

Thompson, former Governor of Wisconsin, and O’Dubhchair, vice president of the European Rural University, will join 250 speakers -- community leaders, scholars, and policy makers -- from 15 countries to present ideas, models, and changes that are at work in communities around the globe.  

Minnesota Rural Partners, the state rural development council, joins with the National Rural Development Partnership and the International Community Development Society to host the international community and rural development summit.  The Summit theme is “The Times They Are A-Changing,”  reflecting the title of a  well-known song by Minnesota native Bob Dylan.

The Summit will draw more than 1,200 participants, and offers sessions in six broad categories: diversity and inclusion, globalization, human services, rural/urban coalitions, technology, and models for sustainable community development.  Information will be exchanged through professional workshops, keynote presentations, hands-on learning stations, panel discussions, and papers.  Tours of Minnesota models in regions of the state also are scheduled.

A unique pre-meeting feature of the Summit is the Online Rural Policy Forum, where individuals from around the world who are interested in rural development issues are exchanging views and ideas online at .  “The Online Rural Policy Forum offers those interested in communities the chance to raise questions and exchange insights on rural issues and policy -- citizens, merchants, farmers and  ranchers, mayors, students,” explains Marcie McLaughlin, executive director of Redwood Falls-based Minnesota Rural Partners. 

Responses to nine specific questions from the Online Forum will be analyzed and presented during the final Summit session on Wednesday, July 25.  “People working together can make a difference,” McLaughlin emphasizes.  “The Summit is an opportunity to learn from scholars and practitioners and to exchange the best practices that will support healthy communities.  The Online Rural Policy Forum is a key part of our partnership commitment to be inclusive and intentional.”

For detailed information on the Summit, please visit the Joint International Summit Web site at , or contact 2001 host committee chair Jane Leonard at jane@communitytechnologyadvisors.com or 651-645-9403.

Minnesota Rural Partners is Minnesota’s state rural development council and a member of the National Rural Development Partnership.  MRP builds partnerships to meet rural community challenges that no one organization can accomplish alone.  For the past three years, MRP has hosted a Rural Summit to bring partners together to focus on rural policy issues, professional development and partnership building.

The Community Development Society is an international association whose mission is to advocate for excellence in the community development profession.  Members represent a variety of fields, including economic and rural development, urban planning, citizen groups, health care, utilities, government, the environment and nonprofits.

The National Rural Development Partnership is a national coalition of 40 state rural development councils in the United States, committed to strengthening rural communities through the collaborative efforts of federal, state, local and tribal government, education, and private and non-profit sectors.  NRDP brings rural people and organizations together to seek coordinated solutions to local problems that meet the long-term needs of the community.