Univ. of Nebraska to launch Rural Futures Institute

"University of Nebraska researchers believe they’re building an infrastructure that will help revitalize rural parts of their state that, in many cases, have been shedding residents for half a century or more," Mitch Smith writes for Inside Higher Ed.

UNL has announced its intent to create an institute that would draw expertise from across Nebraska and beyond to improve those communities. The Rural Futures Institute is set to launch in September, reports Kevin Abourezk of the Lincoln Journal-Star. The institute initially plans to use $1.5 million in existing funds to get started. 

The institute will be “focused on a problem, a problem very important to Nebraska but [that] has implications above and beyond Nebraska,” said Ronnie Green, vice chancellor of the school's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The rural futures institute would encompass many disciplines: “You’re talking about health, nutrition, business development, telecommunications systems,” said Green. A conference on improving rural communities last week in Lincoln drew 475 people from 29 states and several foreign countries.