Action Learning Manager, Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group
Rural communities are generally considered friendly, welcoming places. While this may be true for some, there is also a strong history of suspicion of outsiders, especially if they look, sound, or act differently from the local population. This kind of resistance or rejection is a structural barrier to opportunity for the excluded groups and the larger community.
Recent data show that many rural communities are beginning to grow, thanks to an influx of new residents, many of whom are immigrants from all over the world. Today’s economy presents a challenge for longtime and new residents alike, and this is particularly true for immigrants who may have linguistic or legal barriers to work and social services. Rural communities that are more welcoming to immigrants and new residents are more successful at attracting residents and growing their economies.
It’s not only immigrants who need to be welcomed into rural communities. Some rural places are seeing an influx of newcomers from urban areas due to the rising costs of urban living and remote employment. Welcoming community initiatives are also helping build and restore positive community relationships between Native nations and nearby non-Indigenous residents.
The changing demographics and growing diversity of many rural communities present the opportunity for long-time residents to engage one another and newcomers in a process of mutual learning that can foster a healthier community dynamic.
We recently held a virtual networking session facilitated by our co-Executive Director Chris Estes with 120 rural leaders focused on these issues. Participants shared a few organizations helping their towns and rural places be more welcoming:
Weave: The Social Fabric Project at the Aspen Institute supports 'weavers' who have found a more connected way to live by working in neighborhoods and towns to make connections and lead with love. Weave connects and supports weavers within the community who are creating a more welcoming place for all.
The changing demographics and growing diversity of many rural communities present the opportunity for long-time residents to engage one another and newcomers in a process of mutual learning that can foster a healthier community dynamic.
We recently held a virtual networking session facilitated by our co-Executive Director Chris Estes with 120 rural leaders focused on these issues. Participants shared a few organizations helping their towns and rural places be more welcoming:
Welcoming America, particularly its Rural Welcoming Initiative, provides resources and technical assistance to rural communities seeking to become more welcoming to new residents, particularly immigrants. Welcoming America's Certified Welcoming program has served as a valuable roadmap for local governments seeking to build truly welcoming communities.
Community Heart and Soul is a process tailored for small towns that can help engage the 'missing voices' in rural communities. It is a resident-driven process that engages the entire population of a town in identifying what they love most about their community, what future they want for it, and how to achieve it.
Weave: The Social Fabric Project at the Aspen Institute supports 'weavers' who have found a more connected way to live by working in neighborhoods and towns to make connections and lead with love. Weave connects and supports weavers within the community who are creating a more welcoming place for all.
Strong Towns advocates for cities of all sizes to be safe, livable, and inviting. They work to elevate local government to be the highest level of collaboration for people working together in a place.
Open and honest communication is a primary way to build bridges among different social groups in a community. Practitioners emphasized that conversation must be two-way and that everyone should have the space for meaningful participation. This means that longtime, often white, residents must be open to and willing to enter initially uncomfortable spaces to experience new cultures, foods, and events as part of the welcoming process.”
Rural practitioners emphasized the importance of adopting a formal welcoming plan at the city or county level. A welcoming plan can provide the strategic map to organize public and non-profit efforts at welcoming into a coherent whole. Welcoming information and happenings can be shared via social media pages, like this one from Dodge City, Kansas.
Conscious and intentional design of rural welcoming events is crucial. Whether it is designing a Welcoming Week that allows communities and businesses to showcase their cultural distinctiveness or storytelling sessions for both longtime and new residents, care must be taken to meet people where they are both physically and emotionally.
This can mean hosting gatherings at local immigrant-owned businesses or community churches rather than in public facilities. It means creating space for newcomers to bring their own food and culinary traditions, music, and cultural norms to an event. Encouraging visibility when designing an event will make it more inclusive and welcoming. Allow people to design their own ways to engage with community events instead of forcing them to get involved with the systems that already exist.
Welcoming communities require a foundation of trust. Practitioners emphasized the importance of establishing trust between longtime residents and newcomers and suggested that trust is a key ingredient to the success of a welcoming initiative.
Trust is built through hard, intentional work. Language is too often a barrier to trust, particularly with immigrant residents. Practitioners suggested that language exchanges, where residents spent time learning each other’s languages, were a good way to build trust and share culture. Aspen CSG recently published two resources on building trust and growing language skills with immigrant residents.
Open and honest communication is a primary way to build bridges among different social groups in a community. Practitioners emphasized that conversation must be two-way and that everyone should have the space for meaningful participation. This means that longtime, often white, residents must be open to and willing to enter initially uncomfortable spaces to experience new cultures, foods, and events as part of the welcoming process.”
In many communities, power is held by a local elite that can be resistant to change. Many rural practitioners suggest that shifting power dynamics is a big part of their local welcoming initiatives.
Power held by a small group can exclude many residents, not just immigrants or other newcomers. One rural practitioner from Alaska shared a story of how cultural and linguistic exchange between an Alaska Native tribe and a nearby non-native community promoted closer relationships and increased the desire of political leaders to find solutions across jurisdictional boundaries.
Power held by a small group can exclude many residents, not just immigrants or other newcomers. One rural practitioner from Alaska shared a story of how cultural and linguistic exchange between an Alaska Native tribe and a nearby non-native community promoted closer relationships and increased the desire of political leaders to find solutions across jurisdictional boundaries.
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