WHILE THE UNITED STATES (US) ECONOMY HAS SUBSTANTIALLY RECOVERED FROM THE 2008 RECESSION, RURAL COMMUNITIES HAVE NOT REAPED THE BENEFITS OF THIS RECOVERY. RURAL UNEMPLOYMENT REMAINS ABOVE ITS PRE-RECESSION LEVEL, AND RURAL COMMUNITIES HAVE LOWER MEDIAN INCOMES AND HIGHER POVERTY RATES THAN URBAN COMMUNITIES (CROMARTIE, 2017). A GROWING URBAN-RURAL CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC DIVIDE, AND PRESSURE FROM LONG-TERM SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGES, CONTRIBUTE TO A FEELING OF DISEMPOWERMENT AND DISENFRANCHISEMENT IN MANY RURAL COMMUNITIES (CRAMER, 2016; IKERD, 2017; LICHTER & BROWN, 2011). REVERSING THESE TRENDS REQUIRES INVESTING IN A BROAD RANGE OF ASSETS THAT COMPRISE A COMMUNITY'S WEALTH (ARROW ET AL., 2012; PENDER ET AL., 2012; UNU-IHDP, 2014). THESE CAPITAL ASSETS INCLUDE FINANCIAL, PHYSICAL, HUMAN, INTELLECTUAL, NATURAL, SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND CULTURAL ASSETS (PENDER & RATNER, 2014). AN ASSETS-BASED APPROACH CREATES OPPORTUNITIES FOR STAKEHOLDERS TO CONSIDER THEIR COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES BEFORE SELECTING STRATEGIES (DUMONT ET AL., 2017). THIS PROJECT - PATHWAYS TO PROSPERITY - WILL INFORM ASSET-BASED APPROACHES TO RURAL WEALTH CREATION IN THE CONTEXT OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL FOOD SYSTEMS BY FOCUSING ON HOW RURAL COMMUNITIES COLLABORATIVELY MAKE DECISIONS AND SOLVE PUBLIC PROBLEMS. SUPPORT FOR ROBUST LOCAL AND REGIONAL FOOD SYSTEMS (LRFS) - RANGING FROM THE CREATION OF SMALL FOOD HUBS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF LARGE-SCALE AGRICULTURAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND PROCESSING FACILITIES - IS A PROMISING AVENUE FOR RURAL WEALTH CREATION. LRFS EXPANSION PROVIDES THE OPPORTUNITY TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (DUMONT ET AL., 2017; JABLONSKI ET AL., 2016; MARTINEZ ET AL., 2010); IMPROVE PUBLIC HEALTH (MULLER ET AL., 2009; WEBB ET AL., 2001); INCREASE RESILIENCY (FEENSTRA, 2009; SCHIFF, 2008; SCHIPANSKI ET AL., 2016; TAGTOW & ROBERTS, 2011); AND SUPPORT THE VIABILITY OF SMALL, MIDSIZE, AND BEGINNING FARMS AND RANCHES (BAUMAN ET AL., 2018; JABLONSK ET AL., 2017; LOW ET AL., 2015). IN THIS CONTEXT, LRFS INITIATIVES, PROGRAMS, AND POLICIES ARE DEFINED BROADLY. GIVEN THE ABSENCE OF A NATIONAL DEFINITION FOR LRFS, WE FOLLOW LOW ET AL. (2015) AND CONSIDER LRFS "PLACE-SPECIFIC CLUSTERS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS OF ALL KINDS - FARMERS, RANCHERS, FISHERS - ALONG WITH CONSUMERS AND INSTITUTIONS ENGAGED IN PRODUCING, PROCESSING, DISTRIBUTING, AND SELLING FOODS" (PG. 1). THIS DEFINITION AVOIDS THE SCALE BIAS (BORN & PURCELL, 2006) THAT IS PREVALENT IN SOME LRFS RESEARCH AND COMMUNITY-BASED WORK. FURTHER, IT RECOGNIZES THAT LOCAL FOOD SYSTEM ACTIVITY GENERALLY - WHETHER OR NOT IT IS CONSUMED LOCALLY - CONTRIBUTES TO IMPORTANT COMMUNITY-BASED OUTCOMES AS LONG AS THE VALUE IS FAIRLY DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE SUPPLY CHAIN. TO SUPPORT LRFS DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNITIES INCREASINGLY ARE MOVING TOWARDS GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES THAT EXPLICITLY SUPPORT LRFS POLICY. FOOD POLICY COUNCILS (FPC) ARE A CASE IN POINT. US FPCS HAVE INCREASED FROM 50 IN 2000 TO OVER 260 IN 2017 (SUSSMAN & BASSARAB, 2017). THE ABILITY OF FPCS TO ENCOURAGE LRFS DEVELOPMENT RELIES ON INCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT OF A BREADTH OF STAKEHOLDERS TO IDENTIFY AND COLLABORATIVELY SOLVE LOCAL PROBLEMS (DAHLBERG ET AL., 1997; FEENSTRA, 2009). AS A RESULT, LRFS ALSO FOSTER DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES (CLARK & RECORD, 2017; RENTING ET AL., 2012). THESE CHARACTERISTICS HIGHLIGHT THE OPPORTUNITIES RESULTING FROM COLLABORATIVE APPROACHES TO RURAL DEVELOPMENT. MULTI-SECTOR COLLABORATIVE GOVERNANCE (HEREAFTER REFERRED TO AS "COLLABORATIVE GOVERNANCE") REFERS TO A SYSTEM OF PUBLIC DECISION-MAKING IN WHICH COLLABORATION ACROSS SECTORS (PUBLIC, PRIVATE, AND NONPROFIT) IS THE PRIMARY APPROACH FOR SOLVING COMPLEX PUBLIC PROBLEMS (EMERSON & NABATCHI, 2015). COLLABORATIVE GOVERNANCE OFFERS A WAY FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES TO ADAPT TO CHANGING SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTS (GOODWIN, 1998; MURDOCH, 2000). PATHWAYS TO PROSPERITY IS A COLLABORATIVE PROJECT BETWEEN OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY (OSU), COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY (CSU), AND AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST (AFT). THE PROJECT IS SUPPORTED BY MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL RESOURCE ADVISORY COUNCIL (NRAC). NOTE THAT ALL MEMBERS OF THE NRAC HAVE ALREADY COMMITTED SUPPORT TO THIS PROJECT (SEE LETTERS OF SUPPORT) AND INCLUDE AN IMPRESSIVE GROUP OF NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS WITH EXPERTISE IN RURAL COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND GOVERNANCE, INCLUDING THE RURAL POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (RUPRI), THE FEDERAL RESERVE, THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE, THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES (NACO, THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS (NADO), THE COUNCIL OF DEVELOPMENT FINANCE AGENCIES (CDFA), THE JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR A LIVABLE FUTURE NATIONAL FOOD POLICY NETWORK (FPN), AND THE NORTH CENTRAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT CENTER (NCRDC). PROJECT PARTNERS WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH TWO RURAL COMMUNITIES - ALAMOSA COUNTY, CO AND WAYNE COUNTY, OH - AND NATIONAL PRACTITIONERS AND PARTNERS TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION: HOW CAN RURAL COMMUNITIES USE COLLABORATIVE GOVERNANCE METHODS TO ADVANCE WEALTH CREATION? THE PROJECT'S MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND INTEGRATED WORK HAS THREE OVERARCHING GOALS: GOAL 1 IS TO EXAMINE INNOVATIVE MULTI-SECTOR COLLABORATIVE STRATEGIES TO EXPAND LRFS IN RURAL COMMUNITIES USING BOTH QUALITATIVE FIELD WORK IN OUR PARTNER COMMUNITIES - WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO AND ALAMOSA COUNTY, COLORADO - AND QUANTITATIVE NATIONAL LEVEL ANALYSIS. GOAL 2 IS TO USE OUR RESEARCH AND THE RESOURCES OF OUR NATIONAL PARTNERS TO ADVANCE THE PROSPERITY OF OUR PARTNER COMMUNITIES THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED EXTENSION PROGRAMMING. GOAL 3 IS TO START A NATIONAL POLICY AND RESEARCH DIALOGUE ON COLLABORATIVE PATHWAYS TO RURAL PROSPERITY. THIS GOAL INTEGRATES EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS FROM GOAL 1 AND THE EVALUATION OF EXTENSION PROGRAMMING FROM GOAL 2 TO DEVELOP AND DISSEMINATE EXTENSION MATERIALS WITH THE HELP OF OUR NATIONAL PARTNERS, INCLUDING A PUBLICLY AVAILABLE COMMUNITY ASSET DATABASE.

Ohio State University, The, Columbus OH

Investigators