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News from the Heartland Center
 The Heartland Center is continuing to add to its
international reputation for high-quality interactive learning in
traditional face-to-face workshops with equally valued interactive webinars in
the age of on-line learning. In October
we will complete our second series of webinars in this calendar year, and soon
we will announce a three-part series starting later in October and ending in
December. Our intent is to deliver four
three-part webinar series annually, plus occasional one-time offerings on new
subjects that we think may be of special interest to our workshop and webinar
participants in the U.S. and abroad.
In the current webinar series on Leadership Development and
Board Effectiveness, we've had as many as 129 participants in 13 states joining
us for a one-hour, live session. Participants get advance reading materials and the opportunity, on-line, to join
in at least three interactive learning sessions. Once each webinar closes, we post a link to
an archival recording, which participants may re-visit on their own time or
tune in if they missed the live session.
Recently, we've been asked to share what we know about
interactive learning on-line with  other organizations that are just beginning to
explore what it means to do training by webinar. If you are interested in this service,
contact Senior Associate Kurt Mantonya to learn more. Kurt's address is kmantonya@heartlandcenter.info.
--Milan Wall & Vicki Luther, Co-Directors
Heartland Center for Leadership Development
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Midwest Rural Assembly
Attracts 120 Participants
The Heartland Center was a sponsor and coordinating organization for this year's Midwest Rural Assembly, held August 16-17, 2010 in South Sioux City, Nebraska. Milan Wall, one of the Center's co-directors, helped open the assembly with welcoming remarks. Milan also facilitated a round table discussion on Innovative Strategies for Community Change. This session was one of 22 round tables designed to bring people together to discuss ways of sharing information and addressing priorities.
A critical topic at the assembly was reversing the trend of exporting young people. Five young leaders focused on how rural communities can, instead, welcome and sustain the next generation. Their priorities include:
- Helping young adults get started in sustainable agriculture
- Promoting a broader vision of health
- Preserving working lands
- Providing more educational options in rural areas
- Promoting asset development for people with low incomes
- Attracting young people who care about the environment
Victor Vasquez, U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Undersecretary for Rural Development, outlined key priorities for the department over the next few years:
- Local and regional markets for farmers through the Know your Farmer, Know your Food program. "We've seen nothing but success."
- Expanding broadband access to make rural communities more
competitive economically. "It's not just about technology. It's going
to change the nature of education for children who live in poor, rural
communities. It will change how they perceive education and the world."
- Renewable energy. The USDA is working closely with the
Department of Energy and other partners to reduce and eliminate U.S.
dependence on foreign oil. "Ultimately, this is how we view our natural
resources and the environment and do things in a better way," said Vasquez. He
anticipated an enhanced level of collaboration with DOE that could
result in more announcements supporting energy efficiency in the months
to come.
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Better land management. USDA oversees tens of thousands of acres
of public land. The agency is studying how it can work better with the
communities around that land, along with state and local governments,
to increase economic development and better manage the natural resources.
"This year's assembly was well attended and the variety of information from the speakers and round tables was remarkable," said Wall. "I am glad that the Heartland Center was a sponsor and host organization. It's venues like this that will make a difference in rural America."
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Heartland Center has a Major Presence at the Community Development Society
Heartland Center staff members Milan Wall and Kurt Mantonya attended the annual meeting of the Community Development Society in New Orleans, Louisiana, July 26-29, 2010. Kurt presented a paper and Power Point presentation entitled "Utilizing the Community Capitals Framework in an Ethnohistorical Context," which focused the Community Capitals Framework developed by Heartland Center board member Cornelia Butler Flora and her husband Jan Flora. Kurt placed this framework into societies such as Chaco Canyon in New Mexico that collapsed or were abandoned. Milan facilitated a session on Innovative Strategies for Community Change that brought together practitioners from the field of rural and community development to identify best practices. This session was created based on convenings of practitioners held in Minnesota and Illinois and led to regional venues such as the Midwest Rural Assembly. Once these best practices have been synthesized, they will be disseminated through a variety of media. |
Community Capitals Framework Institute--
Call for Participation
Are you currently using the Community Capitals Framework (CCF) in
your work? If so, we would like to learn about your approach and methods.
This year's CCF Institute will feature several sessions on data collection,
coding and analysis using the CCF in addition to the work sessions created by
participants' practice. We are particularly interested in how the Community Capitals
Framework is being used to understand the impact of community change work,
leadership development, and climate change. We are also interested in
strategies to engage communities and organizations using the Community Capitals
Framework. Finally, we want to bring great minds together to discuss strategies
for collecting and analyzing data using the CCF. If you are interested in participating in the program,
please send an abstract of your work (500 words) along with key words to Mary
Emery at memery@iastate.edu by September
15. The Heartland Center is a co-sponsor of this year's CCF Institute. |
On the Calendar at the Heartland Center
September 2010 - The Heartland Center's webinar on Stewardship Essentials will take place on the 14th.
- The Heartland Center, in collaboration with the RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship and the Nebraska Community Foundation, will be presenting HomeTown Competitiveness at the CFED Assets Learning Conference in Washington, D.C. on the 22nd.
October 2010 Milan Wall is presenting at the Community Matters 2010 Conference in Denver sponsored by the Orton Family Foundation on the 5th through the 8th.
The Heartland Center will be co-sponsoring the Community Capitals Framework Institute in Ames, Iowa, on the 15th and 16th. Kurt will be presenting Utilizing the Community Capitals Framework in an Ethnohistorical Context.
The Heartland Center's webinar on Governance Effectiveness will take place on the 19th.
Milan is presenting a keynote on Clues to Rural Community Survival in Ontario at the Rural Revitalization Summit on the 20th.
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About the Heartland Center
The
Heartland Center for Leadership Development is an independent nonprofit
organization developing local leadership that responds to the
challenges of the future. The Heartland Center is headquartered in
Lincoln, Nebraska, with a field office located in Kerrville, Texas.
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