Tools for productive community meetings: Rising above the challenges

Archive for News

March 6, 2019

A team of Penn State Extension educators has developed a free video series that offers practical strategies to facilitate and build trust in the community. Titled “Community Conflict: Finding Middle Ground,” the series is designed to help community leaders, municipal officials and others who work in the public and nonprofit sector learn how to guide meetings toward a more productive and positive outcome for all. Each short video focuses on individual topics important to productive community conversations.

New research documents economic resilience across Appalachia

February 6, 2019

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) recently released “Strengthening Economic Resilience in Appalachia,” a new study identifying factors common across communities experiencing persistent economic growth in the aftermath of the 2008 Recession and other economic disruptions. Together with West Virginia University, the NERCRD played an instrumental role in developing this report. The research includes a statistical analysis of key factors common to economic resilience. A companion Guidebook for Practitioners offers additional insight that can inform economic development strategies across Appalachia.

Goetz named president-elect of North American Regional Science Council

December 11, 2018

Stephan Goetz, professor of agricultural and regional economics in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and director of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, was appointed president-elect of the North American Regional Science Council (NARSC) last month.

Farewell to longtime NERCRD research associate Yicheol Han

December 11, 2018

Congratulations to longtime NERCRD research associate, Yicheol Han, who has accepted a position as a research fellow at the Korea Rural Economic Institute in Nasu-si, South Korea. Han (known by many as “Char”) will be leaving the Center at the end of the month, after more than seven years of very productive service.

Group portrait of EFSNE team on outdoor patio

Study of Northeast food system advances understanding of regional potential

October 23, 2018

After seven years of analyzing a number of consumption, distribution, production, and other aspects of the Northeast U.S. food system, researchers from Penn State and 10 other universities and organizations have made significant gains in understanding the extent to which the region can increase production of certain foods, and potentially better meet the food needs of low-income populations in the locations they studied. Findings and outputs from the project, which concluded earlier this year, will be useful to food system planners, policy makers, researchers and advocates interested in advancing regional food systems.

R&D-heavy firms thrive in diverse economies

October 22, 2018

Companies that invest heavily in research and development are more likely to benefit from locating near dissimilar businesses, while companies that invest less in technology are better off near businesses in their own industry, according to new research by a team of economists. The findings can help business owners and policy makers design better business strategies and economic policies.

Rural and urban communities need different policies to boost economic mobility

October 21, 2018

The farther away from a city a person is raised, the more likely they are to climb the economic ladder, according to economists, who also found that community characteristics associated with upward mobility actually have different effects in rural and urban locations.

Poor mental health days may cost the economy billions of dollars

October 20, 2018

Poor mental health ranks as one of the costliest forms of sickness for U.S. workers and may sap billions of dollars from the country’s income growth, according to a team of researchers including Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development staff.

$500,000 grant to focus on how rural innovation happens, how to inspire more

July 12, 2018

A research team led by Northeast Center Director Stephan Goetz will receive $500,000 over three years to study innovation in rural communities and find ways for communities to support rural entrepreneurs.

Happiness helps football players do better, and it could help economies too

July 11, 2018

World Cup football teams with a higher proportion of players smiling in their official portraits have scored more goals on average in all group phases since 1970. The authors of this study argue that smiling is a reflection of confidence. Greater confidence results in a greater capacity to overcome complex situations and score more goals. Center Director Stephan Goetz and his colleague David A. Fleming-Muñoz decided to explore whether this same smiling-creativity link holds for entire societies by looking at the relationship between happiness and creative capacity. (Links to article published in The Conversation.)

Older posts

Newer posts