Posts Tagged ‘creative economy’

Youth Engagement: A path to reinventing rural education

March 4th, 2010

We talk a lot about the importance of youth engagement in rural communities. It’s a great way to connect with young people, and make sure they realize how valuable they are to the community.

I recently discovered this great example of youth engagement in rural Perth County, Ontario. 

Under an initiative developed by the Perth County Econoimc Development Offices, MS2 Productions, a local production company, has been offering Social Media Boot Camp training classes to local businesses.  The training involves a 3-hour overview session on social media marketing and hands-on training focused on specific social media tools, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. 

To promote the training, the company produced a video which I’ve embedded below. (It’s so good, I wish Perth County, Ontario was closer so that I could have attended.)

 

Perth County Social Media Boot Camp from MS2 Productions - Your Complete on Vimeo.

But it is what’s happening behind the scenes that sets the training apart. In addition to encouraging businesses within each rural community to work together, they are engaging students as social media consultants.  As Melissa Schenk, Executive Producer of MS2 Productions explained to me via e-mail:

Local Businesses will hire CO-OP students to be their Social Media Marketers… The Baby Boomers learn from students how to use the Social Media Sites, but the students in turn - learn more about local businesses, how to better put these social media sites to good use, and are providing a valuable resource of information in their communities. Not to mention students are engaging more with businesses, that they might never have had the opportunity or an interest in otherwise.”

In short, young people and business owners are learning from each other.  And in the long run, these young people will better appreciate life in their rural communities and be better prepared to recognize business opportunities after completing their education.

Additionally, I think projects like this will lead to the educational reform that Richard Florida has been talking about lately: creativity, technology, and social.  All are 21st Century skills that young people need to be successful.  Come to think of it, those are the same skills rural communities leaders need as well.

Note:  Melissa Schenk  sent me a message correcting my initial post, which did not credit the Perth County Economic Development Office for the project.  My apologies to Bernia Wheaton, Perth County Economic Development Coordinator.  I love this story even more knowing that economic development professionals are leading the charge!

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Posted in Community Engagement, Economic Development, Gen Y, Rural, Training and Events | Comments (3)

ReImagining a more creative rural educational system

February 9th, 2010

Yesterday I highlighted a video interview of Richard Florida on Big Think, emphasizing the movement of creative workers to careers in industries not usually associated with creative types. 

But the bulk of his message, which I left untouched yesterday, is that we need to reimagine our educational system.  You may listen (or re-listen) to the interview in the video below. 

 

 (video source:  “Reinventing the way Workers Learn,” Big Think

Florida’s emphasis on the lack of social skill training in education reminded me of the advice Jim Beddow offered college students when he was the President at Dakota Wesleyan University back in the 1980s and early 1990s.  He encouraged students to develop skills that enabled them to: 

Jim still offers this advice to young people, and has since added a forth key; learn to network (both in personal and online).  To support his advice, Jim often cites successful individuals who embody these skills.  Two things strike me about his list of examples.  First, a great many create success outside of their chosen field of academic study.  And second, these individuals are incredibly entrepreneurial and creative. 

As regular readers recognize, I’m a former high school teacher, and am often a critic of the educational system in our rural communities.  My primary grudge is that our current educational model was developed for the industrial economy, which means we trained them to be successful in urban communities with stronger industrial economies. 

In the video interview, Florida tells us that “nibbling around the edges” of the educational system won’t develop the types of change that our country needs to grow our economy.  I would agree. 

But what does that mean for our rural communities?  Do we have to wait until business and political leaders are ready to transform education?  I hope not.

Instead, I would call on rural educators to look within their classrooms, and figure out ways that they can teach these skills to their current students.  Not only will students benefit as individuals, but I think our rural communities will benefit as well.

 

Note:  Readers may be interested in  these additional video interviews of Richard Florida on Big Think

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Posted in Economic Development, Rural, Youth, education | Comments (0)

The Creative Class, moving into new industries

February 8th, 2010

I’ve often felt that a missing part of Richard Florida’s Creative Class theory has been a lack of emphasis on creative individuals who work in non-creative industries.  For those unfamiliar, Florida believes that cities must compete for talent because individuals who belong to the “creative class” drive our economy.  In short, cities that attract talent thrive; those that don’t die.

So who are these creative workers that cities need?  Florida finds them in the fields of science, research, health care, finance, computer science and the arts, to name a few. 

His research casts an ominous shadow on rural communities, both past and future.  Historically, he finds little evidence of creative workers in rural communities.  And in the future, he sees little opportunity for rural communities to attract them. No talent, no future.   

In the following interview on Big Think, however, Florida suggests creative works are migrating to jobs not usually associated with the creative class.  

(video source:  “Reinveting the Way Workers Learn,” Big Think )

Creative workers in home repair and food processing.  Those jobs don’t sound as foreign to rural communities as computer science and research. 

In this light, rural communities are still in competition with urban areas for creative individuals.  But the question becomes, how can we help them put their creativity to work building businesses that connect to the geographic advantages each rural community possesses? 

As Florida highlights later in the interview, that process becomes easier when we reinvent our school systems.  Let’s talk more about that later. 

I’m excited to see that the Creative Class theory is growing to be more inclusive.  At the Rural Learning Center we’ve always sense creative people in our rural communities are overlooked.  Too often, however, we’ve neglected to harness and apply their creativity.

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Posted in Economic Development, Rural | Comments (2)

Can South Dakota’s small towns be cool?

January 29th, 2010

I’ve commented previously about efforts by travel magazines to identify “cool small towns” (read here and here). Although these lists provide some perspective for rural community development enthusiasts, I’m a bit skeptical of them largely because they are written from a “tourist’s point of view.” In other words, they’re about what urban dwellers believe is cool, and I’m not sure that always translates to what’s important to the future of rural communities.  But a new list caught my eye yesterday because it identifies small towns that “are cool” based on how well they are transitioning into the 21st century economy.  Now that’s a list worth looking at.  

Actually, the list is just new to me.  Dr. David Ivan at Michigan State University’s Land Policy Institute has been researching the subject for the last 4-5 years.   With Richard Florida’s “Creative Class theory” as the backdrop, Dr. Ivan centered his research around the question, “Can small towns be cool?”  Through his research, he has identified both themes of success (i.e. - best practices) and success stories (i.e. - what small towns are doing good things).  Rural community development enthusiasts will find value in both. 

Through review of Dr. Ivan’s presentation at the 2009 Small Town & Rural Development Conference, I was able to identify the following 10 themes being employed by successful small towns. 

 What a great list!  Readers at ReImagine Rural will recognize many of the themes as regular topics of discussion.  One theme I was surprised to see not addressed was school involvement. Granted youth are prominently featured, but most rural communities operate under the principle that the school is the heart of the community.  It causes me to wonder how we can have a successful community without school engagement. 

 

Where’s South Dakota in all this?

I became aware of this study because of Richard Longworth’s December 2009 blog post titled “Some success.” A Google search for “Can Small Towns be Cool” made me aware that I had missed an earlier post on the same subject (May 2009) from my favorite small town entrepreneurship blogger, Becky McCray. Both Longworth and McCray both identify specific towns that are on the “cool town list.”  Sadly, no small towns in South Dakota made the cut. What’s up with that?

As Longworth points out, Dr. Ivan is still conducting research and is interested in hearing of other successful small towns.  Hopefully, South Dakota’s towns haven’t been reviewed yet. But just in case, I’m going to suggest one.

 

How about Hills City?

I didn’t make the Design SD charrette in Hill City, SD last fall.  But from what Lindsey tells me, they should be on the list. 

Hill City terms itself “the heart of the hills” due to its location and proximity to major Black Hills attractions, including Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore.  But today, the town is probably better known for its arts economy.  Several years ago, a prominent artist made Hill City his home, and brought with him an idea that Hill City had the potential to develop an arts-based economy.  Since that time, the town’s leadership has embraced the idea and Hill City’s Main Street has transformed itself into an upscale shopping destination for tourists and residents alike.  Organizations like the Hill City Arts Council and Heart of the Hills Economic Development Corporation have joined forces to host events, encourage entrepreneurs, and build a stronger community (see their explicit goals here).  Hill City is definitely one of South Dakota’s cool towns!

I’ve got a few pressing tasks yet today, but I’m definitely going to send Dr. Ivan my recommendation.  And I hope you will share your recommendation as well. 

Additional Resources:

 Photo Credit: Cliff1066 - Flickr

 

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Posted in Community Development, Economic Development, Rural | Comments (7)

How will the Crash reshape Rural America

February 16th, 2009

Richard Florida has written an outstanding analysis about America’s future.  Titled “How the Crash will Reshape America,” it appeared in the March 2009 issue of The Atlantic.  Florida, as most community development experts know, is an urban enthusiast who believes our economy is being driven by creative talent.  Simply put, his theories argue that the places that succeed in attracting creative talent will thrive, while those who fail to attract creative talent will decline.  Sadly, he doesn’t see much hope for rural places at succeeding in attracting talent, but that’s a story for another day.

Beyond encouraging everyone to read Florida’s article, I wanted to lift the following quote for people to think about: 

“When a place gets boring, even the rich people leave.”

The quote is not from Florida.  Rather Jane Jacobs, the great urban theorist, told it to Florida in an interview a few years ago.  Florida believes places like New York City will survive the economic meltdown if for no other reason than they are interesting and attractive places to live.  This of course, connects well with his theories about what attracts talented people.  

Since Florida’s writing says little of rural, I think it’s appropriate for us to ask:

Will our post-crash rural communities be more interesting and exiting places to live? 

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Posted in Community Development, In the News, Rural | Comments (1)

Intentional Communities

January 13th, 2009

A friend and fellow blogger recently turned me on to a post at New Geography titled “A Local Graduation: How Small Towns Can Come Back.”  Under the banner of “Localism“, the author, Sylvia L. Lovely, argues that towns need to turn their energies inward and make the best of the resources at hand. 

I love that the author celebrates this inward focus.  Engaging the local citizenry and the developing local assets are critical to future of our rural communities. But Lovely make an additional statement that I believe warrants further discussion:

What you need to build is an intentional city. The intentional city is the middle way — where both the need to attract creative people and the need to sustain traditional economic and social bases co-exist.

Jim Beddow, of the Rural Learning Center, has been calling on communities to “be intentional” for years.  This effort derives from the observation that most rural communities in the Upper Midwest were born organically to support farmers in the countryside.  Since the time of their founding, however, few communities have been intentional about their futures.  

It’s this lack of intentionality that has prevented rural communities in the Upper Midwest from adapting to a new economy- one where farms don’t exist on every section of land.

Lovely apparently believes that being intentional means that communities need to balance the creative economy Richard Florida has identified with the traditional economy and society that currently exists in communities.  Not bad advice, but I’ll let each community decide for itself what it wants for its future.  What’s more important is that communities are intentional and develop the strategies that will enable them to achieve whatever future they envision.

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Posted in Community Development, Rural | Comments (0)