Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF MAINE
(N/A)
ORONO,ME 04469
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
This workshop (June 11-12, 2024) will bring together policy makers and researchers analyzingclimate adaptation and mitigation of consequences for rural communities in the United States. Theworkshop focuses on (1) defining and measuring resilience, (2) anticipating and identifying the directand indirect impacts of climate variability, and (3) contributing evidence towards policies to improveresilience.The workshop will further understanding of the economics of rural communities and historicallyunderserved populations (AFRI Priority Area 6e.a) in the context of increased climate variability andcontribute to the quantification of the risks and losses associated with climate change (6a.h) in ruralcommunities. More broadly, the proposed conference furthers USDA Strategic Plan Goals 1, 2, 4, and5 bysupporting the continued development and resilience of rural communities and working lands as increased climate variability generates new challenges and opportunities.Attendees will participate in sessions introducing data products related to the measurement andimplications of climate variability on rural communities in the US and round table discussionsproviding space for feedback on new and existing research projects. Keynote speakers will presentresearch related to measuring and enhancing rural resilience, and the workshop will providenetworking opportunities to develop new collaborations across government and academic institutions. The workshop will result in increased connectedness among researchers pushing the frontier of ruralcommunity resilience, more researchers using USDA data products related to resilience and ruralcommunities, and the publication of a special issue in the Agricultural and Resource EconomicsReview journal in 2024.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
50%
Developmental
50%
Goals / Objectives
The objectives of our research workshop are crosscutting and are particularly related to twoNIFA AFRI Program Area Priorities, 6e. Environmental and Natural Resource Economics(A1651) and 6a. Small and Medium-Sized Farms (A1601). First, The proposed researchworkshop will further our understanding of the economics of rural communities and historicallyunderserved populations (6e.a) in the context of increased climate variability, as well ascontributing to the quantification of the risks and losses associated with climate change (6a.h) inrural communities. More broadly, the proposed conference furthers USDA Strategic Plan Goals1, 2, 4, and 5 by supporting the continued development and resilience of rural communities andworking lands as increased climate variability generates new challenges and opportunities.The supporting objectives of this workshop are:(1) to identify research priorities andopportunities related to rural resilience(2) to improve connectedness among rural resilienceresearchers in academic and government institutions, and(3) to disseminate research related to the resilience of rural communities to stakeholders
Project Methods
The 2024 NAREA Workshop on Measuring and Enhancing Resilience of United States RuralCommunities in the Context of Climate Variability aims to facilitate connections betweenresearchers and stakeholders, and to push the frontier of our understanding about rural climateresilience in the United States.To achieve these goals, this workshop will:Convene experts from the academy, government, NGOs to present, discuss, and debatetheir state-of-the-art research on rural community vulnerability to climate relatedthreats and the role of resilience and adaptation to an ever-changing climate.Facilitate and encourage discussions among various participants to identify not just gapsin the literature, but also data requirements that will facilitate further research in thisarea. The participation of representatives of government research agencies and thepolicy-making community will allow the discussion to include policy priorities whileunderstanding the data needs identified by researchers.Disseminate the workshop papers and a synthesis paper that integrates the overarchingthemes and outcomes of the workshop discussion through a 2024 special issue of theAgricultural and Resource Economics Review, published by NAREA and CambridgeUniversity Press, as well as on the Association's website.Introduce a new USDA ERS data product, Roads and Area Ruggedness Scale, toresearchers who can use it to further their own research.Our organizational approach will include:Advertising the conference workshop broadly to academic, governmental and stakeholdernetworks and soliciting submissions from across the profession, with additional targetingof junior scholars and under-represented minority participants.Facilitating sessions introducing new and existing data products related to themeasurement and implications of climate variability on rural communities in the U.S.Round table discussions to provide workshop participants with space for idea generationand constructive feedback on new and existing research projectsKeynote presentations to disseminate the latest findings on measuring and enhancingrural resilienceNetworking opportunities to develop new collaborations across government andacademic institutions