Rural Leadership and
Community Development
The Rural Leadership and Community Development Program encourages citizens to participate in the shaping of their futures through civic engagement and the practical application of sustainable rural development strategies.
The RLCD Program enhances student leadership development experiences; seeks avenues for cross-cultural awareness domestically and abroad; and assists citizen engagement with issues related to natural resources and sustainable development.
Program Scope
- Identify and enhance environmental components of the Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program.
- Share the refinements made with the Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program with existing Rural Leadership Programs in other states.
- Provide a train-the-trainer experience for local officials, citizen leaders, and select agency personnel from 3 to 6 foreign countries.
Program Goals
- To enhance the capacity of rural communities in Wisconsin to understand and to respond to environmental issues, and, by extension, other community issues.
- To extend the Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program model to other countries and thereby improve environmental and natural resource decisions in rural communities in those countries.
- To strengthen the education of CNR students by providing opportunities to participate in human dimensions of natural resource management via real-world experiential learning experiences in local communities here and abroad.
The Future of Farming and Rural Life in Wisconsin
This initiative of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters is exploring the state’s potential for economic and sustainable growth through agriculture. GEM is an active supporter of this multi-year project; Stan Gruszynski, director of the GEM Rural Leadership and Rural Development Program, is co-chair of the Future of Farming initiative. Learn more about this project here.
"Did You Know"
- Many environmental and natural resource issues must be dealt with at the community level - especially in rural areas.
- Human resources are a community's greatest asset in dealing with sustainable development issues
- "Leadership training" provides the greatest multiplier effect to mobilize those human resources to build a sustainable future.
The GEM Student Leadership Intern Program
This initiative of the Rural Leadership and Community Development Program enhances internships by creating new experiences to provide insights into the public policy arena and decision-making process. Learn more about the internship program here.
