General Information

A

• Applied Rural Telecomminications (AeRie)
  A toolkit of resources to help rural communities meet their economic and community development goals using telecommunications. The site provides a Resource Guide, an Investment Guide, an Evaluation Methodology, and some Case Studies. Presented by the Boulder Community Network.
• Australian Women in Agriculture (AWiA)
  Committed to promoting the advancement of women involved in the development of Australian primary production, rural industries and communities.
• Australian and Oceania Network for Rural Social Research and Community Development (AoN)
  Facilitates the membership of Australian and Oceanic researchers in the International Rural Sociology Association (IRSA).

B

Bruges Group
The Bruges Group invites society to involve itself in a collective reflection concerning agriculture in 21st century Europe. The Group is made up of around twenty university professors, of researchers, of people responsible for training, of others involved in movements for the defence of the environment or in peasant or farming organisations in fifteen European countries. Editor: Yannick Barret (Vinon sur Verdon, France).

C

• Canadian Rural Information Service (CRIS)
  The site provides a series of pathfinders to guide visitors towards the valuable information available about rural Canadians. The directories provide links to a range of associations and organisations as well as links to internet resources in areas from agriculture to First Nations to youth.
• Countrysie Agency
  The Agency works for the wellbeing of the people who live and work in the English countryside. They advise government and other policy makers, as well as service providers about the economic and social developmentof rural areas and act to help rural businesses and communities flourish.

F

Fidamerica
A network of projects and institutions dedicated to fighting rural poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean by means of improving information and knowledge systems. The site offers much information of use to planners and evaluators of rural development projects.

I

Info Rurale
Information gatewat for rural development. The objective is to provide a first-stop-shop for those involved in rural development activities in the UK.

R

• Rural Australia
  A web site provided by Australia's Department of Primary Industries and Energy (DPIE) with many links to a range of topics from business to health & safety to disability.
• Rural Europe
  Site of the European Union Initiative LEADER II. In German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese. It provides a great library on rural development.
• Rural Women's Network (RWN) - Victoria, Australia

S

Scottish Office: Towards a Development Strategy for Rural Scotland
A manifesto commitment to sustain vibrant local communities in rural and remote areas.

W

• Women and Rural Economic Development (WRED) - Canada
  A Canadian NGO working on women's rural enterprise development and offers broader support to rural business women. The site includes an online bibliography.
• Women, equal opportunities and rural development
  A collection of articles, presented by "Rural Europe", and edited by Franz Fischler.
• World Rural Women's Day (WRWD)
  A web site constructed by the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP), the Women's World Summit Foundation (WWSF) and Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) to promote World Rural Women's Day on the 15th of October (each year). We must not forget that women produce on average more than half of all the food that is grown, but own only 2 percent of the land, and receive only one percent of all agricultural credit.

Rural Research Centres

• Australia
  • CRRAS - Centre for Rural and Remote Area Studies - University of South Australia
  • CRSR - Centre for Rural Social Research - Charles Sturt University
  • IRRR - Institute for Regional and Rural Research - University of Ballarat
  • Institute for Rural Futures - University of New England
    An independent research centre for applied socio-economic research into rural issues.
  • ISRD - Institute for Sustainable Regional Development
  • Research & Learning in Regional Australia - University of Tasmania
    Conducting research into the process and outcomes of learning in regional communities in Australia.

  Austria

  • Universität fü Bodenkultur Wien - University of Agricultural Sciences, Vienna

  Germany

  • Agrarforschung Deutschland
    Very comprehensive information on agricultural research in Germany.
  • Centre for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture and Forestry (CeTSAF) 
    Promotes and coordinates research and teaching in the fields of tropical and subtropical agricultural and forstry sciences.
  • Forschungsgesellschaft für Agrarpolitik und Agrarsoziologie (FAA)
    German society for researchers in rural sociology and policy. The site offers research projects and publications on agricultural and rural issues.
  • Institut für Agrarsoziologie und Beratungswesen - University of Giessen
  • Institut für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaus - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

  Italy

  • Eurispes
    Istituto di Studi Politici Economici e Sociali (Institute of political economics and social studies)
  • Istituto Nazionale di Sociologia Rurale (INSOR) - [MOVED TO..?]
  • Instituto di Sociologia Internazionale di Gorizia (ISIG)

  Netherlands

  • Centre for Rural Development Sociology - Agricultural University, Wageningen, Netherlands
    Check the publications of the members of this research centre, in English and Dutch.

  Norway

  • Centre for Rural Research (CRR) - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim

  Sweden

  • Department of Rural Development Studies - Uppsala

  United Kingdom

  • Centre for Rural Economy (CRE) - Univ. of Newcastle, UK
  • Rural History Centre - University of Reading, Whiteknights, UK
    A national center in England for the study of the history of farming, food and the countryside. The site includes a bibliography of British and Irish rural history. The Rural History database contains over 40,000 records, covering the period prehistory to the recent past and mainly consists of journal articles. The centre functions as a university department, a national center for research and information, a national resource centre, and as a museum.
  • Scottish Executive Rural Research Unit (CRU)
    A research service to all Scottish Executive and certain allied Departments. Includes links to reports on services, land use, transport in rural Scotland.
  • Welsh Institute of Rural Studies
    A major centre for land based studies.

  U.S.A

  • Center for Appield Rural Innovation (CARI) - University of Nebraska, USA
    The center provides information, educates, and assists people in communities in rural areas in a manner that contributes to improved decision making and an enhanced quality of life. The site offers information on community programs, special projects and surveys.
  • Center for Rural Studies (CRS) - University of Vermont
    A nonprofit, fee-for-service research organization which addresses social, economic, and resource-based problems of rural people and communities. Based in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Vermont (UVM), the Center provides consulting and research services in Vermont (USA).
  • Center for Urban Affairs - Michigan State University, USA
    The MSU Center for Urban Affairs Community and Economic Development Program (CEDP) is committed to developing and applying knowledge to address the needs of society - primarily urban communities.
  • Community Strategies Grroup (CSG) - Aspen Institute, USA
    CSG supports peer exchange and critical examination opportunities for rural practitioners who undertake groundbreaking initiatives or who face decision making junctures in policy and program review.
  • Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) - Missouri, Iowat & Nebraska
    Conducts policy-relevant research and facilitates public dialogue to assist policymakers in understanding the rural impacts of public policies and programs. It involves scientists from founding member institutions at Iowa State University, the University of Missouri, and the University of Nebraska, along with those from affiliate member institutions, as well as researchers, practitioners and analysts from numerous universities, research institutes, governmental units, and other organizations.
  • Rural Sociology - University of Missouri-Columbia
  • University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives (UWCC) Condutcs extension/outreach and research directed to all aspects of cooperative business principles, organizing cooperatives, cooperative financing, cooperative structure, cooperative management, leadership and governance, and related topics for both agricultural and consumer cooperatives.

Rural Journals

• Études rurales [table of contents]
  The urbanisation of our societies takes us farther away each day from ancient rural civilisations and prevents us from thinking of the countryside on the lines of proximity and nostalgia. However, never has the weight of all that touches the rural world been greater: food products, migrations, and environment. Études rurales publishes works concerning the activities, territories, ways of life, modalities of political organisation, collective actions and systems of representations and beliefs of «rural» populations.
• Rural Society
  A quarterly journal of rural social issues, published by the Centre for Rural Social Research at Charles Sturt University (Australia). It is a fully refereed academic journal, but designed to be accessible to a broad readership. Topics covered in Rural Society have included the rural media; small town development; rural gender issues; agricultural restructuring; heritage and tourism and youth and ageing in rural areas. Maintainer: Perry Share.
• Rural Sociology
  A journal from the Rural Sociological Society. Abstracts only.
• Southern Rural Sociology
  A journal from the Southern Rural Sociological Assiociation (SRSA).

Rural Discussion Groups

• ARKTEL - Information superhighway and rural development
  Arktel is a list established by The Arkleton Trust (UK) to foster exchanges of information, publications etc between academics, practitioners and policy makers regarding the implications of the Information (Super) Highway for rural development and education. 
  To subscribe send email to: [email protected], in the body of the message type: join arktel firstname(s) lastname
• CARLU - Contemporary agriculture and rural land use. 
  Specialty group of the Association of American Geographers. The group welcomes comments related to rural, agricultural, and natural resource issues in the US, Canada, and other developed countries. Topics include: the relationship between agriculture and the environment; questions of sustainability and rural land use; primary production systems and rurality; rural-urban fringe; rural resource base; natural resource conservation; public lands; recreation, tourism and wilderness.
  To subscribe send email to: [email protected], in the body of the message type: subscribe carlu
• H-RURAL
  Facilitates discussions about scholarship and teaching in rural and agricultural history. H-Rural is a member of H-Net Humanities and Social Sciences Online. The site provides discussion logs, reviews, discussion threads, microfil readers, and a list of related organizations.
• misc.rural 
  An unmoderated usenet discussion with a focus on rural life and rural issues. Topics include land, agriculture, home, livestock, and wildlife issues. The site contains links to: Internet resources and lists; community and rural development; rural telecommunications; rural transportation; rural medicine, health & human services; rural education; agriculture; government; regional and State links; rural advocacy organisations; and fun, rural culture, and miscellaneous links.
• RURALDEV - Rural Development 
  A discussion group of community/rural development practitioners and researchers.
  To subscribe send email to: [email protected], in the body of the message type: subscribe ruraldev
• RURSOC-L - Rural Sociology Discussion List
  To subscribe send email to: [email protected], in the body of the message type: subscribe rursoc-l

Rural Professional Associations

• British Agricultural History Society (BAHS)
  Society for the study of agricultural history and the history of the rural economy and society. It publishes the "Agricultural History Review" twice-yearly (table of contents only).
• European Society for Rural Sociology (ESR)
• Latin American Studies Association - Rural Studies Section
• International Rural Sociology Association (IRSA) 
  Formed in 1964, IRSA, is an international consortium of regional and continental societies in rural sociology. The object of IRSA is to foster the development of the science of sociology, to further the application of social research to the improvement of the quality of life for rural populations, and to promote the subject-matter of rural sociology as a topic of instruction. The home page has links to member associations and to international organizations working on rural topics. As a worldwide association of associations, its members include The Asian Rural Sociological Society, The Australian and Oceania Network for Rural Social Research and Community Development, the Rural Sociological Society (North America), the Latin American Rural Sociology Association, the European Society for Rural Sociology, and the Association of Mediterranean Rural Sociologists. IRSA sponsors a World Congress every four years. The next Congress will be held in Rio de Janeiro in July 2000.
• Rural Sociological Society (RSS)
• Southern Rural Sociological Association (SRSA)
  An educational and sicentific organization that fosters the study or rural sociology and its application to the Southern region of the United States. The official journal of the SRSA is Southern Rural Sociology

Rural Directories

• Rural Information Resources
  A directory created by the US Rural Information Center, part of the National Agricultural Library.
• Internet Resources for Rural America
  A comprehensive list of resources compiled at the United States Department of Agriculture [USDA]'s National Rural Development Partnership [NRDP] office. Features directories on rural issues; governmental/extension resources; agricultural issues; rural telecommunications; rural health; rural education; rural economic development resources; and miscellaneous rural resources.

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