Rural resilience 2015
Rural communities face greater vulnerability to the effects of climate change than do their urban counterparts (Lal, Alavalapati, and Mercer 2011). Rural residents are generally older and in poorer health, and dependent on farming for their livelihoods, which is a sector highly vulnerable to climate change. With rural mean household incomes lower than those in urban settings, income-earning skill sets are generally more limited and dependence on government subsidies is greater.
The University of Cincinnati (USA), the Beijing Jiaotong University (China), and the Clinton County Regional Planning of Ohio (USA) seek project proposals, projects, or studies that explicitly address climate change adaptation and resilience development for rural areas. Since rural areas historically have been left out in developing governance, planning strategies, and development models, we seek proposals that enhance rural and regional resilience to climate change through any of the following approaches: governance strategies, diversity development, organizational connectivity, economic linkages, and ecologically sustainable practices.