Summits convene state and federal leaders and encourage their cooperative goal-setting and mutual investment in response to key rural priorities in Vermont.
The 2009 VCRD Summit on the Future of Vermont marked a watershed point. It served as the official “report out” to Vermonters on the findings of the Council on the Future of Vermont. It turned their findings into a challenge to Vermonters, and especially the leaders gathered together for the day, to consider specific ways…
The Council on the Future of Vermont and St. Michael’s Center for Social Science Research are proud to release Vermont in Transition: A Summary of Social, Economic and Environmental Trends. This book covers the major changes in fourteen public policy issues areas in Vermont over the past two decades. St. Michael’s College researchers worked in…
This compendium of findings highlights priority topic areas that have emerged through VCRD’s body of work, and considers challenges identified by communities, some of the accomplishments of VCRD at the community and policy level, and unmet community development needs in Vermont. Read the “Rural Development in Vermont: Community & Policy Findings” Report.
In September 2008, VCRD hosted the annual conference of the National Rural Development Partnership / Partners in Rural America (PRA). Participants from 13 states joined Vermont rural leaders in Montpelier for 4 days of dynamic sessions around “Advancing Creativity and Innovation in Rural America” which kicked‐off at the State House and included a bus tour…
VCRD chose the subject of the 2007 Conference based on the growing momentum in Vermont (and globally) to identify our unique local assets and use them as essential building blocks to strengthen our rural economies. VCRD’s 2004 report Advancing the Creative Economy, and the “Creative Communities Program” (CCP) VCRD led over the past two years,…
VCRD chose the subject of the 2006 Summit process based on deep and widespread concerns in Vermont today about global climate change, our dependence on oil, “peak oil,” and perceptions of the growing challenge of national energy policies. Paralleling global and national security concerns are the questions on the future of Vermont’s energy supply, re-licensing…
On Friday, November 17th, 2006, the Creative Communities Program coordinated with Bellows Falls’ creative economy organizers Richard Ewald and Robert McBride to host a conference addressing “Strategies for Community Creative Economy Projects”. This conference targeted creative economy leaders from around Vermont who wanted to build greater statewide connections and form new ideas about the next…
On August 11, 2004, we held a Summit on Planning designed to evaluate the challenges before the planning system in Vermont and to propose potential solutions. This Summit report documents the analysis and recommendations of 180 attendees representing members of the public, leaders in the Douglas Administration, Vermont planners, and customers of the planning system.…
The 2002 Governor’s Summit on Rural Economic Development held at Basin Harbor on June 11th and 12th was particularly timely. With the difficulties facing the wood products sector, the dialogue about long-term agricultural viability, concerns about the regulatory climate and loss of IBM jobs, and the opportunity to integrate marketing across sectors to visitors to…
The 2001 Governor’s Rural Summit on Housing focused on developing plans to respond to a single area of critical and immediate policy concern. With leadership of Governor Howard Dean and his policy staff, the Summit invited participants to take a long view of the housing crisis facing rural Vermont and to partner in the development…