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Recent posts

Articles & News

A loose crowd of people walking around the inside of Detroit's Eastern Market.
View Post
  • Economic Development

What Midwest Industrial Communities can Teach about Managing Economic Change

  • John C. Austin
  • January 20, 2023
With a great convergence on both sides of the Atlantic around the urgent need to diminish geographic economic disparities and opportunity gaps — particularly those between thriving global city regions and struggling communities in industrial heartlands – there are growing efforts to learn from each other.
View Post
  • Education

‘Uniting Americans through Service: How California is Leading’

  • Ben Speggen
  • January 19, 2023
California's Chief Service Officer discusses the California Volunteers' initiatives -- the impact CalVols is having in the state, and how it serves as a model nationwide at Jefferson Educational Society Global Summit event at the University of Redlands.
Logo for "Inside Our Towns" with black background.
View Post
  • Civic Life

Inside Our Towns: John Kropf

  • Ben Speggen and Evan Sanford
  • January 17, 2023
John Kropf discusses his latest book, 'Color Capital of the World: Growing Up with the Legacy of a Crayon Company', which explores Sandusky, Ohio's innovative industrial heritage and his family's role in it.
Cooler by the lake: Gannon University is helping to revitalize downtown Erie with events like this one, a concert featuring the country star Jimmie Allen in summer 2022. Credit: Courtesy of Gannon University
View Post
  • Colleges & Universities

Reviving America, One College Town at a Time

  • James Fallows
  • January 10, 2023
How symbiotic relationships between colleges and their communities have reaped rewards in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Waterville, Maine.
The Impact Code Podcast logo.
View Post
  • Media

‘America is the most interesting place in the world at this moment’

  • Deborah Fallows
  • January 10, 2023
Deb and Jim Fallows discuss the Our Towns journey with Brett Hollenbeck on 'The Impact Code' podcast.
Students rally for fossil fuel-free energy at the University of California, San Diego. Erik Jepsen/UCSD
View Post
  • Environment & Sustainability

3 Reasons Local Climate Activism is More Powerful than People Realize

  • Adam Aron, The Conversation
  • January 9, 2023
Research and history suggest that local action is more powerful than many people believe.
“How America’s Towns are Writing the Future of the Country,” Jefferson Educational Society Global Summit 2022 event featuring (from left) Heidi and Isaac Tucker, Alice Trowbridge, Jason Neises, Ben Speggen, and James Fallows. Photo by Pierre Bellicini, courtesy of JES.
View Post
  • Citizen Engagement

‘How America’s Towns are Writing the Future of the Country’

  • Ben Speggen
  • January 5, 2023
Residents, coaches, reporters discuss local-level community revitalization initiative at Jefferson Educational Society Global Summit event.
The Allen family at an official switch-throwing ceremony at their home in Cleveland on Dec. 16. Credit: Kathiann M. Kowalski
View Post
  • Environment & Sustainability

Cleveland Pilot Project Provides Rooftop Solar for Low-Income Residents

  • Kathiann M. Kowalski, Energy News Network
  • January 3, 2023
Data from the project will document savings and could help get more funding for solar energy in neighborhoods that have historically been left behind.
Master Garderner’s Nate Picken, Frank Amaro along with Pembroke Kentucky Mayor, Judy Peterson help Avery Grace select trees to be planted at Pembroke School. (Photo by Toni Riley)
View Post
  • Trees

Trees Bring Hope, Healing, and a Look to the Future for Western Kentucky Tornado Victims

  • Toni Riley, The Daily Yonder
  • December 27, 2022
A tree grower joins forces with a local organization to replant some of the trees lost in Kentucky during tornadoes of late 2021.
A field of solar panels
View Post
  • Environment & Sustainability

That empty space next to highways? Put solar panels on it.

  • Emily Jones, Grist
  • December 20, 2022
Roadside solar fields across the country could power up to 12 million electric vehicles.
View Post
  • Civic Life

A Year in Renew, A Year-in-Review: The Stories from 2022 of American Renewal

  • Ben Speggen
  • December 16, 2022
The Our Towns team looks back at the stories of local-level ideas that are driving and inspiring renewal nationwide.
View Post
  • Civic Life

2022: A Year in Renew, Continued!

  • Ben Speggen
  • December 15, 2022
A continued look back at the stories of local-level ideas that are driving and inspiring renewal nationwide. 
View Post
  • Civic Life

2022: A Year in Renew

  • Ben Speggen
  • December 14, 2022
A look back at some of the stories of local-level ideas that are driving and inspiring renewal nationwide. 
Youth in Dillsburg share their voices through drawings. Photo courtesy of Dillsburg Heart & Soul.
View Post
  • Citizen Engagement

How Local Governments Can Engage Residents of All Ages

  • Jordan Sandman
  • December 14, 2022
When community members can't, or don't, or won't, go to town halls to attend local government meetings, some local elected officials have found a way to go to their constituents.
Official graphic for the "Reimagine Rural" podcast. (Source: Brookings Institution)
View Post
  • Civic Life

New Podcast Highlights Transformations Taking Place In Rural America

  • Kristi Eaton, The Daily Yonder
  • December 13, 2022
“Reimagine Rural” from the Brookings Institution showcases communities across America that are in the midst of renewal.
Logo for "Inside Our Towns" with black background.
View Post
  • Civic Life

Inside Our Towns: Josh Fryday, California’s Chief Service Officer

  • Ben Speggen and Evan Sanford
  • December 7, 2022
National division might grab headlines, but the story of uniting citizens through service in California is growing.

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