“Did you see polar bears? Did it snow?”

These were the two most common questions people asked Sarah Pohlschneider, PhD student after she returned from Alaska. She goes on to tell us :

The answer to both questions is “No”. I attended the 13th International Comparative Rural Policies Studies (ICRPS) summer institute hosted by University of Alaska, Fairbanks, supported by funding from the Rural Policy Learning Commons (RPLC), the Forestry Commission & Scottish Forestry Trust and the University of the Highlands and Islands.

After attending last year’s institute in Ireland I had a rough idea about what to expect. Two weeks of faculty staff and students from Europe, North America and Mexico sitting together in a class room exploring and comparing a range of issues related to rurality from different perspectives/disciplines; all passionate about making the rural world a “better place”, whatever this means to the individual.

However familiar I thought I was with this kind of institute, Alaska took me by surprise.

I’m still not sure whether rural is a feeling, a way of living or “distance to density”. What I do know is that the problems related to living rural vary by circumstance. What degree of ruralness are we talking about? What is “Alaskan rural”? No water, no electricity, no roads, no fresh food, no higher education, no medical care but a lot of snow (in winter!), wild animals, vegetation, permafrost, and social injustice? These dimensions of rural raised questions I didn’t even dream about. I learned that flush toilets in permafrost areas don’t really work. Anyway, the potty problem seems tolerable compared to the environmental impacts of climate change and the discrimination native people face. Comparing rural issues and coming up with policy solutions was a real challenge. Luckily, I was not alone in this experience. I made a lot of new friends among faculty and students at ICRPS and many approaches were discussed. If you’d like to read the full story visit the ICRPS 2016 blog. However, if you’re interested in comparative rural policy analysis visit http://rplc-capr.ca/ for more information. ICRPS 2017 will be hosted by the University Autonoma Barcelona, Spain.