Bridging the Urban-Rural Divide: Unveiling our interdependence to transform our systems

Rural and urban communities feel worlds apart, yet are profoundly interdependent. From the farms to the corner store, the policing to the prisons, the water source to the tap, the systems we rely on cross the boundaries between rural and urban, especially our man-made boundaries of race, politics, and citizenship. But fear and misinformation have turned these boundaries into barriers, and divided we fall.

Embracing our interdependence is crucial for the path towards equitable and sustainable systems of food, water, public safety, energy, public health, and much more. What can we learn from progressive organizing across geographies in the South and the Midwest? Structurally, what economic and political forces shape the divide between urban and rural communities and between regions of the U.S.? What agendas and strategies can build authentic bridges rooted in mutual understanding, solidarity, and transformation toward justice and belonging?