Regional Stories, Shared Futures: Reimagining Identity to Strengthen Belonging and Democracy

The stories regions tell about themselves shape who belongs, whose struggles are recognized, what solutions feel possible, and how democracy functions. This interactive fishbowl conversation explores narrative as infrastructure: the underlying stories that define a region’s sense of “we” and shape civic and economic outcomes. Drawing on Kentucky, the U.S. South, and other regions undergoing profound change, participants will examine how dominant regional identities include and exclude, and explore strategies for cultivating more pluralistic identities rooted in shared humanity, mutual responsibility, and belonging.