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MELBOURNE
BRUNSWICK
BUNDOORA
FISHERMANS BEND
POINT COOK
HAMILTON
HO CHI MINH CITY
HANOI
A wealth of knowledge on economic development
RMIT University Hamilton will next week host an international expert on rural
communities, Jane Leonard.
Ms Leonard works on building connections between rural and urban communities,
investigating the inherent challenges and opportunities.
The President of the Minnesota Rural Partners Inc (MRP) and the Strategic
Coordination Manager of the Minneapolis Youth Coordinating Board, she has
spent 25 years working in the public, private and non-profit sectors.
Local businesses and members of the community will have the chance to meet Ms
Leonard during Conversations with Jane Leonard, a community forum-style event
on 11 February that will explore the topic, Lifting up Rural People & Places.
RMIT Hamilton’s Regional Development Senior Research Fellow, Dr Paul Collits,
said Ms Leonard’s nine-day visit to the region was a great opportunity for local
residents to gain access to a great wealth of knowledge and experience regarding
rural and regional economic development.
“Her visit ties in with other collaborative research work that RMIT Hamilton is doing
with the heartland regions of the US, focusing on rural and regional development,
innovation and entrepreneurship, in areas facing similar complexities and issues as
Hamilton and surrounds,” Dr Collits said.
Ms Leonard currently leads the MRP on the Rural Urban Partnering Council project
for the United States Department of Agriculture, to document and leverage the
power of rural urban connections and resource sharing to improve wealth creation
and innovation possibilities for rural communities.
Her work over the past 25 years has focused on building a healthy balance
between civic society and the market based economy, including working on policy
and program development to integrate knowledge management and innovation
strategies into community and economic development goals.
Ms Leonard will delve into the MRP model for building collaborative networks
across rural regions, between rural and urban places, during the community forum.
Conversations with Jane Leonard will be held at RMIT University Hamilton on
Thursday, 11 February, 6pm-7.30pm.
All are welcome and can register by phoning, (03) 5572 0500.
For interviews: RMIT University Hamilton Regional Development Senior
Research Fellow, Dr Paul Collits, (03) 5572 0500.
For general media enquiries: RMIT University Hamilton Communications
Officer, Rachel McDonald, (03) 5572 0505.
5
February, 2010
NEWS 
