Interested in innovation, community development, and education? The US Environmental Protection Agency seems to receive a lot of attention these days for their regulatory role, but they also play an important role in research with numerous programs supporting investigation into new ways of protectin … Continued

When we speak of community development, we often gloss over the conceptual fuzziness of the term “community” (let alone “community development”). At a very simple level, when we speak of community development we are speaking descriptively of communities of place, whether they be neighborhoods, villa … Continued

Jeff Hughes is a Director of the School of Government’s Environmental Finance Center and a School of Government Faculty Member Four dollars happens to be about the price of a gallon of gasoline these days, but it’s also what each student at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill pays each semes … Continued

Jonathan Morgan is a School of Government faculty member. This is a continuation of the series of blog posts focused on “What Works” in economic development.  Two previous posts (Part I, Part II)  identified some effective strategies for incubating small start-up businesses. This post highlights a r … Continued

Judith Meece is a School of Education faculty member. National Public Radio recently featured a series of reports on the high cost of high school dropout. Only one of the six reports focused on students in rural communities. The lack of focus on the needs of rural schools and youth is not unexpected … Continued

Norma Houston is a School of Government faculty member. North Carolina is no stranger to disasters.  Natural events such as hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, winter storms, mudslides, and floods have assailed every corner of our state.  Man-made events such as chemical plant explosions, natural gas … Continued

Kelley O’Brien is the Director of the North Carolina Civic Education Consortium, a program of the School of Government and one of the five North Carolina Civic Health Index partner organizations. This is a third in a series of blog posts about the 2010 North Carolina Civic Health Index, a study that … Continued

Kelley O’Brien is the Director of the North Carolina Civic Education Consortium, a program of the School of Government and one of the five North Carolina Civic Health Index partner organizations. This is a second in a series of blog posts (click here for first post) about the 2010 North Carolina Civ … Continued

Kelley O’Brien is the Director of the North Carolina Civic Education Consortium, a program of the School of Government and one of the five North Carolina Civic Health Index partner organizations. Our communities depend on civic capital. When residents vote in local elections, volunteer to assist tho … Continued

Suzanne Julian is UNC-Chapel Hill graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in Public Administration. She is currently working with the STEP leadership team in Pamlico County as part of the Carolina Economic Revitalization Corps program. What’s the connection between community development and econ … Continued