Building Community

In the last eight years of Internet based community development projects, RAIN has learned that the most lasting impact of introducing technology into a community is to develop a solid stakeholder foundation. This means that the project must focus on bringing together strong community partners inorder to build a lasting technical and program infrastructure. This web area will be tracking the Rural DLT Project’s efforts to Build Community, and will offer suggestions for other communities who would like to get a similar project going.

Stakeholders

In each RAIN Rural DLT Community, there are projects underway to encourage the support - and active participation - of community leaders and neighborhood members. This starts initially with hosting free online community chats with elected representatives - they may not live or work in the rural communities, they do make lasting decisions about them from larger urban centers, and they need to hear what it is the rural citizens want and need. Online chats are an excellent means to increase rural citizen’s voice in the democratic process, and RAIN has been offering online chats with elected representatives for several years.

Other important stakeholders are the librarians, teachers, health practitioners, store owners, business people, workers, and families right in the rural communities. These people - from a Recreation District Director to a boy scout, from a 4-H family to the owner of the largest ranching operation - all are invited to become stakeholders in this project. Stakeholders will have a voice in the local content development process for the communities own web site, will help spread the word about the project to get more families and businesses involved, and will have resources of their own to offer the project - from information to advice, from paper plates to barbecues.