Georgia College’s Rural Studies Institute (RSI) recently hosted Georgia Tech’s Center for Sustainable Communities Research and Education (SCoRE) for a site tour of Baldwin County’s natural amenities and parks.
The Rural Studies Institute was established in January 2020 to study rural communities and identify opportunities that support their advancement. RSI educates both students and the general public on issues that impact the future of rural communities.
“A central part of RSI’s mission is to provide transformative learning experiences through short-term work opportunities and student internships. These experiences allow students to apply their knowledge while contributing to community-based solutions,” said RSI Executive Director Dr. Veronica Womack.
This year, student interns representing Georgia College & State University, the University of Georgia, and Georgia Tech spent the summer building a database for RSI that focused on natural amenities in Middle Georgia rural communities.
The database is a starting point for collecting and promoting the “unique” terrain and topography in the local region. It will also highlight hunting and farming opportunities to showcase local businesses, record public facilities and artistic programs and other features in rural communities throughout Georgia.
“We are aiming to use this database to assist regional placemaking and to facilitate community- based approaches, including the use regional strategies to bring people to these rural communities,” Womack said.
The three student interns working on the database were present at this Baldwin County site visit and represented RSI and SCoRE. The RSI intern was sponsored by the Partnership for Innovation summer internship program and another student for SCoRE was sponsored by the Mississippi Communities United for Prosperity.
“Our initial site visit included Mayor Mary Parham- Copelan, Commissioner Emily Davis, and County Manager Carlos Tobar. The students previously worked with Mr. Tobar on the county focused project, so he and Commissioner Davis participated in the visit, along with the mayor,” said Womack. “This visit was the first of many meetings to come and I look forward to having more discussions with both county and city officials and the general public.”
The database used Baldwin County as the core of several rural counties — including Hancock, Wilkinson, Washington, Jones, and Putnam — and identified the natural assets available in these rural Middle Georgia counties. Georgia has two distinct rural county regions within the state, including the Appalachian counties and the Black Belt region. The Appalachian counties are located in North Georgia and the Black Belt counties are in Middle and South Georgia.
“These three interns participated in this high-impact learning experience to build a database that will highlight the treasures of the Black Belt region. We wanted to highlight natural amenities,” said Womack. “We have been immensely blessed with our natural amenities. We have lakes, rivers, farms, wetlands, and a community built on a phenomenal resilience and heart.”
The database will be an ongoing project, hosting interns throughout the year. Womack hopes to launch the database for public viewing by the end of September on the Rural Studies Institute website. Womack says future plans to have site visits in other counties are in the works and a more formal site visit will also be planned for Baldwin County in the future.
“Counties have challenges but also has enormous opportunities and assets,” said Womack. “We are trying to build 21st Century rural communities that are sustainable.”