Background

Our previous Symposia have dealt with health and safety issues for agricultural and rural people. The Fifth International Symposium, The Future of Rural Peoples, invites oral and poster presentations that address the people, the environment, the economy and the community. With profound changes affecting the very survival of rural people, this historic conference seeks to connect knowledge and past experience in new ways to point to the Future of Rural Peoples. The Symposium is intended to be inclusive of all rural settings, from those in fully industrialized countries to those in emerging or subsistence economies.

This symposium will bring together researchers, policy makers, rural people, and practitioners to consider systems, strategies, projects and processes that contribute to healthy rural economies, healthy people, healthy environment and healthy communities. Presentations describing current science and best practice approaches will be considered individually and in their connectedness. Selected manuscripts will be invited for inclusion in the world-leading publication The Future of Rural Peoples.

This conference will be goal oriented with recommendations for science and policy.