The Great Recession, the global pandemic, and the increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters have demonstrated the urgent need to build effective sustainable systems in the U.S. for human rights and resilience (United Nations, 2023), especially in rural communities (Pati et al., 2023). Injustice for the most vulnerable will persist, without a multilevel systems approach toward understanding and addressing inequalities and inequities. Individuals and families in rural communities face significant vulnerabilities to their health and wellbeing (Dyk et al., 2018); thus, building and strengthening rural sustainable systems is critical.

Akin to resilience, sustainable systems are characterized by their ability to adapt and to continue to meet current needs (Fiksel, 2003). Sustainability is achieved by a balance between three interconnected systems: environment, economic, and social (Purvis et al., 2019; USDA, n.d.). Despite a decade of population decline due to low birth rates, an aging population, and outmigration, rural areas have witnessed growth since 2020 (Davis et al., 2023). In 2022, there were approximately 46 million residents in rural, non-metro counties (Kassel, 2023). This population growth necessitates concomitant improvements in these three sustainable systems to meet the current needs of rural community residents.

Rural communities, crucial for the United States’ success, contribute significantly to the agricultural and recreational land, as well as natural resources (Ajilore & Willingham, 2019). Known for their strong civic responsibility and self-efficacy (Jablonski & Scally, 2021), rural communities have proven to be resilient. Rural communities are not a monolith, however. Some rural communities have greater access to amenities and assets, whereas others experience extreme poverty and limited access to resources (Pati et al., 2023). Despite declines in poverty in some rural US counties, many communities still grapple with enduring challenges, including long distances to resources, housing insecurity, limited employment opportunities, and healthcare disparities (Davis et al., 2023; Pati et al., 2023). Additionally, rural areas face disparities in access to broadband connectivity, quality education, child care, and healthy foods (Burton et al., 2021; Henning-Smith & Kozhimannil, 2016). These challenges are especially prominent for racial and ethnic minoritized groups including Indigenous and Latinx families living in rural communities (Davis et al., 2023). Therefore, the sustainability of rural communities is understood best by examining a wide variety of rural populations.

To advance equitable health and well-being in rural communities, the abilities of existing systems to meet the evolving needs of rural residents need to be evaluated by engaging community stakeholders. Research from our Rural Families Speak projects documents that rural, low-income families are resilient (e.g., Cancel-Tirado et al., 2018). In alignment with the United Nation’s (2023) and USDA’s (2022) sustainability goals, we will build on our research to understand how rural sustainable systems can promote individual, family, and community resilience. Promoting health and well-being in rural communities is complex, as there are many unique and varied factors impacting daily life (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006; King et al., 2014). These factors are intertwined with sustainable systems. There are “three pillars” of sustainability—environmental, economic, and social sustainable systems—which must be examined thoroughly (Purvis et al., 2019). These pillars are interconnected in ways that can reinforce or detract from one another (Guptill & the SARE Quality-of-Life Working Group, 2021).

First, environmental sustainability is the ability to restore and preserve the natural environment. Climate change, pollution, overexploitation of natural resources, and natural disasters influence environmental sustainability (Purvis et al., 2019). Water, land, air, and raw materials are essential in meeting human needs. Rural areas make up 97% of the US and are major contributors of natural resources (Ajilore & Willingham, 2019). “Nature is the key asset of most rural communities” (Hibbard & Lurie, 2012, p. 830). Natural disasters can have devastating impacts on rural communities, compared to their urban counterparts (Cutter et al., 2016). Many rural communities have risen to the challenge of natural disasters and the global pandemic, demonstrating community disaster resilience, “the ability of a community to survive and thrive in the face of uncertainty” (Cox & Hamlen, 2015, p. 220). Natural resources and agriculture are intertwined with the rural economy (Brinkley & Visser, 2022; Hibbard & Lurie, 2012).

Second, economic sustainability is the ability to meet economic needs (e.g., income, financial security, economic policies). Rural economic development is critical to address the high incidence of poverty in rural areas (Economic Research Service, 2014). Rural economies are dependent on goods production, including farming, ranching, forestry, fishing, mining and energy extraction, and manufacturing. Economic sustainability is influenced by many factors including the management of community resources, capacity of local businesses, federal and state policies to address poverty, and access to education and health care (Purvis et al., 2019). Indeed, using the economic well-being continuum (EBC), Mammen et al. (2015) identified eight critical factors for the economic situations of rural, low-income families who participated in past NC1171 efforts: child care, employability, food security, health security, housing security, reliance on assistance programs (e.g., Earned Income Tax Credit), their human capital (e.g., skills), and transportation.

Rural transportation systems impact the economy, but there are significant challenges of infrastructure and safety in rural communities. However, during the pandemic, telemedicine, became a key tool to address limited access to healthcare services (Pati et al., 2023). During the pandemic, food systems in rural communities experienced added stresses to already high rates of food insecurity with reduced access and availability (Kent et al., 2022). Examining rural communities that were able to resiliently navigate this systemic pandemic stressor provides examples of how sustainability can be achieved (Pati et al., 2023). In terms of rural food system innovation, rural communities saw increases in gardening and online nutrition education (Kent et al., 2022). Preliminary findings of the latest iteration of this long-standing project pinpoint the importance of the built capacity and sustainability of food systems in rural communities. It is not enough for a community to be resilient through one disaster; it must be sustainable if it is to uphold the well-being of their members in the face of future disasters. Thus, as we described in one of our publications, rural low-income families’ quest for economic security requires more than a paycheck (Mammen et al., 2018).

Third, social sustainability has been called “the missing pillar” of sustainability (Bostrom, 2012). According to the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Quality-of-Life Working Group (Guptill et al., 2021), “social sustainability is the extent to which social relationships promote equity, justice, and a high quality of life.” Simply, social sustainability involves social relationships at multiple levels—from society at large, local communities, and social relationships (Guptill et al., 2021). Whereas economic capital is a driver of resilience in metro areas, non-metro communities are often supported by community capital or attachment to place (Cutter et al., 2016). Recognizing and promoting social sustainability is imperative for nurturing these community ties, promoting equity, and enhancing the overall well-being of diverse rural, low-income families and their communities.

An often-overlooked type of social sustainability is the family system; yet, arguably one’s family is the most powerful influence on human development, health, and well-being. As such, the primary system of interest of this proposal—and a contribution to the literature on sustainability and resilience—is the family system. According to family systems theory (Cox & Paley, 1997), a family system is a unit of interdependent individuals related by birth, marriage, adoption, or choice, as well as subsystems (e.g., parent-child dyad). A family is a type of sustainable system in that it seeks to achieve and maintain stability and balance. When faced with a challenge, a family will reorganize and change behaviors to achieve homeostasis and optimal family functioning. Family functioning is the capacity of a family system to meet the needs of its family members, involving how families communicate, manage their daily routines and responsibilities, fulfill their roles, communicate, connect emotionally, and adapt to stress (Cox & Paley, 1997; Skinner et al., 2000). To fully understand the sustainability—or stability—of a family system, we must investigate how the family system interacts with other sustainable systems. 

These three pillars impact human health and well-being (i.e., human capital: health, education, skills, knowledge, access to services). Factors that foster this include maternal health, nutrition, early childhood care, and preventive care. The Cooperative Extension Framework on Health Equity and Wellbeing highlights the importance of going beyond the determinants of health to consider systemic influences of norms, policies, and practice as well as structural inequities that may impact wellbeing (Burton et al., 2021). Researchers and practitioners can gain insight about what promoted resilience in these communities to make recommendations to build sustainable environmental systems in rural areas across the US. Interactions among these three pillars of sustainability can help identify effective locally relevant interventions that build on strengths and opportunities to promote equitable health and well-being in rural America.

Technical Feasibility

This multi-state collaboration is uniquely positioned to contribute to the body of knowledge regarding the resilience of low- income families in rural America. Fiksel (2003) proffered that “the essence of sustainability is resilience” (p. 5532). Therefore, examining rural sustainable systems is a logical extension from our recent efforts to understand multilevel factors impacting individual, family, and community resilience. Building upon previous NC1171 approaches to understanding multi-level factors (individual, family, and community) that contribute to rural family wellbeing we will be working on further contextualizing family and community data collected in the 2019-2024 project. We will continue to employ ecological systems (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006), resilience (Masten, 2018), and community capitals framework (Flora & Flora, 2013) theoretical lenses to identify challenges to adaptation faced by families in rural communities.

For our most recent multi-state effort, Rural Families Speak about Resilience (RFSR), we collected data about experiences of stress and resilience from interviews with 14 community key informants (CKIs) from family- and food-serving organizations in rural communities in 13 states and survey data from low-income mothers across the rural US (goal N = 1171). The proposed project will further analyze and build upon these findings to understand factors contributing to family and community systems resilience in times of community stress. In addition, due to the geographic, social, and economic diversity of rural communities, we propose to integrate data collected in our 2019-2024 cycle with larger secondary data sources to understand the sustainable nature of resilience more deeply for families and communities in rural areas.

This multi-state research team has been collaborating since 1998 (NC223, NC1011, NC1171) and has a history of using its complementary strengths to develop research questions, design studies, and conduct quantitative and qualitative analyses to produce innovative, multidisciplinary studies. The team has spanned distance and time by using technologies to communicate via regular video conference calls and annual on-site meetings, as well as by sharing data files via Box. Our team updates our governance document annually and uses a tracking tool to facilitate collaboration among team members in developing presentations, policy briefs, manuscripts, and other products.

Our reach has a broad impact on research, advising, teaching, and outreach. Over the 25 years of our project, the work of this team has produced approximately 120 peer-reviewed publications, an edited peer-reviewed book entitled Rural families and work: Context and problems, and multiple peer-reviewed special issue journals, such as a Family Science Review special issue on rural families showcased our research across twenty years. Further, we have more than 175 peer-reviewed international and national conference presentations. Students affiliated with the project have produced 12 theses and dissertations, with several more progress. Furthermore, several team members began their work with the project as graduate students and now are junior, mid-career faculty. In addition to these scholarly outputs, the team has provided numerous outreach consultations and educational presentations to rural communities. In 2021, we began a quarterly professional development webinar series, Relying on Rural Resilience that features a brief research-based presentation followed by discussions about translational strategies between researchers and practitioners. More than 200 family-serving professionals attended. All registrants receive a brief video presentation and handout highlighting the strategies they brainstormed to further integrate family into rural outreach. This information is also shared on the Rural Families Speak webpage for use by other professionals and educators. We secured approximately $700,000 for multi-state and $420,000 for individual states to support research and outreach pertaining to NC1171.

Advantages of Working in a Multistate Effort

This project builds upon a longstanding multi-state, multidisciplinary effort consisting of family scientists, family economists, nutritional scientists, social workers, extension specialists, psychologists, and sociologists. The study of many states representing different geographic regions allows for a comparison of different contextual factors, such as access to community resources, and a range of adverse events. Each state is also characterized by a different population profile. Race/ethnicity, culture, and acculturation are all important to understand factors related to family resiliency. This diversity allows researchers, Extension personnel, other educators, and community stakeholders to further understand relevant issues, develop research agendas, and create products (e.g., curricula, programs, policy briefs) that recognize the unique context and diverse needs of rural America. A multistate collaboration also allows the team to address a range of current challenges to and resources for resiliency in low-income rural families. The current project encompasses 17 states: AZ, CA, FL, HI, IA, IN, KS, KY, MI, KS, MT, NC, NE, OK, OR, TN, WA. Each state is currently processing documentation for its participation in the proposed project.

This multi-state collaboration is uniquely positioned to contribute to the body of knowledge regarding the resilience of low- income families in rural America. Rather than taking a deficit approach, we take a strengths-based approach to understand ways to sustain or build upon existing individual, family, and community strengths (Saleebey, 1996). Practitioners increasingly utilize strengths-based approaches with their clients, but research on the mechanisms or processes by which individuals and families develop these strengths is still limited (Orthner et al., 2004). Furthermore, to inform policy and practice, there is a critical need to understand “which system or systems to target, at what levels, and when” to bolster and capitalize on these strengths (Masten & Monn, 2015, p. 16). An advantage of a multistate effort is to understand the variability in systems, mechanisms, and strengths across diverse rural communities.