The Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire launched the Community and Environment in Rural America (CERA) project in mid-2007 to better understand the changing social, economic, and environmental factors in different rural parts of the country and the implications for sustainable community development policies and practices.

A key feature of the CERA initiative is linking local and national perspectives on community and environmental change in rural America during a critical period of demographic and economic transition. This project examines the dynamic interplay of changing social, economic, and environmental factors and the implications for ecologically sustainable economic development policies.

Since 2007, we have interviewed over 22,000 people across the United States, comparing their different backgrounds, community and economic experiences, and their perspectives on changes in their communities and on environmental issues.