KEY AIM: This network will examine the distinctive learning needs of rural, and remote communities to find ways in which learning city initiatives and linkages to urban communities can support learning development and sustainable community building, that addresses the particularity of smaller places.

This will include consideration of such topics as:                    

1. Issues pertaining to Learning to Survive – coping with the disruption caused by COVID-19, climate change, health, technological and other challenges.
2. Strategies that focus on promoting employment, entrepreneurship, and small business start-ups and development;
3. Issues pertaining to agriculture, food production, and environmental sustainability;
4. Measures to combat changing demographics due to COVID-19 migration.

Final topics to be decided by the members.

For the purposes of this program ‘rural and remote’ encompasses all areas outside major cities within a national country (See: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW] (2019), "Rural and Remote Australians". Retrieved 4 May 2020 from https://www.aihw.gov.au/rural-health-rrma-classification).