Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange

The Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange (RUX) is a statewide program that brings rural and urban people together in unique community settings over three, weekend-long intensives each summer.  Each Community Intensive focuses on People, Places, and Partnership to to strengthen relationships and spark regional innovation. We assemble a diverse cohort from the arts, agriculture, community health, and small business, then work together to explore commonalities, deepen connections to people and places, and collaborate towards place-based innovation.

The idea for the Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange came from a shared recognition of the historic divide across Kentucky’s physical and cultural landscapes. We believe region is a relational term, so when we talk about Kentucky as a region, we're talking about a shared cultural and historical experience based on relationship- to one another and to place. We believe that people are more likely to work together when they have meaningful experiences in one another’s communities and are invested in relationships with one another. So, over three weekends each summer, RUX members get to know one another as friends and collaborators. We eat at community potlucks and fish fries, share our favorite swimming holes, host bands in residence, and hike the mountains and deltas of the Commonwealth. Then, we focus on our common visions and realities.