Iowa Ideas
In-Depth Replays 2023

Does the framing of an urban-rural divide in Iowa hold true, or does this framing of issues make it more difficult to find policy solutions? We’ll look at whether there are frameworks and ideas that could benefit both Iowa’s urban and rural areas.

Whether it’s health care, senior living or an attorney, how are communities working to keep services accessible to those who live there? What partnerships and policy solutions are helping or are needed to keep rural communities vibrant. We’ll focus on solutions that are being tried across the state in this session.

How can you build support for a new idea and help open minds to it? And how can you harness the power to get new volunteers into the fold? We’ll talk to Iowa native Deb Brown and Becky McCray of Save Your Town who work with communities in Iowa and beyond on these questions.

Workforce is tight in Iowa’s cities, but how can Iowa’s rural companies continue to grow? While changes in age opened up some opportunities, the number of occupations are limited. Can automation or policy decisions be of further help?

With the majority of Iowa’s counties seeing population declines, the challenge to keep robust educational opportunities in communities is challenging. While Iowa Wesleyan closed in 2023, other higher education institutions are facing significant budget shortfalls. Meanwhile, many expressed concern about the health of rural school districts during changes to school choice laws.

The concept of Creative Placemaking has been around for years, but a small group brought it front and center to Iowa. The Gazette welcomes back Zack Mannheimer, who first brought the topic of Creative Placemaking to the Iowa Ideas audience in 2017. What is creative placemaking, and how has Iowa embraced the work?

What are the unique pieces that define a thriving community? Hear from successful placemaking initiatives that built up their assets to make their geographic mark.

Building trust and encouraging partnerships from idea to launch. How does local support (or lack of) impact success of a placemaking initiative? How does a community sort through varying interests and interpretations of assets?

How do small wins in placemaking determine they are ready to become a destination? How does a community apply a concept that has gained local support and apply it as part of economic development strategy?

How do you balance the needs of an agricultural economy with environmental and human health? With two-thirds of Iowa’s waterways considered impaired and nearly one-third of the nitrate load in the Mississippi watershed coming from Iowa, why is policy change so difficult?

While it’s recommended that wells in the state are tested annually, most aren’t. What are the risks? What is the data telling us about private wells in the state and what are we learning about water quality from the tests?

An in-depth discussion looking at Iowa’s plan to reduce nutrient contributions from wastewater plants and non-point sources like farm fields. How has the plan evolved? What additional revisions are needed and what is the political appetite for making them happen?

Forever chemicals, or PFAS, have been getting significant attention, but other emerging contaminants are cause for concern in drinking water. Pharmaceuticals and other personal care products may also be having impacts on aquatic life in Iowa. This session will talk about PFAS as well as how emerging contaminants are catching the eyes of regulators and scientists.

We’ll talk with city leaders about the costs and challenges of providing water and whether other policy changes could be better. We’ll also look at the wastewater processes and the impacts those have on water quality.