Coherent Development Lab
Current patterns of social and economic development have long struggled to achieve a balance between the essential features of civilization—for example, between the requirements of sustainability and growth, or those of rural and urban flourishing. Mainstream efforts to mitigate these imbalances tend to focus on top-down, technical solutions. But it is becoming increasingly clear that if these imbalances are ever to be addressed, we need a more coherent underlying vision of human prosperity. The Coherent Development Lab explores ideas, movements, policies, and projects that advance a more coherent vision of collective prosperity, and alternative approaches to achieving it.
Events
COMIT Senior Fellows Lee Miller and Kerilyn Schewel organized a PhD Academy titled "Rethinking Rural Futures" at Venice International University (VIU). The program brought together early-career researchers and faculty for intensive workshops and fieldwork exploring rural development, sustainability, and climate adaptation.
The experience showed us that community-building is not just a byproduct of deep, creative work, but its foundation. At VIU, we stepped out of our daily routines into a city shaped by centuries of environmental challenges, yet alive with art, culture, and innovation. In that setting, we found that deep engagement with one another and with the place itself creates the conditions for ideas to take root and develop into interconnected insights. Learn more.
Projects
The discourse surrounding sustainable development has progressively illuminated the integral role of agri-food systems in securing global nutrition and shaping the fabric of rural advancement. At the heart of this discourse lies the concept of "virtuous agri-food systems" — a model underpinned by principles of ethical stewardship, ecological balance, and socio-economic justice. This project embraces virtuous agri-food systems as indispensable for harmonious and robust rural development, and investigates the social forces and policy environment that can support their development in Orange and Durham Counties, North Carolina. While many rural areas in NC and beyond experience decline, this research learns from the unique concentration of small farms advancing innovative agricultural and farming practices in this region. Learn more.
Publications
Development in Transition: Rethinking Rural Futures brings together scholars and practitioners who push beyond conventional paradigms for understanding rural change. Their conversations and essays offer a compelling portrait of rural places as dynamic sites of experimentation in education, migration, and resilience. Learn more.
Across headlines and scholarly research alike, migration from countries like Ethiopia is often framed as a crisis: poverty, climate change, and conflict pushing people from their homes. These dominant "push factor" narratives suggest that migration is a problem — and that development is the solution.
Moved by Modernity turns this assumption on its head, revealing how social and economic development can drive migration rather than reduce it. In this groundbreaking study, Kerilyn Schewel draws on extensive fieldwork in Wayisso, a rural Ethiopian village, to examine how generations of families adapted their aspirations, livelihoods, and migration strategies amid their country's tumultuous pursuit of modernization. Their stories offer rich insights into what development actually looks like in rural societies — and why it so often fuels both internal and international migration. Learn more.
Speaker Series
Some of the most promising advances in sustainable and equitable development are taking place in rural contexts, where a diversity of actors are striving to transform food systems, incorporate local knowledge, strengthen climate resilience, and widen participation in the development process. The Rural Transformations series features conversations with leading thinkers learning from the forefront of these efforts. Together, they will help us reimagine the possibilities and future of rural transformation. Learn more.
Some of the most promising advances in sustainable and equitable development are unfolding in rural settings. Here, a diverse group of stakeholders are reshaping food systems, leveraging local knowledge, bolstering climate resilience, and enhancing community participation in the developmental journey. The initial Rural Transformations series showcased dialogues with thought leaders at the vanguard of these endeavors, offering insights into the evolving landscape and potential of rural transformation.
In Spring 2024, the Rural Transformations series pivots to spotlight possibilities within the United States. The fate of Rural America's land-centric economies hinges on whether they can fulfill global climate commitments. The pivotal question is whether this metamorphosis will usher in innovative rural capabilities or merely perpetuate age-old patterns of colonial extraction stemming from urban-rural power disparities. For Rural America to emerge as a nexus of climate-adaptive, vibrant communities, we need visionary approaches in four key areas explored in this series. Learn more.
