Elevating Rural Voices: Strengthening Community Partnerships for Lasting Change
Persistent URL
Author(s)
Paulson, Lauren
Allegheny College
Rebecca Pechmann
Isabella James
Sophie Larson
Date Issued
May 29, 2026
Abstract
This multi- method study centres on the perspectives of rural community partners in community engagement (CE), a population often underrepresented in the literature, to examine how partnerships function in a rural context. Using survey data, semi-structured interviews, the Transformational Relationship Evaluation Scale (TRES) and perceived closeness measures, the study examines how partnerships function in a rural context. Partners reported positive relationships with the college, including trust in faculty and a willingness to continue collaboration. However, partners consistently rated ideal partnerships as more transformational than their current experiences, with gaps in decision- making, resource sharing, roles, power, continuity and student preparedness. Qualitative findings identify structural challenges, including limited organisational capacity, inconsistent communication and variability in student readiness and professionalism, which place strain on rural organisations. Partners also emphasised the college’s role as a rural anchor institution and the potential for deeper, relationship-based collaboration and contributions to community capacity. Overall, findings indicate that effective rural CE requires relationship infrastructure, not just goodwill, to support continuity, shared decision- making and mutual accountability. This study contributes to the limited scholarship on rural CE by offering a context- specific framework for strengthening equitable and sustainable partnerships in rural settings and a model that can be adapted by other institutions.
Journal
Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement
Citation
Paulson, L., Pechmann, R., James, I., Larson, S. 2026. Elevating Rural Voices: Strengthening Community Partnerships for Lasting Change. Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, 19:1, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.5130/h0wp2381
Publisher
University of Technology, Sydney (UTS)
Version of Article
Version of Record
DOI
10.5130/h0wp2381
ISSN
1836-3393
Rights
© 2026 by the author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercial, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.
Type of Publication
Journal Article
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