Their research and education project will pursue four themes relevant to rural society: communications, environment, services, and governance. It is grounded in five years of research initiated by the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation under the title Understanding the New Rural Economy: Options and Choices (NRE).

The new project (NRE2) will include an education component that is integrated with the research. Rural citizens will learn how to conduct research, interpret the results, and take appropriate action. Policy makers will benefit from scientifically collected and analyzed data to inform and direct their decisions.

The New Rural Economy Project Phase 2 (NRE2) is a research and education program studying rural Canada since 1998. It is a collaborative undertaking bringing together rural people, researchers, policy-analysts, the business community, and government agencies at all levels to identify and address vital rural issues. It is conducted at the national level with historical and statistical data analysis, and at the local level with case studies involving community and household surveys. The NRE's mandate has been extended through 2006 with the help of a major grant from the INITIATIVE ON THE NEW ECONOMY Program (INE) of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.