Heartlands Transformation Network

The Heartlands Transformation Network, formerly known as the Transforming Industrial Heartlands Initiative, is a transatlantic collaborative partnership dedicated towards closing geographic economic divides and reconnecting residents of rural and former industrial heartland communities to economic opportunity. The initiative works to return community pride and optimism about the future, and diminish the appeal of polarizing, resentment-driven, isolationist and ethnonationalist political movements that threaten our democracies.

The JES team was proud to announce joining the collaborative partnership in 2024. TIHI – its learning exchanges, convenings, events, study tours, presentations, publications, and other learning products – are conducted with partners including the Brookings Institution; the Georgetown University BMW Center for German and European Studies; the Ruhrkonferenz of North-Rhine Westphalia; Policy Manchester at the University of Manchester, U.K.; the University Allianz Ruhr; the German Consulate General in Chicago; the University of Michigan; the European Commission Directorate of Regional and Urban Policy; and the Committee of the Regions of the European Union, among others.

To learn more about the initiative, receive the initiative’s newsletter, and participate in events and learning exchanges, contact John Austin at the University of Michigan at jcaustin@umich.edu, or Ben Speggen at the JES at speggen@JESErie.org.