This study uses the Rural Utah Community Study (RUCS) to explore how social sustainability shapes a community’s approach to environmental sustainability. The results indicate that respondents who feel attached to and are satisfied with their community had a more positive relationship with the natural environment than those who were dissatisfied with their communities. We also find evidence that social ties, measured by the number of people known by their first name in the community, positively influence perceptions of the environment, and that a significant link exists between environmental sustainability and a higher sense of community belonging.

We present a theoretical discussion conceptualizing “community as story”—narratives that create and recreate one’s definition of and relationship to their community. We use a variety of disciplinary sources and representative quotes to help develop the theory. In so doing, we discuss the importance of subjective perception, narrative and place to the creation of a community story. Community stories take place in time and place, and as changes to the place occur, residents are compelled to adjust their stories and definitions. These changes are reflected in narratives that reminisce about what the community was and what it is becoming. The narratives then become part of a new community story. Above and beyond our theoretical conceptualization of “community as story”, to help illustrate our arguments in an empirical setting, we present a historical narrative from interviews with residents of Vance, Alabama, home of the Mercedes-Benz plant, which discuss the changing nature of and relationship to their community after the arrival of the plant in the 1990s.

Understanding how the lack of higher education opportunities due to geographic distance affects perceptions of communities and education is essential in creating sustainable education systems in rural areas. More specifically, this research examines how geographic distance and the absence of institutes, sometimes called an education desert, affect perceptions of community and the perceived value of education. We used data from the 2017 Rural Utah Community Study (RUCS) of residents living in twenty-five rural communities, with a sample size of 1286, and found that the proximity to different types of higher education, four- and two-year institutions, can significantly influence community well-being and the perceived value of education.