The Rural School of Economics, a continuation of the earlier Eco Nomadic School, travels around to share information and was set up by, among others, Wapke Feenstra from the artist group Myvillages. In that capacity she has many contacts in Russia and Belarus, where there is a completely different history in imagining the rural than here. This has been determined top-down there for more than a century. Feenstra was invited by art organizations that need to visualize a new local identity. This is partly due to the fact that Orthodox faith and folklore are allowed again after the Soviet era, and churches and rural festivals can sometimes even count on state support and money from oligarchs. “Can my co-creation method contribute to a more democratic process in this?” Feenstra writes in the travel plan she set up. “How do you deal with an 'imagined identity'? What does it mean if your regional 'self-image' has always been determined by an “other”. What can the role of artists be in this process?”

With Myvillages, Feenstra has been making exhibitions, photography, books and art with and about the countryside worldwide since 2003, art in which the clichés of city and countryside are broken open. Bottom-up and with co-design, they ensure exchange between farmers and artists. In 2019 Feenstra opened Boerenzij in TENT, a solo exhibition about South Rotterdam and how the countryside affects urban culture. The R&D committee found her professional practice convincing and believed in the added value of this plan, based on humanity's humanity.

Despite practical hurdles – visas, regulations – Feenstra eventually had fruitful residencies in Brest and Moscow. She gave lectures and workshops and undertook field trips to the surrounding countryside where she learned a lot about architecture, history and local crafts, knowledge that flowed back to the Rural School of Economics. Moreover, it sparked a lot of discussion and plans arose to work closely with the kolkhoz village Zburazh, and to start a summer school in the commuter village Pushkino.