The 2019-2020 annual report of the Libro Professor of Regional Economic Development is now available! The past year has been exciting, with many activities, outputs, and achievements. The Libro Professorship engaged in teaching in regional planning and economic development, mentoring graduate students, connecting with communities and businesses, and conducting research. Through the Libro Professorship, a number of critical topics for the long- te...
The COVID-19 global pandemic created great uncertainty for employment across Canada and internationally. News reports have noted job losses by different sectors, the unequal distribution of the impacts, and the gradual re-opening of some sectors. Victoria Agyepong, Ryan Gibson, and Ray Bollman recently published a report called "Rural Employment and Workforce Development: Impacts and Opportunities". The report takes a rural lens to understand the impac...
Rural communities have been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Ryan Gibson and Lissel Hernandez participated in the Rural Rebound panel discussion organized by the Rural Ontario Institute on September 24, 2020. The discussion brought together community leaders, government, nonprofit organizations, and researchers to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on rural communities and strategies for how rural rebound. Ryan and Lissel were joined by Ray B
COVID-19 has greatly influenced rural communities throughout Canada. To better understand the impacts, recovery strategies, and how to build long-term resilience the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation is hosting a free online conference from October 1-2, 2020. The Supporting Rural Recovery and Resilience online conference will features a series of discussions enhancing our understanding of the impact of the global pandemic on rural communit
The latest newsletter from the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation is now available! The newsletter highlight rural development news, events, reports, and stories from across Canada and internationally. The Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation is a national charity devoted to enhancing rural prosperity.
You can receive the monthly newsletter from the Foundation for free by signing up on their website.
Provincial, territorial, and federal government representatives connected in an online meeting to share information about government approaches to rural development across Canada on June 26, 2020. During the meeting, each government shared perspectives on rural development, rural policies, rural programs, and rural priorities. The attendees perceived this discussion as a great tool to connect with other governments from across the country and they are look...
COVID-19 has created a series of uncertainties for planning programs across Ontario. On July 17, 2020 the Ontario Professional Planners Institute hosted an online webinar to discuss the state of Ontario’s planning schools during and post-COVID-19. The discussion highlighted how planning programs are adjusting the upcoming fall semester due to COVID-19, the impact to capacity and skill set development for students, and long-term strategies. The discussion f
COVID19 did not prevent a celebration of recent graduates from the Rural Planning and Development program! On July 10, an online gathering celebrated the achievements of recent graduates. It was wonderful to see Louis Helps, Koren Lam, Sarah Parish, Gursewak Singh, and Vinit Yadav recognized for their hard work over the past two years. The gathering included comments from the graduates, Dean of the Ontario College of Agriculture, President of the Ontario P...
Communities throughout the world are exploring opportunities to work together towards building regional prosperity. On July 2, 2020, Prof. Ryan Gibson joined local government representatives from the Irish Central Borderland Area Network (ICBAN) to share perspectives and lessons learned from Canadian experiences in cross-border collaboration. Building on research from the Community Collaboration Project, Prof. Gibson shared research on from the Hudson Bay
A new publication focused on infrastructure investments to support COVID19 recovery in rural communities was released by the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation (CRRF). As part of CRRF's Rural Insights on COVID-19 Series, the publication examines how rural communities can employ green infrastructure to address post-pandemic recovery and climate reliance. The report emerges from the Building the Future research initiative funded through the Ontario Agr
