A new research initiative aimed at investigating the influence of rural communities' capacity to respond to infrastructure challenges on their immediate and long-term economic development potential is underway. Dr. Ryan Gibson is the lead investigator of the project, which includes researchers and policy experts from across Canada, including University of Guelph PhD student Ashleigh Weeden.
Funded through the research partnership program between the Ont...
On January 24, 2019 Ashleigh Weeden (PhD Student, School of Environmental Design & Rural Development) presented her early-stage research on place-based rural innovation systems at the 2019 European Regional Science Association's (ERSA) Winter School, co-hosted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Trento, Italy.
The 2019 ERSA/OECD Winter School was themed around spatial productivity and local development and Ms. Weed...
On November 30th, the Regional Forum on Rural Newcomer Integration was a great example of a region coming together to improve newcomer integration throughout rural communities. The Regional Forum focussed on equipping employers with the knowledge and tools to be effective in attracting and retaining newcomer employees.
The room was full of municipal staff looking to support employers, employers who had previously been successful at newcomer integration to
Ashleigh Weeden, a PhD Student in the Rural Studies program, has been selected as one of 25 emerging scholars from around the world to participate in the 2019 ERSA/OECD Winter School at the Trento Centre for Local Development in Trento, Italy in January 2019.
As a highly competitive intensive program, the ERSA Winter School, in collaboration with the OECD Spatial Productivity Lab, provides PhD students and young researchers with the very latest advances...
On November 8, 2018, Ashleigh Weeden (PhD Student - University of Guelph) delivered a workshop at the Canadian Open Data Summit in Niagara Falls, Ontario that encouraged participants to rethink what they think they know about rural communities. The session focused on core principles critical to modern rural development in the digital era – place, people, and policy – and emphasized the importance of rural communities to Canada’s digital agenda as the natio
On September 25, 2018, Dr. Ryan Gibson (Libro Professor in Regional Economic Development, University of Guelph), Ashleigh Weeden (University of Guelph) and Bojan Furst (The Harris Centre, Memorial University of Newfoundland) delivered a skill-building workshop to nearly 40 community economic development professionals from across Canada at the Canadian Community Economic Development Network's EconoUs18 conference in Moncton, New Brunswick. The workshop focu
The Farm Radio program was revived in Blyth, Ontario during the 2018 Rural Talks 2 Rural Conference! Farm Radio Forum was a weekly CBC Radio program that aired from 1941-1965. The radio program highlighted agricultural developments, techniques, and provided education to farmers across Canada. For more information on the Farm Radio Forum visit the CBC Archives: https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/national-farm-radio-forum-the-final-forum-1965.
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Last week in Saskatoon rural community leaders, businesses, nonprofit organizations, governments, researchers, and students gathered to discuss rural issues at the Health and Shared Prosperity: 30th Annual Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation Conference. The conference brought 150 rural leaders from across Canada and internationally together to discuss the future of rural issues. The School of Environmental Design and Rural Development was we
Alex Petric (MSc, Rural Planning & Development) recently attended the Modelling Complex Urban Environments Conference at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario. Held on June 21-22, 2018, this event was organized by the Waterloo Institute for Complexity & Innovation and brought together leading thinkers and researchers to discuss Big Data, Smart Cities, and methods of modelling urban environments. Though not having a major focus o...
