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...
Academics and governments create definitions of what is a rural community, and what is not a rural community, on a regular basis. These definitions might be based on population counts or based on access to services. How communities actually define themselves, however, is a different question.
Neil Stoop, Master of Science in Rural Planning and Development candidate, share findings of his thesis research at the International Geography Union/Can...
Sara Epp, PhD in Rural Studies candidate, shared her research on the migration of Mennonite farmers to northern Ontario at the International Comparative Rural Policy Summer Institute on July 3. Sara shared the experience of motivations, experiences, and challenges experienced by Mennonite farmers that recently migrated from southern Ontario to northern Ontario. Summer Institute students were interested to learn about the dynamics of the Mennonite f
Nearly 30 graduate students and faculty members from across North America and Europe are gathered in Tuskegee, Alabama for the 2018 International Comparative Rural Policy (ICRPS) Summer Institute. The summer institute is an opportunity for graduate students to gain new skill sets, capacities, and networks in the field of comparative rural policy. This year's summer institute theme is "Social Justice, Rural and Natural Resource Policy". Students w...
Stephanie Patzer, MSc in Rural Planning and Development student at the University of Guelph, was part of a team recently was announced as a top 20 finalist in an international ideas competition inspired by the sustainable development goals. In the Spring 2018, the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology launched an international ideas competition for students interested in the built environment and sustai...
SEDRD students Ashleigh Weeden (PhD, Rural Studies), Valencia Gaspard (PhD, Rural Studies) and Alex Petric (MSc, Rural Planning & Development) recently shared their insights on open data and innovation in rural communities at the 2018 GOOD Conference in Barrie, ON. Ashleigh, Valencia, and Alex were featured on a panel about the ‘networked rural’ and the opportunities and challenges of open data initiatives in rural communities, moderated by B
Check out the latest video from the University of Guelph's Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies featuring Ashleigh Weeden! The video showcases Ashleigh's doctoral research on innovation in rural communities. For more information on her research click here.
▶ University of Guelph Graduate Student Ashleigh Weeden (PhD, SEDRD)
As part of the requirements for the M.Sc. program in Rural Planning and Development at the University of Guelph, Stephanie Patzer is conducting a research project with TECHO Honduras, with support from Cuso International. TECHO is an NGO, present in 19 countries in Latin America, that seeks to overcome poverty through the collective action of youth volunteers and the residents of informal settlements, executing programs and projects that enable community d
With all the hoopla around innovation systems, what is happening around rural innovation? Ashleigh Weeden, PhD student in Rural Studies at the University of Guelph, recently published an article challenge the current discourse of urban-based innovation strategies and agendas. In the article, titled "Canada deserves a rural innovation agenda …", Weeden argues for a unique rural innovation agenda that contributes advances rural communities. Check o
Each year, graduate students and faculty from the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development participate in a two-week summer institute focused on comparative rural policy. The 2018 edition of the International Comparative Rural Policy Summer Institute will be held in Tuskegee, Alabama from June 24-July 7, 2018. An introductory session for students interested in learning more about the 2018 International Comparative Rural Policy Summer ...
