On May 1, Dr Ryan Gibson joined a panel discussion focused on sharing experiences with the Mitacs funding program to support graduate student capacity development during the Perspectives on Experiential Learning Conference. The panel, organized by Nadia Timperio and Ben Bradshaw, consisted of Dr. Angela Canovas (Department of Animal Biosciences), Dr. Jamie Burr (Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences), and Nic Durish (School of Computer S...
Women are an inherent and critical part of the global agri-food sector and are a valuable resource for farming within Canada. Women have important roles to play in addressing current challenges, such as rising land values, fluctuating and uncertain commodity markets, new disease risks and climate change. However, the role of women in agriculture has traditionally been less visible than that of men. Women are becoming more prominent in some subsectors...
Rural economic development practices are often applied under the same instances across all rural towns as it is believed that what will work for one rural town will work for the next. However, not all rural economic development practices work in smaller rural towns. I had the opportunity to attend the 2019 Teeny Tiny Town Summit on April 11th, 2019 in Orono, Ontario.
The day was spent learning from Peter Kenyon (a social capitalist and community enth...
What does the future of rural communities across Canada look like? How are rural communities addressing the key challenges and maximizing opportunities to build sustainable places? On April 4, 2019, Dr. Ryan Gibson discussed key trends impacting in rural communities across Ontario, Canada, and internationally.
Community leaders, agricultural producers, and business owners gathered for the breakfast session in Jarvis, Ontario. The session discussed trends ...
Rural Canada is doing immigration differently. Although historically not sites of large-scale immigration, rural communities and regions throughout Canada continues to welcome new immigrants. This session explores how rural communities and regions are building strategies to attract, settle, welcome, and integrate new immigrants. These strategies, however, can not simply replicate urban-based strategies. This session highlights lessons learned from the pers...
On March 20, 2019, Dr. Ryan Gibson and Ashleigh Weeden (PhD Student & Research Assistant, University of Guelph) joined Gemma Mendez-Smith (Executive Director, Four County Labour Market Planning Board) and Patrick Jilesen (Director, Ontario Federation of Agriculture) to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the current labour market in Western Ontario. Hosted by the Town of Saugeen Shores, the event focused on the specific challenges facing the fa
During the 2019 Rural Symposium, five graduates supervised by Dr. Ryan Gibson, presented their research focused on evidence-based policy, rural policy interventions, rural innovation, opioid crisis, trail development, and rural infrastructure. Copies of the presentations and posters can be found below:
Making a Difference: Provincial Policy Reflections on Knowledge Mobilization (Ashleigh Weeden)
Creating Effective Rural Policies: Rural Lenses and thei...
Ashleigh Weeden (PhD student, School of Environmental Design & Rural Development, University of Guelph) will share insights and reflections on knowledge mobilization and provincial rural policy through a webinar hosted by Joshua Barrett and the Rural Policy Learning Commons on March 19, 2019 at 3:00pm (EST).
Titled "What’s the evidence on evidence-based policy? Reflections on knowledge mobilization in provincial rural policy," the webinar will share i...
Dr. Ryan Gibson and Ashleigh Weeden (PhD student, School of Environmental Design & Rural Development) hosted a workshop at the Ontario Good Roads Association's 2019 Conference in Toronto yesterday (February 26, 2019) to launch the "Building the Future: Rural Infrastructure & Regional Economic Development" research initiative.
Over 125 delegates participated in discussions focused on the opportunities and challenges facing rural communities in ma...
Communities across rural Ontario are exploring new strategies for economic development opportunities. In partnership with the Ontario Good Roads Association, rural planning and development students in the economic development course discussed the future of rural economic development with over 150 municipal leaders from across Ontario. Building on Michael Fenn's report on the six megatrends impacting rural Ontario, students facilitated a series of small gro
