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Community development practitioners, policy makers, and community leaders gathered in London, Ontario for the 2019 Econous Conference. The conference highlighted how the new ideas that will be most transformational will be those that are created by and carried by communities. EconoUs2019 featured dynamic speakers, interactive storytelling and skill-building sessions, local and regional tours,...
Ashleigh Weeden (PhD Candidate, SEDRD - University of Guelph) shared insights from summer field research in northern Finland at the 2019 Canadian Community Economic Development Network's annual conference, EconoUs2019, in London Ontario today.
In a PechaKucha style presentation, Ashleigh explored opportunities for applying rural community economic development strategies from Rovaniemi at home in Canada, and encouraged participants to take their thoughts o...
How do rural communities creative livable communities for the 21st century? This was a key topic of discussion for rural geographers. The Ninth Quadrennial Conference of British, Canadian, and American Rural Geographers was hosted by Middlebury College and the University of Vermont in Burlington, USA. Rural geographers from Australia, Wales, Northern Ireland, England, Canada, Scotland, England, and the United States shared research, discussed pressing rura...
As soon as word came that the 2019 International Comparative Rural Policy Studies (ICRPS) Summer Institute was going to be taking place in Rovaniemi, Finland, I knew I had to be there. Finland, and the Lapland region, have quickly become intriguing examples of the possibilities for building rural innovation ecosystems. As a doctoral student focused on investigating the link between place and innovation in rural communities, ICRPS2019 presented an amazing ...
Philanthropy in rural communities is a powerful tool for revitalization and sustainability. On June 6, 2019, Ryan Gibson shared preliminary research findings at the All In 2019 Conference, hosted by Community Foundations of Canada.
The presentation was part of a larger discussion on rural philanthropy that explored trends, the importance of place and creative opportunities happening in rural communities. Participants worked collectively to spark new think...
Stephanie Patzer, recent Rural Planning and Development graduate, shared her research on housing in Honduras at the “Inclusive Development? Expanding Circles of Development Research and Practice” Conference that took place from June 5-7, 2019 in Vancouver. Stephanie's presentation, titled "Lessons from Participatory Community Development in Informal Settlements in Honduras", explored housing development in two Honduran communities in partnership with Techo
On April 26, 2019, a collection of researchers, healthcare practitioners, workers’ rights activists, and volunteers met at the University of Windsor for the annual Migrant Farm Worker Health Forum. This event, organized by Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW), is a venue for emerging research and practices intended to better the health, conditions, and overall well-being of participants in Canada’s various Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW)
On May 2, Ashleigh Weeden (PhD student, School of Environmental Design and Rural Development) shared insights from her career and research into rural community innovation with approximately 150 leaders in economic development from across Saskatchewan at the 2019 Intersections for Growth Conference, the annual conference hosted by the Saskatchewan Economic Development Alliance (SEDA).
Ashleigh's presentation focused on the importance of developing a stro
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...
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...
