On January 15, 2019, the federal government announced the creation of a new minister of rural economic development. Bernadette Jordan (Member of Parliament for South Shore-St Margarets in Nova Scotia) takes on the new minister role. What does it mean for rural Canada? What should the priorities be for moving forward? Dr. Gibson joined eleven CBC Radio station morning programs to discuss the recent announcement, potential strategies for focus, and why urban...
Graduate students in the Rural Planning and Development program at the University of Guelph will be able to take a course this winter focused on building healthy rural communities. Dr. Wayne Caldwell is teaching an online course titled, "Healthy Rural and Small Town Communities". The course builds on recent research and publications, such as the Healthy Rural Communities Toolkit. As part of the course, Dr. Gibson shared perpsectives from recent r
Alex Petric's recent thesis is now available online! You can download Beyond the Smart City: Assessing Open Data in Rural Ontario from the Univeristy of Guelph's Atrium website: https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/xmlui/handle/10214/14704.
Congratulations to Alex Petric for successfully defending his Master of Science in Rural Planning and Development thesis titled "Beyond the Smart City: Accessing Open Data in Rural Ontario". Alex's research explored if rural Ontario municipalities were current pursuing, or interested in pursuing, open data initiatives. The electronic version of the thesis will be available shortly - check back soon!
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
How can a community or region build a welcoming community? A community whereby new immigrants and newcomers feel welcome to move into, become engaged with local businesses, and contribute to the sustainability of the community. Based on experiences elsewhere, at the core is partnerships, dialogue, and commitment. During the Western Region Workforce Forum, Dr. Ryan Gibson shared perspectives on how rural communities can adopt welcoming community s...
The Ontario College of Agriculture at the University of Guelph recently celebrated the achievements of students. Congratulations goes out to the following:
Mallory Smith (2nd year Rural Planning and Development student) for receiving the Rural Planning Travel Grant and the Rural Planning and Development Alumni ScholarshipTimothy Hunting (2nd year Rural Planning and Development student) for receiving the Rural Planning Travel Grant
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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...
What if communities had an alternative source of funds to facilitate service delivery? Could these funds compensate for the challenges confronted related to large distances and low densities? Would the chronic challenges of service-withdrawal from the abdication of provincial and federal governments be overcome? How would access to alternative funding change the dynamics of rural sustainability, if at all? These are the questions Dr. Ryan Gibson'
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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