Congratulations to Timothy Hunting for successfully defending his Master of Science in Rural Planning and Development thesis today. Timothy's thesis, titled "Local Trail Development along Rural Canada’s Share of The Great Trail", examined small and rural municipalities involvement with The Great Trail (formerly the Trans-Canada Trail). A copy of the thesis will become available shortly - do not forget to check back.
In September, Timothy will start his do
Congratulations to Ashleigh Weeden for successfully defending her qualifying examination on place-based development and innovation in rural regions! You can check out more details of Ashleigh's doctoral research by visiting www.ruraldev.ca/place-based-rural-innovation-systems/.
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...
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
How do approaches to rural economic development differ between rural Ontario and rural Ireland? What can be learned from decades of rural economic development practice in both Canada and Ireland? For five days in May, staff and board members from Community Futures across Ontario engaged in conversations with rural economic development leaders in Ireland. During the five day forum discussions were held with policy makers, local economic development pra...
Ever wondered what the implication of cannabis legalization are for rural communities or if rural communities are benefited at all? On May 7, 2019, Tracey Harvey (PhD in Rural Studies Candidate at the University of Guelph) shared information on how rural communities are transitioning with the adoption of the Cannabis Act from the Kootenay region of British Columbia. The webinar examined current challenges and opportunities associated with
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 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
