Rural researchers, government policy makers, community leaders, and nonprofit organizations have been working together for the past three years to share information on rural policy and rural development throughout Canada and internationally on a project called the Rural Policy Learning Commons. Recently, Dr. Gibson was elected to the Executive Council of the Rural Policy Learning Commons. The Executive Council is exploring opportunities to enhance the effectiveness and the quality of the outputs for the remaining four years of the project.

The Rural Policy Learning Commons is a seven-year research initiative focused on sharing rural policy knowledge among researchers, government policy makers, and local community leaders. The Rural Policy Learning Commons adds to research knowledge regarding rural, regional, and northern conditions; increases insights regarding the nature and process of rural-related policy development; builds a cohort of highly qualified policy analysts and community leaders; increases the mobilization of this knowledge to the wider population; and strengthens networks and institutional capacities to increase prosperity in rural, regional, and northern areas.

Read more about the Rural Policy Learning Commons’ Executive Council and recent project activities in the January 2017 newsletter.