Learning from other jurisdictions can greatly enhance our understanding of rural policy and rural development. To facilitate comparative rural studies, faculty members from across North America and Europe host a two-week international summer institute for students. The International Comparative Rural Policy (ICRPS) Summer Institute provides a unique opportunity for students to meet and work together on comparative rural policy issues and make invaluable research and networking contacts. The expertise of the faculty involved in ICRPS span across the disciplines of anthropology, business, economics, environmental studies, geography, indigenous studies, planning, policy studies, political science, and sociology.
The 2017 ICRPS Summer Institute is being hosted by Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain. The theme for the 14th annual ICRPS Summer Institute is Rural-Urban Linkages Facing Global Challenges. Three graduate students from the University of Guelph are participating in the Summer Institute: Lissel Hernandez Gongora (Rural Studies PhD student), Ruth Lokram (MSc in Rural Planning and Development student), and Neil Stoop (MSc in Rural Planning and Development student). Dr. John Devlin and Dr. Ryan Gibson are both contributing to ICRPS in Barcelona. Over the two weeks the Summer Institute will explore themes of entrepreneurship, governance, climate change, local economic development, and tourism. For daily updates, check out the ICRPS Summer Institute’s blog: http://icrps.org/blog/.
