During the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of Canadians packed up city life and moved to rural communities. But what did that sudden shift really mean on the ground? A new article in Plan Canada, “Reflecting on the Urban Exodus: Rural Planning for City Expats,” explores how rural municipalities across Ontario experienced — and responded to — this change.
Dr. Ryan Gibson has been named the new Director of the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD), effective January 1, 2026.
Dr. Mahatab Uddin, a postdoctoral scholar in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph, participated in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. Dr. Uddin served as a Lead Author for Working Group III of the IPCC’s Seventh Assessment Report (AR7).
Formal agricultural research is often conducted by professional researchers, however, recently there has been an increase in farmer-led initiatives such as the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario’s (EFAO) Farmer-Led Research Program (FLRP). The Connecting the Dots initiative is excited to share a research summary about the impacts of the FLRP – Farmer Knowledge as Formal Knowledge: A Case Study of Farmer-Led Research in Ontario, Canada. The summary highlights the value of the EFAO’s FLRP and how it has been beneficial for ecological farmers in Ontario.
Kamshajini Raveenthiran, a current doctoral student and a graduate from the Capacity Development and Extension program in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, shared a thoughtful and inspiring reflection on her participation in the first international conference of the Canadian Agri-food, & Rural Extension, Advisory and Education (CAREE) conference held at the University of Guelph during October 29- 31, 2025.
A newly published chapter in Critical Futures: Community-Engaged Research in a Time of Social Transformation (University of Toronto Press) invites readers to rethink what it means to live, work, and thrive in rural places today.
October 20-26, 2025, was International Open Access Week – a global event dedicated to openness in scholarship and research. This year’s theme, “Who Owns Our Knowledge?”, invited all of us to reflect on who controls the production and sharing of knowledge—and how we might open it up for the wider public good.
On September 29, 2025, students in School's RPD*6250 Foundation: Planning Practice class (taught by Prof. Mollie Kuchma), were welcomed to the Wellington County Administration and Planning Office by Aldo Salis, Director of Planning and Development. The visit provided students with an opportunity to understand how local planning departments function and to gain deeper insight into the diverse responsibilities planners undertake at the county level.
On October 6, 2025, graduate students in the Rural Planning and Development (RPD) program’s Foundations of Planning Practice (RPD*6250) course (taught by Prof. Mollie Kuchma) had the opportunity to meet with the City of Guelph’s Mayor, Cam Guthrie, for an engaging discussion on municipal planning and decision-making in Guelph.