In March 2026, Rural Planning and Development (RPD) graduate students Emma Pothion and Tristan Cook participated in the CARE International Annual Conference, hosted by the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) at Sciences Po in Paris, France, alongside faculty member Dr. Nicolas Brunet.
The School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD) at the University of Guelph invited Grant Fahlgren, a member of Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation, Indigenous Design Lead at PFS Studio, and Chair and founding member of the Reconciliation Advisory Committee of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, to deliver a public lecture titled 'Indigenous Urbanism: Design for All Our Relations' on Monday, March 9, 2026.
Rural Studies alumna Ashleigh Weeden (PhD '22) has been awarded a Canada Postdoctoral Research Award from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
The School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD), University of Guelph, welcomed Dr. Geneviève S. Metson, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography & Environment at Western University on February 26, 2026, for a seminar titled “Making the Invisible Visible: Rethinking Urban Ecological Sustainability.”
The School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD) at the University of Guelph hosted a seminar on February 25, 2026, featuring Dr. Elsa Vasseur, Associate Professor in the Department of Animal Science at McGill University.
Canadians have felt the impact of the housing crisis and innovative solutions are being highlighted from coast to coast. That’s the message Brian Doucet, Associate Professor of Planning at the University of Waterloo, emphasized on February 5th with those attending the screening of “Thinking Beyond The Market: A Film About Genuinely Affordable Housing” in the LA building of the University of Guelph, School of Environmental Design and Rural Development.
Governments, researchers, and communities rely on definitions of rural places to decide where funding goes, how programs are designed, and which communities are eligible for support. Yet many existing definitions treat rural as simply the opposite of urban, missing the diversity of places that sit along a continuum.
On Tuesday, January 27, 2026, the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development held a student-led discussion panel in the landscape architecture building.
On February 10, 2026, Scott Duff, Director of Rural Policy and Economic Development, led a workshop in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph. Intended to engage with graduate students, alumni and industry professionals, Duff shared insights on the realities of working in the Ontario Public Service (OPS) and pathways to establishing a career.
Are you interested in sharing your research with government, rural community leaders, and researchers? Consider making an oral presentation or poster presentation at the upcoming 2026 Rural Symposium.