News

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 perspectives of programs, policies, and research when doing immigration different in rural Canada.

On March 20, 2019, Dr.

The 1st year Master of Landscape Architecture students, as part of their design studio with Professors Karen Landman and Martin Holland, visited the Headwaters Health Care Centre (HHCC) in Orangeville, Ontario, on a bitterly-cold wintry day in March.

Kim Davids Mandar is a first year student in the Capacity Development and Extension graduate studies program. In her local community development work, she met and collaborated with PhD Rural Studies Candidate, Valencia Gaspard, to form the Rickson Ridge Neighbourhood Group in their local neighbourhood. This affiliated arm of the Guelph Neighbourhood Support Coalition required increased engagement and communication, so Kim and her partner Howie set about publishing a Best Version Media magazine.

I am currently enrolled in the Capacity Development and Extension program in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph.  As part of my master’s thesis project I had the opportunity to travel to Lusaka, Zambia this past fall to conduct field research on the role of trust and gender in mobile money adoption.

RPD students in the Advanced Planning Practice class visited the Muskoka District from February 27 to March 1. They met with planners from the District and local planners in Gravenhurst and Port Carling (Township of Muskoka Lakes). They also attended an LPAT hearing over a contested severance application.  They met with planning consultants concerning an area development and went out to dinner with RPD alumni.  Of course, there was also a site visit to Sawdust Brewery to study the positive impacts of development on downtown Gravenhurst!

Dr. Ryan Gibson and Ashleigh Weeden (PhD student, School of Environmental Design & Rural Development) hosted a workshop at the Ontario Good Roads Association’s 2019 Conference in Toronto on February 26, 2019 to launch the “Building the Future: Rural Infrastructure & Regional Economic Development” research initiative.

Prof. Nadia Amoroso’s publication on visual communication in landscape architecture was recently published by Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group). Representing Landscapes: Analogue is the latest book of the Representing Landscapes Series. This publication focuses on hand graphics and the analogue medium.

Communities across rural Ontario are exploring new strategies for economic development opportunities. In partnership with the Ontario Good Roads Association, rural planning and development students in the economic development course discussed the future of rural economic development with over 150 municipal leaders from across Ontario.

A new research initiative aimed at investigating the influence of rural communities’ capacity to respond to infrastructure challenges on their immediate and long-term economic development potential is underway. Dr. Ryan Gibson is the lead investigator of the project, which includes researchers and policy experts from across Canada, including University of Guelph Rural Studies PhD student Ashleigh Weeden.