David Douglas

Head shot of David Douglas
College Professor Emeritus
Email: 
djdougla@uoguelph.ca
Phone number: 
Office: 
Johnston Hall, Room 115
Program: 
Rural Planning and Development

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Faculty & Staff

Education: 

BA (National University of Ireland)
MA (Toronto) MCIP, RPP

Biography: 

David Douglas is past-President (2009-11) and a former Board Member on the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation (CRRF), was co-host of the national Rural Research Workshops (2011, 2012) in Ottawa, the Rural Development Expert Advisor for the Province of Zakarpattia, Ukraine (2011-13), a co-investigator, co-editor and book author on a major four university project on "new regionalism" in Canada (2019), editor and author of Rural Planning and Development in Canada (Nelson, 2010), Advisor for the pilot project on rural regional collaboration in Western Canada and the North, the Community Collaboration Project (Brandon University), and remains a Member of the OECD LEED Forum on Partnerships and Local Governance.

Current research encompasses the relationships between development planning theory and practice, governance and local government, and paradigmatic shifts and rural development policy and practice.

Current and recent professional activities include active participation in the design, management and execution of the bi-annual North Atlantic Forum (NAF) conferences (since 2013), guest editor of the Canadian Geographer (2023), participation on an international panel assessing postgraduate research funding applications (since 2017), organizational review of the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities (2018-19), reviewer for the Annals of Regional Science (2020) and the International Planning Studies (2022).

Extensive community volunteering includes being a founding Board Member of the Guelph Climate Action Network (GCAN), downtown revitalization, working on the “democratic deficit”, local media participation, and other activities.

Primary Areas of Academic Interest:

  • Rural community development and governance 
  • Local and community-based economic development 
  • Rural development policy
  • Strategic planning and management
  • Regional development planning
  • Sustainable development 
  • Participatory process
  • Local government 
  • Organizational analysis and development
  • Small community design
  • Planning and development theory

Primary Regions of Interest:

Canada, Europe, Other International (Iran, China, Pakistan).

Publications - 2009-2024 

Note: (P) – Peer reviewed.  (P – Int)  - Within School / Project Peer reviewed.

Douglas, David J.A. 2023. “The rural municipality in Canada: A critical overview of recent research and some perspectives on the development agenda.” Canadian Geographer. Vol. 67, pp. 139-149. (P)

Vodden, Kelly, David J.A. Douglas, Sarah Minnes, Sean Markey, Bill Reimer and Sarah-Patricia Breen. 2019. “Conclusions: Implications for policy and practice.” 2019. In Vodden, Kelly et al (eds.). The Theory, Practice and Potential of Regional Development: The Case of Canada. London; Routledge. Chap.10. (P)

Daniels, Jen, David J.A. Douglas, Kelly Vodden and Sean Markey. 2019. “What is new regionalism?” In Vodden, Kelly et al (eds.). The Theory, Practice and Potential of Regional Development: The Case of Canada. London; Routledge. Chap. 3. (P)

Douglas, David J. A. 2019. “‘Integrated’ regional  development policy and planning.”  In Vodden, Kelly et al (eds.). The Theory, Practice and Potential of Regional Development: The Case of Canada. London; Routledge. Chap. 7. (P)

Vodden, Kelly, David J. A. Douglas, Sean Markey, Sarah Minnes and Bill Reimer. (eds.) 2019. The Theory, Practice and Potential of Regional Development: The Case of Canada. London; Routledge.

Douglas, David J.A. 2018. “Governance in rural contexts: Toward the formulation of a conceptual framework.” EchoGéo, Processus de gouvernance dans les territoires ruraux. Special Edition. No. 43. January. Paris; Sorbonne. (P).

Douglas, David J. A. 2017. “Community resilience: Critical reflections from the Canadian rural development perspective.” In From black horses to white steeds: Building community resilience, Brinklow, Laurie and Ryan Gibson (eds.), pp. 10-30. Charlottetown, PE: Island Studies Press. (P).

“Roots, regions and radical practice: Rural communities in societal survival and transformation.” In Halström, L. K., Beckie, Mary A., Hvenegaard, Glen T., and Karsten  Mündel (eds). Taking the Next Steps; Sustainability Planning and Collaboration in Rural Canada. Edmonton; University of Alberta Press. Chapter 1. (2016) (P).

“Power and politics in the changing structures of rural local government.” In Shucksmith, Mark and David L. Brown (eds.). Routledge International Handbook of Rural Studies. London; Routledge. Chapter 50. (2016) (P).

“Preface”. In Vodden, Kelly, Ryan Gibson, and Godfrey Baldacchino (eds.). Place Peripheral: Place-Based Development in Rural, Island, and Remote Regions. St. John’s; Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland. (2015) (P).

“Ontario”. With Lauzon, Al, Norman Regetlie, and Wayne Caldwell. In, Markey, Sean, Sarah Breen, Al Lauzon, Ryan Gibson, Laura Ryser and Ruth Mealy (eds.). State of Rural Canada. Vancouver; Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation. Chapter 2.5. (2015). (P).

Douglas, David J.A. Fogo Island Local Government Development: A Case Study in Endogenous Rural Development.  Vienna; OECD LEED (Forthcoming). (P)

Douglas, David J.A. Enhancing the Capacity of Partnerships to Influence Policy, with Particular Reference to Rural Contexts. Vienna; OECD LEED (Forthcoming). (P)

Douglas, David J. A. “Strategic resilience: Getting a step ahead of the recession for effective local economic development.” Municipal World. January, 2010. pp. 27-29. (P)

Douglas, David J.A. (ed). Rural Planning and Development in Canada. Toronto; Nelson. (2010). (P)

Douglas, David J.A. “Introduction”. In, Douglas, David J.A. (ed). Rural Planning and Development in Canada. Toronto; Nelson. (2010). (P)

Douglas, David J.A. with R. Annis.“Community development: A cornerstone of rural planning and development.” In, Douglas, David J.A. (ed). Rural Planning and Development in Canada. Toronto; Nelson. Chapter 10. (2010). (P)

Douglas, David J. A. “Theorizing rural planning and development.” In, Douglas, David J.A. (ed). Rural Planning and Development in Canada. Toronto; Nelson. Chapter 11. Chapter 11. (2010). (P)

Douglas, David J.A. and Contributors. “Rural planning and development in Canada: Prospects and potentials”. In, Douglas, David J.A. (ed). Rural Planning and Development in Canada. Toronto; Nelson. Chapter 12. (2010). (P)

Douglas, David J.A. and Brendan O’ Keeffe.  “Rural development and the regional construct: A comparative analysis of the Newfoundland & Labrador and Ireland contexts.” In Baldacchino, Godfrey, Rob Greenwood and Lawrence Felt (eds.). Remote Control: Governance Lessons for and from Small, Insular, and Remote Regions. St. John’s NL; ISER Books, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Chapter 4, (2009). (P)

O’Keeffe, Brendan and David J.A. Douglas. “Rural development in Newfoundland & Labrador and Ireland: Governance and its prospects and potentials.” In Baldacchino, Godfrey, Rob Greenwood and Lawrence Felt (eds.) Remote Control: Governance Lessons for and from Small, Insular, and Remote Regions. St. John’s NL; ISER Books, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Chapter 12, (2009). (P)
 

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