Podcast
Paul Muir on the arts & small rural communities
For many small remote rural communities, the key to renewal and revitalization may well lie in the pent-up creativity of local residents. Culture, even if it starts out small, as it did in tiny (population 120) Rosebud, Alberta, can become a powerful change agent. Paul Muir is the Education Director of Alberta’s Rosebud School of the Arts.…
Read MoreEconomic development in the Lower Columbia region — a chat with Terry Van Horn of LCIC
Economic development in the Lower Columbia region has been bolstered since 2010 by an organization formed through a partnership featuring the City of Rossland, the City of Trail, the Village of Warfield, the Village of Montrose, the Village of Fruitvale and electoral areas A & B of the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary. The Lower Columbia Initiatives Corporation (LCIC) was…
Read MoreRural revitalization & the arts — a conversation with John Davis
Rural revitalization and the arts — few places have linked the two more successfully than the small Minnesota towns of New York Mills and Lanesboro. So what do these communities have in common? Among other things, John Davis. Currently the Executive Director of Lanesboro Arts, Davis has helped bring various community factions together in both towns,…
Read MoreRural schools are vital, says Kaslo principal Dan Rude
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Rural schools are vital — it’s difficult to imagine a rural community prospering without offering its children access to an adequate school. This fact was hammered home at a open house on February 24th in Trail hosted by Linda Larson, Secretary of State responsible for rural education in BC and several Ministry of Education staff.…
Read MoreRobin Billy of SX Cloud Services talks tech
Sexqeltkemc Cloud Services (“SX Cloud Services” for short) co-founder Robin Billy is a young man on a mission. He and his colleagues are determined to grow SX Cloud Services into a significant technology provider to Shuswap First Nation communities, as well as other First Nations across British Columbia. SX is focused on enabling these communities to harness…
Read MoreSicamous mayor Terry Rysz speaks out on rural economic development & a new community forest initiative
Sicamous mayor Terry Rysz candidly admits that his community — like many other small, rural, forestry-dependent communities across BC — was hard-hit when the major sawmill in the area closed, taking with it around 200 well-paid jobs. For him, spurring rural economic development — or rural economic culture — is extremely important. Recognizing the importance…
Read MoreFood, glorious food, Shuswap style
Surveys show a sizeable majority of British Columbians would prefer to buy and consume food grown close to home. Yet no more than five percent of the food we eat is locally sourced. Some see this as a problem. Others see it as a tremendous opportunity. In this podcast, the Shuswap Food Co-Op’s Ronn Boeur…
Read MoreHarrop-Procter Community Forest: The Podcast
In this podcast, Dave Johnson, Erik Leslie, Rami Rothkop, and Ramona Faust discuss the origins and operating philosophy of the Harrop-Procter Community Forest Cooperative, one of the most interesting Community Forests operations in British Columbia.
Read MoreFields Forward is putting a cherry on top!
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Rural revitalization. Rural renewal. Leveraging local strengths. These are all easier said than done for many rural communities struggling to reinvent themselves in the context of a rapidly urbanizing 21st century. An innovative agriculture-based initiative in BC’s Creston Valley has taken on the challenge — in fact it could be said that Fields Forward…
Read MoreCommunity investment in Creston & district
As more and more economic power flows to major urban regions and large cities, small towns and rural regions find it increasing difficult to find the funds necessary to fuel economic growth. That’s certainly true of Creston and the surrounding region. Community investment in Creston & district may be the answer. Every year, rural British…
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