The News
The latest articles and news relating to rural living...
Radio Free Kaslo — a Rural BC Summer Treat!
Nothing tops off a BC rural summer celebration like some good radio! There’s nothing quite like a summer evening, pretty much anywhere in rural BC. Friends and family enjoying a backyard barbecue. Or maybe a…
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New Rural Dividend Intake Begins June 1, 2018, July 31 Deadline
New Rural Dividend Intake Announced The BC Rural Dividend provides $25 million a year to assist rural communities with a population of 25,000 or less to reinvigorate and diversify their local economies. It was developed…
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Escape the City Winners Announced!
It’s like a law of physics — you know, for every action an equal reaction. As our major centres grow ever larger and more congested, attracting young people from rural areas with the promise of…
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Tale of Three Cities — Rural BC Tech-Based Innovation
Innovation is about staying relevant. We are in a time of unprecedented change. As a result, what may have helped a community or organization be successful in the past could potentially be the cause of…
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Rural Innovation — Communities As Engines Of Change
by Rupert Downing, June 1, 2018 This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Highland and Islands Enterprise (HIE) in Scotland, one of the most impactful examples of community partnerships for change in rural areas anywhere. It…
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Highlands & Islands Enterprise — Prickly Thistle
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is an ambitious Scottish organization with a unique mandate, one that successfully integrates economic and community development in rural northern Scotland. HIE, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, works…
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Small Town Love Campaign Spreads in Northern BC
Love Northern BC had its beginnings in Quesnel, B.C. with the launch of Small Town Love in 2011. Quesnel entrepreneur Amy Quarry developed a vision through her company, Small Town Love Media Inc., to help…
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Internet Expands in Rural BC & First Nations
The B.C. government has shared details on funding to bring high-speed internet connections to more rural and Indigenous communities. The province announced more than $11 million in funding through the Connecting British Columbia program, which…
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Peter Kenyon Coming to BC!
The BC Rural Centre is very pleased to be bringing Peter Kenyon back to BC, to deliver a series of asset based community development (ABCD) workshops in multiple towns across BC, starting May 30th. The…
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By Their Own Hands — St. Andrews, Nova Scotia
Building on the legacy of pioneering Scottish and, later, Dutch immigrants, St. Andrews, Nova Scotia, a rural agricultural community, has been able to muster active and enthusiastic volunteers for a series of ambitious community initiatives…
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ABCD Toolkit
In this toolkit by DePaul University’s ABCD Institute, Dan Duncan sets out the concept of asset-based community development, or “ABCD.” Duncan argues that, to improve individual and family well-being, communities, neighbourhoods and their residents need…
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Cormac Russell Explains Asset-Based Community Development
Cormac Russell is Managing director of Nurture Development, one of eleven strategic partners of the ABCD Institute, and the lead partner in Europe. Russell and his Nurture Development colleagues have worked as ABCD social explorers, trainers, mentors,…
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Affordable Home Ownership Expert Coming to Kelowna
The BC Rural Centre invites you to a free public lecture featuring Lisa Byers, Executive Director of the OPAL (“Of People And Land”) Community Land Trust on Orcas Island, Washington State. Lisa will discuss how…
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Saving Rural Communities
Saving rural communities — what are the obstacles and the opportunities facing rural towns and regions today? In this thought-provoking video produced by NET and Harvest Public Media, Brian Depew, Executive Director, Center for Rural…
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How Wells-Barkerville Saved Its School
While many rural communities in BC have fought for their schools over the years, it’s doubtful any community has fought more fiercely than the citizens of the tiny town of Wells (population around 220),…
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Rural Schools — Successes & Challenges
Rural schools — it’s difficult to imagine a thriving rural community without one. Yet across the rural landscape, declining populations led by an outflow of young people to the cities threaten the existence of many…
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Rural Schools, Why They Close & How They Can Be Saved
In this BC Rural Centre report, we look at why rural schools close, and highlight experiences drawn from rural BC communities as well as elsewhere in Canada where rural schools have been saved. See…
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Haida Gwaii homes to get high-speed fibre optic internet
A $4.9-million project will connect hundreds more Haida Gwaii homes to affordable high-speed internet, reports Andrew Hudson of the Haida Gwai Observer. Thanks to funding announced Tuesday by the Canadian and B.C. governments as well…
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Affordable Housing in Rural Communities
Affordable housing is a pressing issue in many small rural communities, this webinar features Lisa Byers, Executive Director of OPAL (“Of People And Land”) Community Land Trust on Washing State’s Orcas Island. Providing affordable housing…
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Escape the City! A Quick Video May Change Your Life!
Tired of the urban rat race? Wish you could afford your own home? Want to walk to work? Wish you had access to world class skiing, mountain biking, kayaking, hiking, and climbing? Like the idea…
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Affordable Rural Housing: OPAL’s April’s Grove, San Juan Islands
Affordable rural housing — providing it is a challenge across North America. An organization located just south of BC’s Gulf Islands has shown it’s a challenge that can be met. From a small group of…
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Affordable Rural Housing & Community Land Trusts
Affordable rural housing is an issue in many small, remote communities. Community Land Trusts can be an effective approach to tackling this challenge, providing affordable, appropriate housing for rural residents unable to crack the…
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BC Rural Centre’s Recommendations for Rural Development
What kind of provincial policies and tools would help us with rural development in BC? This is an issue the BC Rural Centre/SIBAC has spent a lot of time and effort researching. We have developed…
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Escape the City Contest — Win a Weekend in Alpine Nirvana!
Tired of the urban rat race? Wish you could afford your own home? Want to walk to work? Wish you had access to world class skiing, mountain biking, kayaking, hiking, and climbing? Like the idea…
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