Posts Tagged ‘rural renewal’
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 their failure in the future. Communities and companies need to adapt and evolve to meet the ever changing needs of…
Read MoreSaving 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 Affairs, Maxine Moul, former Nebraska director for Rural Development, US Department of Agriculture, and Caleb Pollard, Ord, Nebraska entrepreneur, discuss…
Read MoreHow 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), located in the Cariboo Mountains, 80 kilometres east of Quesnel, 8 km from historical Barkerville. Wells, named after a hard…
Read MoreRural 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 small schools, and with them the towns and villages they are based in. Is this steady loss of rural schools…
Read MoreEscape 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 of being able to walk to do all your shopping? Kinda dig the idea of living in an alpine village…
Read MoreEscape the City!
Escape the City — that’s a concept that’s likely to become increasingly common as our major centres become increasing crowded — and expensive. Life in a major urban area isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be. Sky-high housing costs, seemingly endless traffic woes, crime, pollution, noise, and stress — lots of stress —…
Read MoreCape Breton Business Offers ‘Land for Jobs’
Angela Antle is a producer who works from St. John’s and is the host of Atlantic Voice, a Sunday morning documentary program on CBC Radio. In the following blogpost and podcast, Angela describes one Cape Breton business’ novel way of attracting new staff. Cape Breton business woman Heather Coulombe says it was…
Read MoreRosebud, AB Shows the Arts Can Transform a Small Town
Rosebud, AB is tiny (fewer than 100 citizens) but mighty — at least when it comes to using the arts as an effective means of economic transformation. Every year upwards of 40,000 patrons flock to Rosebud, to eat a fabulous meal and enjoy fully professional theatre, in the middle of “prairie nowhere”! The Rosebud story…
Read MoreLocal Manufacturing Big in Rural America
Local manufacturing matters in rural America, employing more than 3.5 million workers. As rural America’s second largest sector, manufacturing employs 14% of rural civilian employees and produces 15% of total rural US earnings – that exceeds the retail sector, and is more than double agriculture’s presence in the US rural economy. After an era of…
Read MoreCooperation At the Heart of One Small Community’s Success
Community — pulling together collectively to affect real change — is often the key in small town turn-arounds. In this informative article written by Spotify’s Dayna Winter, we’re introduced to Almonte, Ontario, a town of 5,000 that has managed to revitalize itself through developing a collaborative consensus around development. Small towns exist in snow…
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