News related to Rural Planning and Development

Thanks to donations from the Libro Credit Union and OAC alumni George and Lorna Roberts and George and Geri Klosler a total of one million dollars has been raised in support of the Libro Professorship in Regional Economic Development for Southwestern Ontario. The School of Environmental Design and Rural Development looks forward to embarking upon a search to fill this position.

Professors Al Lauzon, Wayne Caldwell and David Douglas of the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development,contribute to the State of Rural Canada 2015 report which was produced by the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation (CRRF) and the Rural Policy Learning Commons, an international network funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. 

Rural communities are experiencing a drastic shift in their populations as more and more people choose to move to urban areas in search of employment. This shift presents significant challenges to the survival of those rural communities.  Without jobs and people, rural communities face challenges of survival with decreasing tax dollars, income generation for local businesses and enrolment in local schools.

Prof. Wayne Caldwell, chair of the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, recently presented at the Municipal Association of Victoria Rural and Regional Planning Conference 2015. He presented remotely via webcam as the conference was held in Australia by the MVA.

Our students and professors are featured in the July/August 2015 issue of the Ontario Planning Journal published by the Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI), including on the front cover.

Prof. John Devlin and students Anissa McAlpine and David Scott all have articles published in the issue, which was the fifth annual Planning School Edition.

Professor Wayne Caldwell's research project to transfer knowledge to create healthy rural communities received funding from the Knowledge Translation and Transfer research program.

Graduate Students Hosted 2nd Annual SEDRD Conference

As a unique interdisciplinary department at the University of Guelph, the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD) brings together rural studies, landscape architecture, planning, and capacity development to look at rural development from various angles. Last year, the SEDRD annual conference served as a forum for student researchers from the four above-mentioned programs to present research, foster connections, and exchange ideas. The success of last year’s conference was repeated and topped this year.

Evaluation is a calling that requires strong analytical, problem-solving, research, and communication skills. Dr. Harry Cummings, Professor in the School of Environment Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph, has an established reputation for his evaluation work. Transcending national boundaries, Dr. Cummings works with non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and the public sector across Canada and internationally to help monitor and evaluate the efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability of projects and programs.