News

World Town Planning Day is an occasion to celebrate and recognize the importance of planning in our communities. This year, Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI) is hosting a scavenger hunt with all planning schools in Ontario. This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase planning across the province regardless of where you live! The scavenger hunt will take place on Instagram from November 4, 2020 to November 8, 2020 and you need to respond to one of the themes mentioned below.

On October 26, 2020, Postdoctoral Fellow Lissel Hernandez-Gongora participated in the Forest & Livelihoods: Assessment, Research and Engagement (FLARE) Twitter Conference.

Ashleigh Weeden, a PhD candidate in SEDRD’s Rural Studies program, has been invited to share her thoughts as part of a round-table of global leaders as part of the 2020 Connected Conversations World Conversation Relay, in recognition of United Nations Day on October 24, 2020.

Thousands of Syrian Refugees have moved to Ontario and many have settled in small towns across the province.  These individuals have needs related to employment, housing, and a range of services.  In addition, these individuals need to adjust to a new culture and face language challenges.  COVID19 also adds a whole new layer of challenges.  This research by Prof.

A New World-System: From Chaos to Sustainability by Donald G. Reid and published by Routledge, examines the present crisis in the social and ecological environment that is producing profound, potentially catastrophic challenges to the planet and humanity and outlines a process for moving forward to address these critical issues.  This book is a cautionary interpretation of the present and vision for the future.

The COVID19 global pandemic created great uncertainty for employment across Canada and internationally. News reports have noted job losses by different sectors, the unequal distribution of the impacts, and the gradual re-opening of some sectors. Victoria Agyepong (RPD student), Ryan Gibson, and Ray Bollman recently published a report called “Rural Employment and Workforce Development: Impacts and Opportunities“.

2020 Latornell Symposium Student Day

Rural communities have been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Ryan Gibson (Libro Professor of Regional Economic Development) and Lissel Hernandez-Gongora (Postdoctoral Fellow) participated in the Rural Rebound panel discussion organized by the Rural Ontario Institute on September 24, 2020.

Ashleigh Weeden (PhD Candidate in Rural Studies) recently published commentary in The Conversation exploring the way the pandemic is changing where people are choosing to live and work. The article discusses the critical role of engaging rural perspectives when discussing the potential of people moving out of cities and into the countryside.

Rural Studies PhD candidate Ashleigh Weeden recently co-authored an article for The Conversation with Maggie J Whitten Henry and Dr. Laurie Brinklow (both from the University of PEI) on the popularity of television shows like Schitt’s Creek and Letterkenny and why they represent ‘love letters’ to rural Canada.