Profs. Brendan Stewart and Karen Landman are working alongside landscape architecture alumnus Daniel Rotsztain, (MLA 2018), and current landscape architecture students to create simple, yet impactful, "pop up" public gathering spaces. They’ve coined their project “plazaPOPS”, part of Park People's Public Space Incubator funded by Ken and Eti Greenberg and the Balsam Foundation.
On January 15, 2019, the federal government announced the creation of a new minister of rural economic development. Bernadette Jordan, Member of Parliament for South Shore-St Margarets in Nova Scotia, takes on the new minister role. What does it mean for rural Canada? What should the priorities be for moving forward? Dr. Gibson joined eleven CBC Radio station morning programs to discuss the recent announcement, potential strategies for focus, and why urban Canadians should care about a minister of rural economic development.
RPD grad Erin O’Neil was recently profiled by the University of Guelph’s Ontario Agricultural College. Erin, a 2007 graduate of the Rural Planning and Development program played a major leadership role when Fort McMurray, Alberta, was devastated by wildfires that forced more than 80,000 people from their homes in 2016.
The Landscape Architecture Foundation’s Olmsted Scholars Program (named for Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture) recognizes and supports students with exceptional leadership potential who are using ideas, influence, communication, service, and leadership to advance sustainable design and foster human and societal benefits. Now in its eleventh year, the premier national award program recognizes outstanding students in accredited landscape architecture programs in the U.S. and Canada.
On December 5, 2018, Assistant Professor, Ataharul Chowdhury presented “Creating Change and Improving Lives: A Research Portfolio” to the meeting of Knowledge Translation and Transfer team (KTT), Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). He presented projects under three research themes and discussed linkages to various ongoing knowledge translation and transfer initiatives of OMAFRA. The participants commented that there are lots of interests around some of these areas of research.
Second year Capacity Development and Extension MSc candidate, Lavan Kandiah, recently published an article in the Journal of Ethics in Mental Health, regarding refugee mental health practices and treatment. Read the article entitled "Refugee Mental Health - A Review of Literature on Treatment, Practices and Recommendations".
Dr. Ataharul Chowdhury participated as a key resource speaker in an International Roundtable Discussion (RTD). He was invited by the College of Development Communication (CDC), The University of Philippines, Los Banos ̶ a major school of thoughts in the field of Development Communication (DevCom).
Natalya Garrod is a graduate student in the Master’s of Rural Planning and Development, School of Environmental Designa and Rural Development at the University of Guelph. She is exploring how collaborative source water protection planning can act as an avenue for achieving water security on First Nations reserves in southwestern Ontario. Natalya is working under the supervision of Dr. Sheri Longboat (University of Guelph).
Graeme Reed, a SEDRD PhD Student and Senior Advisor with the Assembly of First Nations, is attending COP 24 - United Nations Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland for the next two weeks (December 6-13, 2018).
He is participating as a technical expert as part of the Canadian Delegation, spending equal parts of his time with Canadian negotiators and with the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC), advocating for the inclusion of Indigenous rights, knowledge, and action in the UNFCCC.
In October 2018, MSc in Planning student Emily Bowerman participated in the Unitec Institute of Technology 3min Graduate thesis speech competition presenting her thesis research titled Reflecting Bicultural Water Values in Waterscape Design and Planning.