News

Kim Davids Mandar is a first year student in the Capacity Development and Extension graduate studies program. In her local community development work, she met and collaborated with PhD Rural Studies Candidate, Valencia Gaspard, to form the Rickson Ridge Neighbourhood Group in their local neighbourhood. This affiliated arm of the Guelph Neighbourhood Support Coalition required increased engagement and communication, so Kim and her partner Howie set about publishing a Best Version Media magazine.

I am currently enrolled in the Capacity Development and Extension program in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph.  As part of my master’s thesis project I had the opportunity to travel to Lusaka, Zambia this past fall to conduct field research on the role of trust and gender in mobile money adoption.

RPD students in the Advanced Planning Practice class visited the Muskoka District from February 27 to March 1. They met with planners from the District and local planners in Gravenhurst and Port Carling (Township of Muskoka Lakes). They also attended an LPAT hearing over a contested severance application.  They met with planning consultants concerning an area development and went out to dinner with RPD alumni.  Of course, there was also a site visit to Sawdust Brewery to study the positive impacts of development on downtown Gravenhurst!

Dr. Ryan Gibson and Ashleigh Weeden (PhD student, School of Environmental Design & Rural Development) hosted a workshop at the Ontario Good Roads Association’s 2019 Conference in Toronto on February 26, 2019 to launch the “Building the Future: Rural Infrastructure & Regional Economic Development” research initiative.

Prof. Nadia Amoroso’s publication on visual communication in landscape architecture was recently published by Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group). Representing Landscapes: Analogue is the latest book of the Representing Landscapes Series. This publication focuses on hand graphics and the analogue medium.

Communities across rural Ontario are exploring new strategies for economic development opportunities. In partnership with the Ontario Good Roads Association, rural planning and development students in the economic development course discussed the future of rural economic development with over 150 municipal leaders from across Ontario.

A new research initiative aimed at investigating the influence of rural communities’ capacity to respond to infrastructure challenges on their immediate and long-term economic development potential is underway. Dr. Ryan Gibson is the lead investigator of the project, which includes researchers and policy experts from across Canada, including University of Guelph Rural Studies PhD student Ashleigh Weeden.

On January 14, 2019, the federal government announced a new Minister of Rural Economic Development. Dr. Ryan Gibson was recently interviewed by the Manitoba Co-operator newspaper for reaction to the new announcement and the implications for rural Canada. You can read the news article: “Rural Canada has a new voice, say rural advocates”.

As part of a weekly Radio Canada spotlight on research in Ontario, Dr Nic Brunet talks about his career path and new and emerging aspects of his research program in remote communities in Canada and Ontario.

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.