News

SEDRD Professor Helen Hambly has returned from a recent trip to Lima, Peru in her capacity as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the International Potato Center (CIP).

The Braiding Food Systems (BFS) project, led by Professor Sivia Sarapura-Escobar and seven graduate students in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development  (SEDRD), was implemented in May 2023 with the support of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness (OMAFA) and the UofG Agri-Food Innovation Alliance.  The team have been working with three First Nations communities in Northern Ontario to re-introduce seed systems for enhancing the diversity of the food systems in the communities for food security and food sovereignty.

November 8 is World Town Planning Day! Planners and communities all over the world come together to celebrate how good planning improves the lives of people and benefits society at large, creating places to live, work, and play together. World Town Planning Day serves as a call to action to create inclusive, resilient spaces that meet the diverse needs of present and future generations. World Town Planning Day is celebrated in 30 countries on four continents each November.

The School of Environmental Design and Rural Development renewed its partnership with the Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health on October 30, 2024. The new five year memorandum of understanding continues to promote opportunities for research, evaluation, and knowledge mobilization among students and faculty members in the School and across the university. 

SEDRD graduate students and faculty are well represented in the latest issue of Y Magazine from the Ontario Professional Planners Institute. This issue of Y Magazine contains three contributions from SEDRD graduate students and faculty: 

Researchers, policymakers and practitioners recently gathered in Letterfrack, Ireland for the 2024 North Atlantic Forum. The Forum focused on sustainable livelihoods and sought to engage new ideas in rural development, policy practice, and the social economy. 

On 18 September 2024, five SEDRD graduate students set out to collect information from business owners in Seaforth, Ontario, to better understand the realities of attracting and retaining employees.

Farmland preservation is critical to the future of rural Ontario. The Connecting the Dots initiative is excited to share the first Rural Research Summary—Farmland Preservation and Urban Expansion in Ontario. This summary sheds light on the challenges and strategies associated with balancing farmland preservation amidst growing urban development pressures, providing implications and practical recommendations for policymakers, planners, and community stakeholders.