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. Serving as the Operations Manager of the recovery task force she led efforts to rebuild the community literally from the ground up. Details of her work and the challenges for Fort McMurray are available in the OAC article entitled "Rebuilding Home [1]".
About Us
The School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD) brings together major academic fields concerned with creating strong communities, in Canada and around the world. The four highly respected programs in SEDRD share many common goals but approach them in different and complementary ways. This model reflects the imperatives in building authentic communities where planners, leaders, communicators, landscape architects, the citizens and politicians all play important interdependent roles in community strength.