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.

Funded through the research partnership program between the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the University of Guelph, the Building the Future [1] research project aims to provide three key benefits to rural Ontario communities:

• Enhanced understanding of the diversity and varying levels of rural community capacities to address and manage infrastructure;
• Improved and more responsive public policy that supports the needs and goals of rural communities in Ontario; and
• Enhanced rural infrastructure development programming that responds to the needs and goals of rural communities in Ontario

The Building the Future research initiative was highlighted in the Conference Issue of the Ontario Good Roads Association’s (OGRA) Milestones magazine and Dr. Gibson and Ms. Weeden will host a workshop on the project with rural leaders at the OGRA Conference in Toronto on February 26, 2019.

You can read the article starting on page 34 of the Conference Issue of Milestones [2].  To learn more vist the "Building the Future:  Rural Infrastructure" project web page [3].