The sixth annual Rural Romp is here, with the theme of ‘Rural Heritage’! Hosted by the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD) at the University of Guelph, this two-part panel event will explore rural heritage conservation strategies, challenges, career pathways and research inspirations from near and far. 

The panel session takes place on March 5th, 10 am – 11:30 am and features industry professionals who have worked or researched in the international capacity. International session panelists include Dr. Tokie Laotan-Brown, heritage architect and cultural economist at Merging Ecologies, and representing ICOMOS IFLA Nigeria and Ireland, who will present from an economist and African perspective; Dr. Mario Santana Quintero, professor at Carleton University, director of NSERC Create Heritage Engineering and Secretary General at ICOMOS Canada, who will present rural heritage projects he has been part of in Peru, Oman, Morocco and Spain; Dr. Timmi Tillmann, coordinator at International Terraced Landscapes Alliance (ITLA) and participatory research trainer will speak about terraced landscapes around the world; Dr. Tony Fuller, (retired) professor from SEDRD, will present research projects he supervised related to Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in China. 

The first panel discussion on Canadian rural heritage takes place on March 4 from 4:30 - 6:30 pm EST. 

Everyone is welcome to join the 6th Rural Romp. Registration [1] is free, but required. If you have any questions about the upcoming event do not hesitate to contact Sampoorna Bhattacharya [2].