Webinars : Amenity Based Rural Development - What is it? How does it work? Is it for us?

Source: RuralBC Secretariat and the Local Government Department.
March 31, 2011, 10:00am - 11:30am PST. Where most rural areas are struggling to keep their population base, others appear to be attracting new residents who are motivated by the quality of life in rural areas. Amenity-based rural development (ABRD) has been emerging as a new approach to rural revitalization both internationally and in the Canadian context.

In short, the approach advocates for the identifi cation and use of natural and cultural amenities within a region to attract people, ideas and investment. This infusion of human, intellectual and fi nancial capital is a new economic and social development driver in rural British Columbia. Where former approaches to rural development focused on the extraction and exportation of natural resources from rural areas, ABRD relies on the protection, promotion and valorization of natural and cultural amenities to attract people (and fi nancial resources) into rural areas. New imperatives and opportunities for economic development emerge within the amenity based rural economy.

Speakers will include:
• Dr. Nicole L. Vaugeois, BC Regional Innovation Chair in Tourism and Sustainable Rural Development at Vancouver Island University
• Michael C. McLaughlin, Lead Economist, Rural Futures Associates

Registration / Details.

WWW: www.ruralbc.gov.bc.ca