Announcement: Rural Policy Learning Commons Launched

Source: Rural Development Institute, Brandon U. The 7-year partnership entitled the Rural Policy Learning Commons was officially launched August 27th. by the Honourable Ed Holder at Brandon University. The funds will provide infrastructure for the 30 founding institutions and 60 initial participants to create an international partnership of those supporting rural, remote, and northern research and learning. Details regarding the project can be found via http://rplc-capr.ca

The project will support exchanges, institutes, conferences, workshops, a digital information hub, publications, social media, and international comparative collaboration regarding rural policy and issues. The initial four themes of the partnership are Human Capital and Migration, Natural Resource Development, Governance, and Infrastructure and Services. These themes will change and develop over the 7 years of the project as the analysis proceeds, new partners become involved, and new issues arise.

We welcome inquiries, suggestions, and new partners. Keep an eye on our website and let us know when you sees something interesting.

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Reports/Rapports : Determining Needs of Southern Alberta Rural Communities for Improved Sexual Assault Services

Source: Mount Royal University.
Funded by the Alberta Rural Development Network, this project sought to identify educational and resource needs of professionals in rural and Aboriginal communities that would assist them in either keeping female sexual assault victims in their communities and providing care, or to be able to better assist these women when they return to their communities.

If comprehensive, sensitive services are not provided after a sexual assault, women face exceptionally high risks of mental illness, substance abuse, job losses and chronic health problems, and resulting high health care utilization.

Researchers administered an online survey and performed three focus group interviews at a medium-sized and a small rural hospital and at an Aboriginal health centre.

Link to plain language summary

Link to report.

WWW: www.ardn.ca

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Books/Livres : Social Work in Rural Australia

Source: Allen & Unwin.
Social work practice in a country town or small remote community several hours' drive from the nearest centre is very different from practice in the city. Social Work in Rural Australia offers an introduction to the challenges and rewards of professional practice in rural and remote areas.

The authors explore the practical implications for social workers in non-urban regions, including teamwork with professionals from other fields, working with various sub-groups in communities and across distance with other social work colleagues, the diversity of rural livelihoods and lifestyles, and increasingly pressing environmental issues. Social work theories and case studies demonstrate how enabling practice can promote clients' and communities' ability to deal with some of the challenges of housing, youth unemployment, child protection, ageing, mental health, disability and the obstacles faced by Indigenous, migrant and refugee populations, in specific geographical settings.

Jane Maidment and Uschi Bay (Ed.) (2012) Social Work in Rural Australia, Enabling practice. Allen & Unwin.

More about this book.

WWW: www.allenandunwin.com

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Reports/Rapports : Benchmarking the Creative Economy in Rural Ontario

Source: Martin Prosperity Institute.
"In the emerging economy of the 21st century, rural communities and peripheral regions across Ontario face significant challenges in encouraging continued economic growth and regional prosperity. With the ongoing reduction in the relative importance of manufacturing, and the restructuring of the agricultural industry, many rural communities have turned to tourism as a way to promote job creation and respond to declining social and economic conditions."

"The challenges rural communities face have only become further augmented by the ever expanding emphasis on knowledge-based industries and on larger metropolitan centres in the emerging service-driven economy. Indeed, communities and cities across Ontario are increasingly seeking new and innovative ways to bolster and strengthen their economies in the Creative Age. Although some communities have experienced success in using tourism to promote prosperity, they are seldom able to regain the same level of success, economic diversity and self-sustaining momentum they once experienced.

However, opportunities exist for rural communities to regain momentum and stimulate their regional economies by pursuing their own distinct strategies in the emerging Creative Economy."

Read full report.

WWW: www.martinprosperity.org

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Studies/Études : Maintaining Professional Identity in Rural Social Work Practice

Source: Journal of Comparative Social Work.
"Working in a rural community locates the professional in a wider social network as community members often expect more from their professionals; not only as service providers, but also as engaged members of the community."

"This can result in the rural social worker being highly visible both personally and professionally and it can also lead to overlapping relationships. These higher expectations can place stress on the worker in terms of maintaining accepted professional roles and a sense of professional identity. This qualitative study explores the first-hand experiences of a cross-section of service providers in more than a dozen communities within northwestern Ontario and northern Manitoba,
Canada.

Keith Brownlee, Glenn Halverson and Ahlea Chassie(2012). Multiple Relationships: Maintaining Professional Identity in Rural Social Work Practice. Journal of Comparative Social Work 2012/1

WWW: www.jcsw.no

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Studies/Études : Patterns of health services utilization in rural Canada / L’utilisation des services de santé dans les régions rurales du Canada

Le texte en français suit l’anglais.
Source: Public Health Agency of Canada/Agence de la santé publique du Canada.
"Canadians value ease of access to their health services. Although many studies
have focused on accessibility to health services in Canada, few have examined
rural-urban differences in this aspect, particularly from a national perspective."

This publication is a descriptive analysis of the utilization patterns of a broad range of health services by rural residents compared to their urban counterparts.

R.W. Pong, M. DesMeules, D. Heng, C. Lagacé, J.R. Guernsey, A. Kazanjian, D. Manuel, J.R. Pitblado, R. Bollman, I. Koren, M.P. Dressler, F. Wang, W. Luo (2011). Patterns of health services utilization in rural Canada. Chronic Diseases and Injuries in Canada. Volume 31, Supplement 1, Fall 2011.

Read study.

WWW: www.phac-aspc.gc.ca
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"Les Canadiens ont à cœur la facilité d’accès aux services de santé. Bien que de nombreuses études aient porté sur l’accessibilité des soins de santé au Canada, très peu d’entre elles l’ont examinée sous l’angle des différences entre les régions urbaines et rurales, particulièrement dans une perspective à échelle nationale."

Le présent document est une analyse descriptive et comparative de l’utilisation d’un grand nombre de services de santé par les populations rurales et urbaines.

R.W. Pong, M. DesMeules, D. Heng, C. Lagacé, J.R. Guernsey, A. Kazanjian, D. Manuel, J.R. Pitblado, R. Bollman, I. Koren, M.P. Dressler, F. Wang, W. Luo (2011). L’utilisation des services de santé dans les régions rurales du Canada. Maladies chroniques au Canada. Volume 31, supplément 1, automne 2011.

Téléchargez cet étude.

WWW: www.phac-aspc.gc.ca

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Studies/Études : Rural Grocery Stores, US

Source: Center for Rural Affairs.
"The local grocery store is an integral institution of rural communities and in rural life. Not only does the local grocery store provide the sustenance of life, it fills the roles of economic driver, community builder, employer and meeting place."

"Unfortunately, many rural communities across the nation are losing local grocery stores, and residents are forced to leave their communities to purchase food, often at great expense due to great distance. This brief examines trends regarding rural grocery stores, reasons why rural communities are losing grocery stores, and some of the personal and community implications when a community lacks a grocery store. Finally, we examine some of the issues and challenges facing rural grocery stores."

Read study: Rural Grocery Stores: Importance and Challenges.

"In this brief we examine some common ownership models used by individuals and communities to address the need for local grocery stores in rural communities, provide examples of such models and analyze how the models address the challenges facing rural grocery stores."

Read study: Rural Grocery Stores: Ownership Models that work for rural communities

WWW: www.cfra.org

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Presentations/Présentations: Rural Wildfire Interviews

Source: The Rural Wildfire Group
These are six interviews with people who experienced the 2003 wildfire in Barriere, BC. They recount the events associated with that period, the challenges they faced, the supports they received, and the process of recovery.

Links to Interviews:
Jill and Bob Hayward
Tina Donald
Al Kirkwood
Rob Rutten
Donna Chivers
Bob Hearn

The interviews provide rich and personal accounts that complement the more general analysis of the research conducted by the Rural Wildfire Group (http://ruralwildfire.ca)

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Call for papers/Appel de communications : Economic Development in Underserved Communities: Where Research and Practice Meet

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
The Community Affairs Department is issuing a call for research papers to be presented at a national conference titled, “Economic Development in Underserved Communities: Where Research and Practice Meet,” to be held September 9 – 10, 2010 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in Kansas City, MO.

This conference seeks to bring together the latest research and practice in economic development in underserved rural and low-and-moderate-income urban communities in an effort to foster thinking on relevant issues and highlight best practices in the application of economic development policy. The conference will explore the groundwork necessary for transitioning rural communities and low-and-moderate income urban communities into the new economy.

The conference is organized into four sessions, each with two break-out sections, one for rural issues and one for urban low-and-moderate-income issues.
Session 1: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Talent – This session addresses issues surrounding efforts to attract, retain, and develop a qualified workforce in underserved communities.

Session 2: The Role of Entrepreneurship and Small Businesses – This session is designed to address impediments to entrepreneurship and small business development in underserved areas.

Session 3: Developing and Maintaining Infrastructure – This session seeks to identify needs for infrastructure and public services in rural areas and urban low-and-moderate income communities and successful approaches for addressing these needs.

Session 4: Innovation and Collaboration in Economic Development – This session will highlight innovative economic development approaches, relationships and communication among economic development stakeholders, policy barriers and policies that promote development in rural and low-and-moderate income urban areas.

Each session will begin with a 40-minute research presentation (including Q & A), followed by a presentation by one or two community development practitioners addressing the issue on the ground.

For a more detailed conference agenda, including potential research questions that could be addressed, please visit the Community Development section of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s web site at http://www.kansascityfed.org.

An enlarged abstract with a maximum of 500 words, written in English, should be sent electronically (in Word or Adobe Acrobat format) to kcecondev@kc.frb.org no later than March 31, 2010. For those with abstracts accepted for the conference, complete papers are due no later than July 15, 2010. Each presenter of a research paper will receive an honorarium of $1,500. Travel expenses for presenters also will be covered.

For any additional questions, please contact Kelly Edmiston, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, at kelly.edmiston@kc.frb.org or (816) 881-2004.

WWW: www.kansascityfed.org

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Event/Événement : Designing services for rural communities, June 2009

Source: OECD
Innovative Service Delivery Workshop Series. Designing services for rural communities: the role of co-design and co-delivery. 11-12 June 2009. OECD countries agree that the scale of the demographic, geographic and fiscal challenges facing our public services requires new thinking and new practices.

Differences between regions, and their populations’ needs and preferences, call for a different mix of public services adapted to regional characteristics. In this context, innovative service delivery could take many forms ranging from the pursuit of new organisational forms and arrangements, including partnerships with other levels of government and other sectors, in order to improve the delivery of programs and services, to the types of services and who delivers. It could enable programs and services that result in: more cost-effective, responsive delivery to citizens; changes in organisational culture and management practices so that the organisation performs more effectively; and the granting of greater authority to managers, thus moving decision making closer to the point of delivery, to the communities served.

The issues facing rural communities are not new. Policymakers have struggled with designing appropriate services and delivery mechanisms for some time. Innovative approaches are needed if we are to move beyond the usual range of options to explore new possibilities and to test them in practice.


Agenda and Information:
www.oecd.org/gov/ruraldevelopment/crcworkshop

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