Rural Routes

In this episode, I talk to Dale Jarvis, intangible cultural heritage officer for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and research associate at the Folklore Department at Memorial University, and Natalie Dignam, a researcher and a broadcaster based in St. John's. We talked about intangible culture heritage along Baccalieu Trail in Newfoundland and how it can create tourism opportunities for the region. We also talked about community radio, Newfoundland ponies, traditional skills, and why we need to start paying attention to local knowledge. The Harris Centre: https://www.mun.ca/harriscentre/ Baccalieu Trail podcast episodes: http://www.ichblog.ca/search?q=episode+is+part+of+a+special+series+about+the+Baccalieu+Trail+region+

Geography matters. And when it comes to pandemics such as this COVID-19 one that we find ourselves in the middle of, how we respond to pandemics is very much influenced by geography. That curiosity about geographically distinct responses to COVID-19 pandemic is very much behind two research projects we are going to talk about today. The first one was initiated by The Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation. It looked at rural responses to the pandemic in Canada. The second project was initiated at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and it looked at how small islands around the world responded to COVID19 pandemic. The guests today in order of appearance are: Dr. Sarah Minnes, the current President of the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Conservation of Change Lab at the University of Guelph. Dr. Sean Markey is a professor and certified planner with the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Ashleigh Weeden is a PhD candidate in the School of Environmental Design & Rural Development at the University of Guelph. Dr. Francesco Sindico is the Co-Director of the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. He leads the project on island responses to Covid-19 with data from islands in 36 countries around the world. http://crrf.ca/covid19/ https://www.strath.ac.uk/research/strathclydecentreenvironmentallawgovernance/ourwork/research/labsincubators/eilean/islandsandcovid-19/

This episode of Rural Routes features Dr. Kathleen Kevany from the Faculty of Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Truro, Nova Scotia. She is the director of the Rural Research Collaborative and a licensed psychotherapist who studies community development, community well-being and social change. We reached out to Dr. Kevany in the aftermath of a mass shooting in rural Nova Scotia to help us understand the impacts such traumatic events have on rural regions and communities and what we can do to help us get through such difficult events. Dr. Kevany also shared some of the resources available to rural communities and especially those affected by the recent events. **Victim Services** Serving: East Hants, Colchester, Cumberland, Pictou & Antigonish Counties 290 West River Road P.O. Box 430 Pictou, Nova Scotia B0K 1H0 Phone: 902-485-3580 Toll Free: 1-800-565-7912 https://novascotia.ca/just/victim_Services/contact.asp **Mental Health Services** Cumberland Mental Health Services Address: 33 Havelock St, Amherst, NS B4H 4W1 Hours: Open 24 hours Phone: (902) 667-3879 **Counselling Services** Therapists can be found within the community or accessed from across the country. Tele-services and e-counselling are now (during Covid19 pandemic) the mode for delivery. Find a Counsellor https://www.ccpa-accp.ca/find-a-canadian-certified-counsellor/ Contact the Nova Scotia Chapter https://www.ccpa-accp.ca/chapters/nova-scotia/ -------- **Dr. Kathleen Kevany faculty profile** https://www.dal.ca/faculty/agriculture/business-and-social-sciences/faculty-staff/our-faculty/kathleen-kevany.html

This episode features a panel discussion on the future of rural work recorded at the 2019 Canadian Rural Revitalization foundation and North Atlantic Forum Conference in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Bill Reimer, Brian Dabson, and Zita Cobb made for a stellar opening panel of the 2019 Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation conference this past October in St. John's at Memorial University's Signal Hill Campus. They dived deep into the issues of rural-urban interaction and possibilities of a healthier and more respectful relationship.

A growing population, opportunities in a variety of industries and sectors, focus on experience and food, and a drive to find new and better ways of doing just about anything? If you think this describes a trendy metropolis, think again. Rural Ireland is creating a range of innovative rural development strategies that bring together residents, industry, civil sector and academic institutions on projects that range from implementation of broadband internet access, to agro-tourism, to intellectual capital vouchers. In this episode of Rural Routes you'll hear from Dr. Felicity Kelliher at the Waterford Institute of Technology on rural innovation in Ireland. The Rural Routes team at the Harris Centre also needs your help. We are conducting an evaluation of the show and we would very much appreciate if you could fill out the survey at the link below. It will help us understand how we can make Rural Routes better. Survey link: https://mun.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5jMMYzRSnQoYNtr Dr. Felicity Kelliher profile page: https://www.wit.ie/about_wit/contact_us/staff_directory/felicity_kelliher The Harris Centre: https://www.mun.ca/harriscentre/ Rural Policy Learning Commons: http://rplc-capr.ca Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation: http://crrf.ca

Social enterprises are increasingly a tool in the community development toolbox. In November 2018, Drs. Natalie Slawinski and Blair Winsor from the Faculty of Business Administration at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Harris Centre organized a workshop and a public forum on Fogo Island to present the final results of a research project on the role of social enterprises in community development. Using the excerpts from that event and the conversation in the studio with Dr. John Schouten, Canada Research Chair in Social Enterprise, and Kimberly Orren, director of Fishing for Success, this episode is your primer on the role social enterprises could play in rural development. Resources: Memorial Presents: Social Enterprise for Community Economic Development [VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uGaYRX7Dfo Fishing for success: https://www.islandrooms.org/about.html Shorefast Foundation: https://shorefast.org Centre for Social Enterprise: https://www.mun.ca/socialenterprise/ Natalie Slawinski: https://www.business.mun.ca/our-people/faculty-instructors/natalie-slawinski.php Blair Winsor: https://www.business.mun.ca/our-people/faculty-instructors/blair-winsor.php John Schouten: https://www.business.mun.ca/our-people/faculty-instructors/john-schouten.php

Media industry is in trouble. For a long time now it has been shedding jobs and converging into ever larger corporate entities where profits outweigh any residual sense of responsibility to small communities for whom a local paper is often a necessity. Are there solutions? In this episode we will bring you interviews with journalists working a community owned paper in Blyth, Ontario and a co-op station in Nelson, BC as well as a conversation with two researchers from the Caribbean islands of Curaçao and Aruba studying journalism practices in small island settings. The Citizen (http://www.northhuron.on.ca/the-citizen) Kootenay Co-op Radio (https://www.kootenaycoopradio.com) The National Campus and Community Radio Association (http://www.ncra.ca) University of Aruba (http://www.ua.aw) RE-Quest Research and Consultancy (https://www.requestcaribbean.com)

Islands are often perceived as being at a disadvantage compared to their mainland counterparts. And sure, there are some tough issues that are at least somewhat unique to islands. However, there is also plenty of evidence of the potential for unique successes, partially because island geographies necessitate doing things a little differently. Universities located on islands tend to have a different relationship with their communities, often working together to find new, appropriate ways of approaching those old island challenges. For this episode of Rural Routes we bring you a conversation between scholars and administrators at the University of Corsica, the University of Prince Edward Island, the University of La Laguna on Canary Islands, the University of Highlands and Islands from Scotland and Memorial University of Newfoundland. We talked about the role of universities in predominantly rural island environments and the innovative ways in which they connect to the islands and islanders they serve. University of Prince Edward Island: https://www.upei.ca Memorial University of Newfoundland: https://www.mun.ca University of Corsica: https://www.universita.corsica/en/ University of Highlands and Islands: https://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/ University of La Laguna: https://www.ull.es/en/

Everybody knows the old story of the Country Mouse and the City Mouse. In this episode of Rural Routes, Dr. David Freshwater of University of Kentucky and Dr. Kevin Morgan from the University of Wales suggest we better develop some new ways of understanding the differences, and dependencies, between rural and urban populations. In the age of globalization, climate change, and just-in-time deliveries, what do rural and urban need, want, and expect from each other? Our guests both have incredible knowledge and experience, and you might even laugh a couple of times too. David Freshwater profile: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/AgriculturalEconomics/freshwater_david.php Kevin Morgan profile: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/35240-morgan-kevin The Harris Centre at Memorial University of Newfoundland: https://www.mun.ca/harriscentre/ Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation: http://crrf.ca Rural Policy Learning Commons: http://rplc-capr.ca

Developing rural tourism is a complicated process fraught with pitfalls, but, when done right, it provides economic and social benefits to rural communities. In this episode we talk to researchers and practitioners about tourism development in Newfoundland and Labrador, Scotland, Denmark, Alberta, and BC. And, if you speak Klingon, you’re in luck- this rural tourism episode includes a trip to Vulcan! So, come with us where no episode has gone before.

In Atlantic Canada, long-distance commuting for work is a daily reality for many families, particularly those living in rural areas. Families can be separated for weeks, months, or sometimes even years, with loved ones working away and their families keeping life moving along at home. Atlantic Canadian families living with long-distance commutes tend to face many of the same challenges. Many have developed formal and informal ways of dealing with the, often invisible, pressures of separation. In this episode of Rural Routes, we speak to community leaders, researchers, and people with lived experience about how long-distance commuting can affect families, about the networks and supports that those people are building and about ways these families and those who serve them might benefit from more support. This episode of Rural Routes is based on interviews with researchers, mobile workers and their family members done at the Families, Work and Mobility Symposium in Prince Edward Island. The symposium happened because so many people lead organizer Christina Murray spoke with during her research told her, “I wish there was an opportunity for people to come together to talk about this issue and how it impacts me, my family and my community.”

Being doctor in a rural community has unique challenges; from knowing too much about your friends and neighbours, to being the first line of defense in difficult life or death situations, it can be hard to find someone who really understands. This time on Rural Routes, we listen in on a group of four women, each practising in, or with experience in, rural Ontario communities, whose informal support network has become a crucial line of support, both in terms of their work and their lives. Join us as they laugh about their experiences, share their most challenging experiences, and explain why, despite the distance between them and their busy schedules, they make time to connect.

The legalization of marijuana could potentially provide significant benefits to rural communities. With the July deadline for legalization coming closer, we talked to potential growers in BC and Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as a policy analyst in Nova Scotia to help us understand what the legalization of cannabis might mean for rural Canada.

When it comes to Canadian identity, the popular imagination summons forests, wildlife, and untouched nature that goes on forever. In some ways, our national parks reflect that idyllic picture; however, in other ways, they are complex, complicated, and contested. Join us for the first in a two-part look at how our national parks are created, who determines what we do with our natural spaces, and the impact that parks have on the people who live in and around them. We’ll chat with Dr. Philip Vannini, Dr. Alistair Bath, Dr. John Calder and Colleen Kennedy.

We take a deep dive into rural fashion industry. We discuss small manufacturing, the cultural significance of the fashion industry designs and products and how a pair of shoes or a hat can help us bridge the rural-urban and North-South divides. Our guests are Liz Cohoe and Tracy Fillion from Nelson, BC and Nicole Camphaug from Iqaluit, Nunavut.

The opioid crisis impacts hundreds of thousands of lives across North America and rural areas are increasingly at risk. To investigate the impacts of opioids in rural contexts, we’re presenting a special two-episode edition of Rural Routes, featuring stories from both individuals and institutions with experience on the frontlines of the rural opioid crisis. These difficult and sometimes inspiring stories address important questions about the fight against opioid addiction; are rural communities disproportionately affected? How are individuals and institutions working, or not working, to help communities heal? Is enough being done? In this last part of our look at the opioid crisis you will hear from Michele Specht and Jodi Salvo from Ohio, Dr. Tara Gomes from Toronto, Mae Katt from Thunder Bay, and Justice Peter Wright from Perth, Ontario.

S2E10-The Opioid Crisis in Rural Canada Pt. 1 The opioid crisis impacts hundreds of thousands of lives across North America and rural areas are increasingly at risk. To investigate the impacts of opioids in rural contexts, we're presenting a special two-episode edition of Rural Routes, featuring stories from both individuals and institutions with experience on the frontlines of the rural opioid crisis. These difficult and sometimes inspiring stories address important questions about the fight against opioid addiction; are rural communities disproportionately affected? How are individuals and institutions working, or not working, to help communities heal? Is enough being done? In this we hear stories of personal challenge and determination from Stephen Miller, a recovering user and vivid storyteller, and Susan Boone and Brian Reese, whose personal experiences led them to organize a community-based harm reduction program on a small island off the coast of Newfoundland.

While the numbers of farms in North America are decreasing every year, virtual farms are thriving. What does the bounty of farming related computer, video and mobile games say about the urban-rural divide? Are they just dumb time wasters, or could they actually be used to help create both knowledge and understanding? Join us for a (slightly goofy) chat about virtual pigs and cows, and the millions of people playing them. Our guests include video game researcher and film and media studies professor Dr. Alenda Chang of University of California, Santa Barbara and gamer Andrew Cohoe. We’ll also ask Jane Tucker, originally of Southern Ontario, but now living in St. Philips, Newfoundland and Labrador, what puts her town on the map.

Santa doesn’t have to go far to reach the children of Pangnirtung, Nunavut. For this very special holiday episode, we chat with A.J., Jasmine, Sheila, Steven, Rhoda, Tasha, Sipula, Myra, and Phoebe along with their teacher, Jonny Lush, from their school in the small community on Baffin Island. From their favourite holiday traditions, to the most popular bands in Pang (as the locals call it), join us as they answer our questions, share their talents, and open our eyes to the things they love about where they live. Jonny also shares his experiences as a teacher raised in the South but living and working in the North.

Could anything be more Canadian than curling? In many rural communities, the rink is about way more than the sport itself. Sense of belonging, volunteerism, and wellness all thrive on the ice, but how are changing demographics in rural places affecting these local institutions? Join us for a conversation about curling, community, and Canada. Our guests include Olympic gold medalist, Jamie Korab, Norm and Betty Ryder from the Norwich District Curling Club in Norwich Ontario, Gerry Geurts of curlingzone.com, and Dr. Heather Mair of the University of Waterloo. Hurry hard!

Forests are a part of Canadian identity, and are the basis of an industry that supports thousands across the country (and has for centuries.) While forestry’s past played a significant role in the development of many rural places, major shifts, including some as a result of climate change, are shaping a future that might look quite different from what we’re used to. Join us for a discussion of the future of forestry. You’ll hear voices (and sounds) from the Harrop-Proctor Community Forest, Greg Lay, a life-long forester, Dr. Sarah Breen, a researcher at Selkirk College in Castlegar, BC, and Dr. Philomena of the University of the Highlands and Islands in Inverness.

Access to broadband internet in rural Canada is spotty at best. However, much depends on it. From emergency communications, to economic development projects, to social cohesion, internet in rural areas can open up a myriad of opportunities. In this episode, we explore everything from the history of broadband in rural Canada, to current situation, to community-based efforts to provide broadband access. You will hear from Greg Lay, former mayor of Kaslo in BC, Bob Annis, former director of the Rural Development Institute at Brandon University in Manitoba, Wayne Kelly a researcher currently working at the RDI, Meghan Wrathall, a student at Brandon University, and Dr. Christopher Horsetief from BC who shares a personal story about the importance of broadband internet access in a rural emergency.

What happens when researchers and communities work together to solve problems? It turns out that both come out of the process changed. This episode features Sarah Minnes, a doctoral student at Grenfell Campus of Memorial University of Newfoundland, and Craig Pollett, CEO of Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador. They reflect on a community-university collaboration they were both a part of.

A third of the food we produce on this planet ends up as food waste. In this episode of Rural Routes we talked to Dr. Matteo Vittuari from University of Bologna about the complex problems and issues surrounding food waste. We touched on every aspect of food waste from production to the family dinner table. We also introduced a new segment on Rural Routes that gives a chance to our listeners to share some of their favourite rural spots with the rest of us.

In this episode we dive deep into an issue Indigenous communities and researchers around the world are working together to solve. How do we conduct research so that it benefits communities, respects researches' freedom of inquiry, and all of that in ways that everybody can agree on? Our guide through the tangly issues of research ethics in Indigenous and rural and remote communities is Julie Bull. She was one of the researchers developing new research guidelines with and for NunatuKavut communities in southern and central Labrador.

A Canadian farmer is on average 55 years old. Not these farmers. Rural Routes hosts Rebecca Cohoe and Bojan Fürst bring you the stories of four young women who run farms in Prince Edward Island, Southwestern Ontario, and near Bologna, Italy. Mary-Ellen Godfrey, Lisa Paganelli, Lindsay Menich, and Katrina McQuail share their experiences of going back to the farm and finding ways to operate their farm businesses in their own way.

This is a quick promo to let you know what is going to happen in Season 2 of Rural Routes - your favourite podcast about all things rural. We have a new co-host, a new partner and a whole bunch of new stories.

Wendy Keats is the executive director of the Co-operative Enterprise Council of New Brunswick. We talked about the ground level view of co-ops and social enterprises in rural areas and the need for good legislative support to help them grow and prosper.

In Canada, we recognize 14 social and economic factors that influence human health. These social determinants of health range from income and education, to housing, to gender and race. Lars Hallström thinks we could add living rural to that list. This episode of Rural Routes is the first one in which we tackle health and well being in rural areas.

"Canada is a land of immigrants" is a phrase we hear often. And while that is certainly true in many ways, immigration is a complex issue we don't spend nearly as much time talking about as we should. Michael Haan is Canada Research Chair in Immigration and Ethnic Relations at Western University in London, Ontario, and he spends a lot of time thinking about immigration in Canada, especially rural Canada. I had an opportunity to talk to Dr. Haan last fall. This is a part of that conversation.

Ryan Gibson comes back on Rural Routes to tell us how a group of Alaskan researchers is trying to solve housing issues in rural and remote regions of America’s most northern states. They also tell us about their connections to Canada and we learn about honey buckets. And they are definitely not what their name would imply .

This week my guest on Rural Routes is Dr. Catherine Mah, a researcher at Memorial University’s Faculty of Medicine in the Division of Community Health. Dr. Mah is interested in understanding food policy and food environments and their impacts on our health. Much of her research happens in rural areas. So come grocery shopping with us.

The Episode 10 features a conversation with Newfoundland writer Micheal Crummey. He has written extensively about rural and rural cultural experiences particularly in Newfoundland. His recent novel Sweetland stands out as one of the few Canadian novels about a contemporary rural that is very much recognizable as such. In this episode, Michael Crummy reflects on growing up in rural mining towns and why writing honestly about contemporary rural goes against human nature.

This week we talk about rural libraries. With the provincial government in Newfoundland and Labrador announcing funding cuts to 54 rural libraries, this is an emotional conversation in the province. While I make this show here in NL, I was interested in finding out how other jurisdictions run rural library services. In this episode you will hear voices from Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut, and British Columbia.

This week on Rural Routes my guest is Pam Hall, an artist and a scholar who dedicated much of her artistic practices to rural ways of living. Her latest project is called Towards an Encyclopedia of Local Knowledge. This collaborative project is at the same time a celebration, but also a warning that local, place specific, knowledge is something we need to start paying attention to.

This week’s episode takes us to Canada’s Northwest Territories. Arn Keeling and John Sandlos, a geographer and an historian at Memorial University of Newfoundland study the mining legacy in Canada’s North. They will walk us through complex issues facing Aboriginal and Indigenous communities and settler communities alike who find themselves in close proximity to mining sites. Arn and John will introduce us to Giant Mine near Yellowknife on the shores of Great Slave Lake and tell us a story that, while disturbing given the magnitude of the issues surrounding Giant Mine, offers a hope of reconciliation and healing.

This episode of Rural Routes takes us to the other side of the Atlantic. Philomena de Lima is a researcher at the University of Highlands and Islands. She is located at the university’s Inverness campus. Philomena’s research is focused on the issues of immigration in rural areas. She is interested in immigrant and migrant workers experiences, but, just as importantly, she is also keen to explore impacts of immigration and migrant labour on host communities.

This week on Rural Routes you can hear a conversation with Dr. Ryan Gibson, a geographer from St. Mary’s University in Halifax. One of the questions Ryan is interested in is: “What if rural Canada did not need any more money from anybody in order to have a sustainable future?” He thinks he just might have an answer.

This week on Rural Routes, my guest is Bill Reimer. You can think of him as one of the wise on the Grand Rural Council if such a thing existed. Our conversation ranged across decades of Dr. Reimer’s quest for finding better and smarter ways of thinking about and working with rural regions.

This week on Rural Routes I spoke with Michelle Porter, doctoral student in the Department of Geography at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s. Michelle’s interested in women’s narratives of home and the reasons behind their decision to make home in rural Newfoundland. What she found out, made her rethink what home is, as well as what kind of rural development we need to support parents and children who call the rural home. Enjoy the show.

Dr. Ivan Emke says it's time to take care of the rural soul of Canada. Ivan is a rural scholar at Memorial University of Newfoundland based at the university's Corner Brook campus on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland. We talked about agriculture, rural stereotypes, the unsustainable nature of urban environments and the fact that neither of us could tell how long a group of academics could survive on their own. Enjoy the show.

What is the future of rural Canada? Ryan Gibson and Sean Markey are researchers and two of many authors who recently produced the State of Rural Canada report. The report is the first comprehensive look at rural Canada capturing the current issues for every province and territory as well as the country as a whole. It’s a base from which to start appreciating a rural Canada that is complex and dynamic, but neglected and misunderstood.

Meet Dr. Ivan Emke from Memorial University of Newfoundland.s Grenfell Campus and listen to a short excerpt from our conversation about place making, role of communications tools, radio and social media in turning rural outports into globally connected netports.

Meet Dr. Ryan Gibson, from Saint Mary's University in Halifax. This is a quick preview to what is to come in full blown episodes.

Today we are going to test my ability to ask you to support this show. And I am going to tell you right now, I am not a natural fundraiser. This is hard for me to do.

A super short mini episode in preparation for launch of Rural Routes Podcasts - A show that asks what is rural in 21st century. A writer once said that writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. This is going to be a little bit like that. Except, we are on a country road, it’s night, and it’s foggy, and there is a blizzard with no snowplow in sight, and I still have all-season tires on.