1 Rural Research in Canada: a personal view Bill Reimer

2 Rural Research in Canada A retrospective view A retrospective view Current issues and opportunities Current issues and opportunities The institutional context of rural research The institutional context of rural research Building rural research for the future Building rural research for the future

3 Pre ARRG/CRRF (1987) Sectoral research (Institutes, Gov’t, Universities) Sectoral research (Institutes, Gov’t, Universities)  Improve efficiency  Expand markets  Examples for political economy Crises and policies Crises and policies  Stabilization (markets, sectors, incomes)  Labour market adjustment  Service provision and access  Regional inequities Academic Academic  Historical economic and political  Community transformation

4 ARRG/CRRF Emergence Research and policies in ‘silos’ Research and policies in ‘silos’ Little collaboration Little collaboration Limited comparison Limited comparison Few comprehensive rural studies Few comprehensive rural studies

5 CRRF Conferences and Workshop Themes (selected) Conferences and Workshop Themes (selected)  Sustainable Rural Communities (1989)  Restructuring (1990)  Stimulating Rural Economies for the 2000s (1991)  Development Strategies: Evaluating Partnerships, Jobs, and Communities (1993)  NAFTA and the New Rural Economy (1996)  Rural Revitalization (1997) Publications: Publications:  Rural and Small Town Canada (1992), Partnerships (1994), Rural Institutions (1997), Rural Employment (1997)

6 NRE Research Contributions Network of researchers Network of researchers Common focus (Rural Observatory) Common focus (Rural Observatory) Structured Comparisons Structured Comparisons Collaboration with citizens and policy-makers Collaboration with citizens and policy-makers Integrated databases Integrated databases Research insights: Structures and dynamics of social relations (services, communications, environment, governance) Research insights: Structures and dynamics of social relations (services, communications, environment, governance)

7 Expansion of Rural Research Health Health Community development Community development Community economic development Community economic development Community networks and action Community networks and action Environment Environment Aboriginal Peoples Aboriginal Peoples Universities, Colleges, Government, NGOs, Private

8 Current Rural Research Issues Community capacities Community capacities Value-added to natural resources Value-added to natural resources Service delivery Service delivery Governance Governance Rural-urban relations Rural-urban relations Knowledge Mobilization Knowledge Mobilization

9 Challenges to Rural Research Competing demands Competing demands ‘Rural’ crosscuts many fields ‘Rural’ crosscuts many fields Little institutional recognition for participatory research Little institutional recognition for participatory research Low institutional tolerance for innovation, risk, failure Low institutional tolerance for innovation, risk, failure Crisis and policy fads make poor research Crisis and policy fads make poor research Limited resources Limited resources

10 Building Research Capacity Bottom-up Bottom-up Diversification Diversification Critical mass Critical mass Co-operation Co-operation Communications Communications Continuous human capital building Continuous human capital building Integrate programs Integrate programs Use social sciences and humanities Use social sciences and humanities Long term vision Long term vision Recognition and Celebrations Recognition and Celebrations

11 Rural Research in Canada: a personal view The Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation nre.concordia.ca /10/12