What Have We Learned: Services Theme Greg Halseth and Laura Ryser NRE Spring Workshop 2006 Taschereau, QC April 2006

Outline Introduction Context Site Profiles –Results overview –Shifting relations –Future research questions Innovative and Voluntary Service Providers –Results overview –Shifting relations –Future research questions Discussion

Context I What we did Site Profiles 2005:24 sites 2003:22 sites 2000:20 sites 1998:25 sites* Education Health Protection Services Legal Services Financial Communication Elderly/childcare Government Community Transportation Recreation Shopping Economic Development Housing

Context II Innovative Services and Voluntary Organizations Mackenzie, BC Wood River, SK Tweed, ON Springhill, NS 2003: 40 organizations 2005: 36 organizations Structure Demographics of organization Clientele Logistical operations Changes to service delivery Networks and relationships Social capital/social cohesion Funding Organizational profile technology

Social Capacity Framework Assets –Economic Capital –Human Skills and Abilities –Social Capital –Natural Resources Processes –Market –Bureaucratic –Associative –Communal Valued Outcomes –Economic prosperity –Social and political inclusion –Environmental stewardship –Social and self-worth –Health –Safety/security –Social cohesion *Outcomes can become new assets and liabilities

Rural Services Greg Halseth Canada Research Chair, Rural and Small Town Studies University of Northern British Columbia

Services and Capacity Services function within each of 4 types of capacity “relations”:  bureaucratic - public sector  market - private sector  associative - voluntary sector  communal - family and kinship Shifting service provision eras has also shifted capacity relation emphasis Shifting service provision eras has also shifted capacity relation emphasis Assessing service changes is part of rural capacity analysis Assessing service changes is part of rural capacity analysis

Rural Services – ‘messages’ Service changes Service changes  Reductions at site level  Still within region  Critical change in scale

Health Services in Sites Service – All Sites% Yes%Yes% Yes Doctors Nurses45.8*33.3 Dentists Optometrists12.5*19.0 Physiotherapy* n= Source: CRRF NRE Site Profiles 1998, 2000, * Information not collected for service that year.

Education Services in Sites Service – All Sites% Yes % Yes % Yes Service – All Sites% Yes % Yes % Yes Pre-school / kindergarten* * 47.6 Pre-school / kindergarten* * 47.6 Elementary school Elementary school High school High school Continuing Education Continuing Education n= n= Source: CRRF NRE Site Profiles 1998, 2000, * Information not collected for service that year.

Availability of services. By type of relations they most closely align with: –35 services under market relations, –72 services under bureaucratic relations (various health services) –16 services under associative relations –12 services under communal relations

Market based services Services available in site, adjacent, or within 30 minutes in All Sites: –Grocery store –Gas station –Liquor store –Campgrounds Services available within 30 minutes in at least half of All sites: Banks ATM machines Insurance offices Real estate office Accounting offices Farmer’s market Second-hand stores Private athletic club Pharmacy Credit unions Micro-financing groups Industrial park Bakery Taxi Automobile Repair Cinema Chamber of Commerce Local bus. dev. corp. Security alarm services Lawyer Notary Inter-community bus station Freight train Curling rink Bowling lanes Golf courses

Market Services Special notes by region – services available within 30 minutes in all sites Western Canada ATM machines Auto repair shops Farmer’s market Curling rink Bakery Campgrounds Gas station Ontario Banks Grocery store Credit unions Farmer’s market ATM machines Liquor store Insurance offices Bakery Industrial parkReal estate officeFarming/fishing/other industrial association Accounting office Auto repair shop Pharmacy Campgrounds Second-hand stores Security alarm services Bowling lanes Private athletic club Inter-comm. bus station Golf courses Chamber of Commerce Curling rink Quebec Credit unions Gas station Insurance offices Campgrounds Farmer’s marketBakery Atlantic Canada Banks Farmer’s market Pharmacy Credit unions Bakery Campgrounds ATM machines Gas station Insurance offices Auto repair shop

Market Services Special notes by region – services available within 30 minutes by less than half of sites Western Canada –Cinema –Private athletic club –Business Development Bank of Canada –Security services –Passenger train Ontario –Business Development Bank of Canada Quebec –Micro-financing groups –Private athletic club Atlantic Canada –Micro-financing groups –Security services –Passenger train –Freight train

Availability of services. Between 2003 and 2005 –Market relations services declined 0.39% –Bureaucratic relations services declined 1.82% –Associative relations services increased 2.54% –Communal relations services increased 1.82% Metro adjacent sites increased/decreased faster Leading sites increased/decreased faster –ie: associative relations increase more evident in leading (8.13%) compared to lagging sites (-0.92%).

Services Profile – Future Research Questions Regional governance models to fit with regional structure of service provision –Also regional ‘community’ and ‘public participation’ models Local patterns of service substitution –‘bottom up’ replacements Continuing metro adjacent/non-adjacent trends and implications for diversifying rural policy approaches

Sustaining Innovative Service Providers & Voluntary Organizations Laura Ryser and Greg Halseth Rural and Small Town Studies University of Northern British Columbia CRRF - Twillingate

How do they sustain themselves? Human resources Human resources Financial resources Financial resources Partnerships Partnerships Communications Communications Sources of information Sources of information

Organizations with paid or compensated leaders / board members less likely to face: Organizations with paid or compensated leaders / board members less likely to face:  Lack of new leadership  Little participation by members  Volunteer burnout Human Resources

Discussion I Challenges with Human Resources Challenges with Human Resources  Lack of members, volunteer burnout, little participation To cope with human resource challenges: To cope with human resource challenges:  Range of recruiting strategies  Some offering paid positions / compensation  Fewer of these organizations concerned with human resource problems

Discussion II Financial resources: Financial resources:  Relying more on revenue from local funding sources  including revenues from services provided, membership fees, and community fundraising  Board of directors important condition to obtain funding

Discussion III Partnerships are increasing Partnerships are increasing  New ways to deliver services  Enhances legitimacy to funding agencies Groups with partnerships received more private and government funding Groups with partnerships received more private and government funding Benefits: Benefits:  Networks, new products & services, and new expertise

Discussion IV Groups with partnerships use a range of communication tools Groups with partnerships use a range of communication tools Key communication tools to build and maintain organizations Key communication tools to build and maintain organizations  Face-to-face contact  Print materials  Internet technology

Discussion V Building Organization Stability Building Organization Stability  Most organizations have a stable structural framework  Staff  Office space  Board of directors  Gender distribution amongst leadership positions and board of directors  Men and women bring difference experiences and networks  Boards of directors were prominent requirements to obtain funding  Organizations utilized many strategies to recruit new members and employees

Discussion VI Developing Relationships, Networks, Knowledge, and Expertise through Information Sources Developing Relationships, Networks, Knowledge, and Expertise through Information Sources  Organizations using a wider range of sources of information  Prominent sources: family and friends, management, general media, the Internet, customers, staff, and federal and provincial government departments  Provides opportunity:  To interact with diverse groups  To develop new relationships  To acquire new knowledge and expertise  Organizations that received funding from government ‘grants’ and ‘programs’ more likely to use a wider range of information sources

Discussion VII Using Communication Tools to Improve Relations Locally and Non-Locally Using Communication Tools to Improve Relations Locally and Non-Locally  Key communication tools: face to face or word of mouth  More organizations are using print materials and Internet technology  Most organizations felt the Internet was becoming an increasingly important tool  To improve access to information  To improve relations locally and non-locally

Process Shift I Shift from communal/associative services to bureaucratic services Surrogate = Board of Directors

Process Shift I ie: Looked at how the organization communicates with its clients In 2005, organizations with BoD used more comm tools Also tended to use most of the range of comm tools But, Between 2003 and 2005, organizations without a BoD increased their use of comm tools faster (average 20.61% increase) than those with BoD (average 2.64% increase).

Process Shift I Sources of Revenue In 2005, organizations with a BoD used a wider range of funding sources Between 2003 and 2005, organizations without a BoD were more likely to reduce their use of a range of funding sources (-9.79%) compared to organizations with a BoD (2.58%). Partnerships In 2005, organizations with a BoD had more local and non-local partnerships Between 2003 and 2005, organizations with a BoD increased partnerships (9.8%) compared to organizations without a BoD (15.65% decrease).

Process Shift I Shift from communal/associative organized services to market organized services –Surrogate = vol to paid leadership Communication with clients In 2005, few differences between organizations with paid vs voluntary leadership in use of the range of comm tools Between 2003 and 2005, voluntary led groups were more likely to increase their use of the range of comm tools (+12.28%) compared to paid leadership groups (-18.17%)

Process Shift I Sources of revenue In 2005, organizations with voluntary leadership used a wider range of revenue sources Between 2003 and 2005, there was little difference in revenue source change between paid leadership (- 9.98%) and voluntary leadership (- 2.74%) groups Partnerships In 2005, organizations with paid leadership were more likely to have local partnerships compared to voluntary leadership groups Between 2003 and 2005, organizations with paid leadership were more likely to increase both local and non-local partnerships (+19.05%) compared to those with voluntary leadership (+2.7%)

Process Shift II Shift from market/bureaucratic organized services to associative/communal organized services Source of revenue Between 2003 and 2005, for market/bureaucratic organized services there was a notable increase (+ 22.5%) in revenue from services, but notable decreases from federal grants (- 8.6%) and municipal grants (- 11.1%) Between 2003 and 2005, associative/communal organized services produced a net decrease of revenue sources (-5.55%), most notable in community fundraising (-15.7%) and private donations (-13.6%)

Process Shift III Social cohesion To explore some of the implications of opportunities to interact (social cohesion) and the performance of different groups, this section examines issues of revenue and information access

Process Shift III - Social cohesion Sources of funding / Communication with Clients In 2005, groups using any of the range of comm tools: –32.8% to 57.3% used market based relations as a source for funding Revenue from services provided accounted for 57.3% –19% to 28% used bureaucratic based relations as a source for funding Less than one-third made use of bureaucratic relations sources –32.8% to 38.0% used associative/communal relations as a source for funding Membership fees / personal funds were most important Associative/communal relations were more important than bureaucratic relations, but less important than market relations as sources of funding

Process Shift III - Social cohesion Sources of Information / Comm with Clients In 2005, groups using any of the range of comm tools: –67.2% to 79.5% used market relations as a source for information –67.2% to 79.5% used bureaucratic relations as a source for information –42.6% to 79.5% used associative/communal relations Family and friends were the most important –32.3% to 62.6% used market relations (economic actors) Lowest of any of the categories explored –72.8% to 77.4% used media relations as a source for information

Process Shift III - Social cohesion Partnerships / Communication with Clients –Almost all groups using a comm tool had outside partners –Not all groups using a comm tool had local partners Most groups that did not use a communication tool had outside partners (two thirds) and about half had local partners.

Process Shift IV – Consequences of surviving stress Questions on the reaction of local organizations to stresses The key result: in response to a local stress, the reactions of local organizations did not yield a notable increase in social cohesion

Process Shift IV – Consequences of surviving stress Across all sites, 53.6% of respondents said that local organizations were more able to work effectively together Countered by 42.9% who said that they were not more able to work effectively together The pattern repeats for both metro-adjacency status and leading/lagging status Some community differences In Mackenzie, people reported 66.7% that local organizations were more able to work effectively together

Process Shift IV – Consequences of surviving stress Social capital –questions about levels of trust and confidence When asked if the reactions of local groups to a community stresses has yielded increased/decreased trust and confidence in the groups that helped out: –Only 54.2% said yes –29.2% said it remained the same –16.7% said it had decreased

Process Shift IV – Consequences of surviving stress Results were the same across metro-adjacency status and leading/lagging status As with social cohesion, there was a notable difference for Mackenzie, where all respondents reported increased trust and confidence Again, reactions to a local stress did not appear to yield a notable increase in social capital Contrary to expectations Useful future research question

Innovative and Voluntary Service Providers Future Research Questions I Organizational Stability –Roles/activities of organization’s leaders –Roles/activities of organization’s board members –Leadership and board membership breadth –Role of partnerships –Role of funding Participation –Impacts of compensation –Impacts of skills development opportunities –Impacts of regulatory changes on ‘volunteerism’ Recruiting activities –Employees –Board members Gender –Participation/leadership roles and opportunities –Impacts of other ‘life pressures’

Innovative and Voluntary Service Providers Future Research Questions II Funding/Support Strategies –Shifts in process emphasis/substitution –Sustainability in shifts from bureaucratic/market to associative/communal Partnerships –Process study of time/efforts needed to create robust relationships –Details on what partners ‘bring to the table’ –Recipe for success Communication tools –Cost effectiveness –Service effectiveness