Northern British Columbia is a place of rich cultures, diversecommunities, and a strong sense of identity. The future of this vast, resource-rich region and the people who call it home could be eitherdriven by a narrow economic agenda or guided by innovative, place-basedsolutions that seek to build viable communities and resilient local andregional economies.

"Investing in Place" is about creating the foundations forrenewing northern British Columbia's rural and small-towneconomies. Markey, Halseth, and Manson argue that renewal is not aboutnostalgic reliance on the policies and economic strategies of the past-- rather, it is about building a pragmatic and innovative vision fordevelopment, one that acknowledges both the opportunities and thechallenges posed by resource development and global and technologicalchange.For policy-makers and residents alike the path to renewal lies inplace-based development, which consists of people working together atall levels of the community and region to take advantage of localopportunities in a sustainable, responsible way.

Sean Markey is an associate professor in the Schoolof Resource and Environmental Management and the Centre for SustainableCommunity Development at Simon Fraser University. GregHalseth is a professor of geography, director of the CommunityDevelopment Institute, and Canada Research Chair in Rural andSmall Town Studies at the University of Northern British Columbia.Don Manson is an adjunct professor of geography andcoordinator of the Community Development Institute at UNBC.