Canadian regional development today involves multiple actors operating within nested scales from local to national and even international levels. Recent approaches to making sense of this complexity have drawn on concepts such as multi-level governance, relational assets, integration, innovation, and learning regions. These new regionalist concepts have become increasingly global in their formation and application, yet there has been little critical analysis of Canadian regional development policies and programs or the theories and concepts upon which many contemporary regional development strategies are implicitly based. This volume offers the results of five years of cutting-edge empirical and theoretical analysis of changes in Canadian regional development and the potential of new approaches for improving the well-being of Canadian communities and regions, with an emphasis on rural regions. It situates the Canadian approach within comparative experiences and debates, offering the opportunity for broader lessons to be learnt. This book will be of interest to policy-makers and practitioners across Canada, and in other jurisdictions where lessons from the Canadian experience may be applicable. At the same time, the volume contributes to and updates regional development theories and concepts that are taught in our universities and colleges, and upon which future research and analysis will build.

Canadian regional development today involves multiple actors operating within nested scales from local to national and even international levels. Recent approaches to making sense of this complexity have drawn on concepts such as multi-level governance, relational assets, integration, innovation, and learning regions. These new regionalist concepts have become increasingly global in their formation and application, yet there has been little critical analysis of Canadian regional development policies and programs or the theories and concepts upon which many contemporary regional development strategies are implicitly based. This volume offers the results of five years of cutting-edge empirical and theoretical analysis of changes in Canadian regional development and the potential of new approaches for improving the well-being of Canadian communities and regions, with an emphasis on rural regions. It situates the Canadian approach within comparative experiences and debates, offering the opportunity for broader lessons to be learnt. This book will be of interest to policy-makers and practitioners across Canada, and in other jurisdictions where lessons from the Canadian experience may be applicable. At the same time, the volume contributes to and updates regional development theories and concepts that are taught in our universities and colleges, and upon which future research and analysis will build.

Access to quality services and community infrastructure are vital parts of supporting sustainable and resilient rural and small town places. Renewing outdated infrastructure and supporting the delivery of services in rural communities present significant challenges from the constrained fiscal and policy realities of the 21st century. Drawing upon contributors from five Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, this book describes innovative service delivery and community infrastructure models that are appropriate to the contemporary rural and resource-dependent regions of developed economies. The examples show that an entrepreneurial approach to service delivery and infrastructure provision by local organizations and governments is needed. Critical economic and community development supports are crucial to assist creative and innovative sets of solutions that work for small communities. Chapters in this book argue that community development foundations for resilient rural and small town communities and regions must be co-constructed and co-delivered in partnership by both local and senior government actors, in terms of both policy and committed resources. This volume will be extremely valuable for students, scholars, and community development practitioners exploring policy-making, government initiatives, and community service provision in rural and small town places.

Access to quality services and community infrastructure are vital parts of supporting sustainable and resilient rural and small town places. Renewing outdated infrastructure and supporting the delivery of services in rural communities present significant challenges from the constrained fiscal and policy realities of the 21st century. Drawing upon contributors from five Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, this book describes innovative service delivery and community infrastructure models that are appropriate to the contemporary rural and resource-dependent regions of developed economies. The examples show that an entrepreneurial approach to service delivery and infrastructure provision by local organizations and governments is needed. Critical economic and community development supports are crucial to assist creative and innovative sets of solutions that work for small communities. Chapters in this book argue that community development foundations for resilient rural and small town communities and regions must be co-constructed and co-delivered in partnership by both local and senior government actors, in terms of both policy and committed resources. This volume will be extremely valuable for students, scholars, and community development practitioners exploring policy-making, government initiatives, and community service provision in rural and small town places.

Rural policy in industrialized countries is currently undergoing significant change. "Place-based economies," where the unique attributes and assets of individual places determine their attractiveness for particular types of activities and investments, are increasingly important for rural development. "The Next Rural Economies" debates the future of rural development and highlights successes and failures to inform research, policy and community action. Case studies present discussions of the current state of rural community and economic restructuring and provide research and policy directions for constructing resilient and sustainable rural economies.

Community-based research (CBR) offers useful insights into the challenges associated with conducting research and ensuring that it generates both excellent scholarship and positive impacts in the communities where the research takes place. This depends on two important variables: the capacity of CBR to generate good information, and the extent to which CBR is understood and constructed as a two-way relationship that includes a set of responsibilities for both researchers and communities. Offering expert advice on the crucial relationship between communities and researchers, the authors outline the main stages of the CBR process to guide researchers and practitioners. They discuss the reasons for conducting CBR, provide tips on how to design research, and detail how researchers and communities should get to know one another, as well as how best to work in the field and how to turn fieldwork into research that counts. By focusing on the lessons learned from the use of CBR, the authors make the messages, lessons, and practices applicable to a variety of research settings. Drawing collectively from decades of community-based research experience and including vignettes from researchers from around the world who share their CBR experiences, Doing Community-Based Research is an essential book for scholars, students, practitioners, and the educated public.

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.

This book is drawn from a three-year participatory research project with four communities in British Columbia: two municipalities and two Aboriginal communities. It examines historical and contemporary forces of restructuring, linking the development of rural communities with the legacy of resource development and Aboriginal marginalization across the province. The book then presents the theoretical and practical dynamics of the community economic development (CED) process and outlines a variety of strategies communities can initiate to diversify their local economies. Second Growth shows that sound theoretical frameworks and tested best practices are important tools in facilitating the prospects for a second growth in rural and small-town communities.