Garden Hill First Nation Creates a Farm in a Box!

Garden Hill First Nation assembled a team to create Meechim Farm

Food security is a significant issue for many remote First Nations across Canada — including Garden Hill First Nation, located in northern Manitoba. In the following blogpost from Aki Energy, a non-profit Aboriginal social enterprise that works with First Nations to start green businesses in their communities, creating local jobs and growing strong local economies,…

Read More

Affordable Rural Housing — the View from Yorkshire, UK

Affordable rural housing is often at a premium in small communities and rural regions. While rural housing prices may appear a bargain to newcomers and second home buyers from overheated urban real estate markets, they are often anything but for long-time residents, often saddled with relatively low-paying jobs. In this video produced by by the North…

Read More

Ktunaxa Nation: Ensuring the most vulnerable citizens can succeed

Ktunaxa Nation

For the Ktunaxa Nation, a key pillar of the community is supporting its most vulnerable citizens. It’s an effort that is changing lives for the better. Ktunaxa Nation has grown its Cranbrook-based social services from its Operation Street Angel program to include both a support house for youth transitioning out of foster care, and a…

Read More

Rural Revitalization, Iowa-Style

Rural renewal is well underway in Earlham, Iowa

  Rural revitalization Iowa-style. There are plenty of small towns badly in need of economic and social renewal across North America. Earlham, Iowa was one of them. Through a combination of community resilience and tenacity, and newcomers of means who seem to have truly understood — and respected — the local culture, Earlham is poised…

Read More

The Arts & Rural Revitalization

Culture matters. According to the Creative Cities Network of Canada, municipalities that adopt culture as an industry gain positive economic benefits. Cultural industries create job growth, turn ordinary cities into “destination cities,” create interconnections between arts and business, revitalize urban areas, attract skilled workers, and create spin-off businesses, argues the Network. This may be the…

Read More

Creative Placemaking, Attracting Young People to Rural Places

Creative placemaking an effective way to attract young people

Creative placemaking: what is it, and can it serve as an effective toolkit for rural communities wanting to attract young people? Attracting and keeping younger adults is a challenge that many small cities and towns face. Zachary Mannheimer bucked the trend that sees so many younger folks settling in major urban centres. After a 22-city…

Read More

Rural American Fairs & Festivals

festivals and fairs play an important role in rural communities

It’s Fall, and across rural North America, festivals and fairs are in full swing, celebrating everything from the harvest to local history. These celebrations play a number of important roles in the communities that host them, including providing local farmers and ranchers with an opportunity to showcase their products, generating a significant economic impact on…

Read More