Affordable Home Ownership Expert Coming to Kelowna

  The BC Rural Centre invites you to a free public lecture featuring Lisa Byers, Executive Director of the OPAL (“Of People And Land”) Community Land Trust on Orcas Island, Washington State.  Lisa will discuss how the OPAL CLT has created over 130 affordable housing units on Orcas Island over the past 25 years.  Creating Affordable…

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Saving Rural Communities

Saving rural communities is a challenge

Saving rural communities — what are the obstacles and the opportunities facing rural towns and regions today? In this thought-provoking video produced by NET and Harvest Public Media, Brian Depew, Executive Director, Center for Rural Affairs, Maxine Moul, former Nebraska director for Rural Development, US Department of Agriculture, and Caleb Pollard, Ord, Nebraska entrepreneur,  discuss…

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How Wells-Barkerville Saved Its School

How Wells saved its school

  While many rural communities in BC have fought for their schools over the years, it’s doubtful any community has fought more fiercely than the citizens of the tiny town of Wells (population around 220), located in the Cariboo Mountains, 80 kilometres east of Quesnel, 8 km from historical Barkerville. Wells, named after a hard…

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Rural Schools — Successes & Challenges

rural schools matter

Rural schools — it’s difficult to imagine a thriving rural community without one. Yet across the rural landscape, declining populations led by an outflow of young people to the cities threaten the existence of many small schools, and with them the towns and villages they are based in. Is this steady loss of rural schools…

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Rural Schools, Why They Close & How They Can Be Saved

In this BC Rural Centre report, we look at why rural schools close, and highlight experiences drawn from rural BC communities as well as elsewhere in Canada where rural schools have been saved.   See also our Rural Schools — Successes & Challenges,  Rural Schools Matter, How Wells-Barkerville Saved Its School, Rural Schools Are Vital…

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