Do approaches to rural economic development differ between rural Ontario and rural Ireland?
To find out, staff and board members from Community Futures across Ontario engaged in conversations with rural economic development leaders in Ireland for five days in May 2019.
During the five-day conference discussions were held with policy makers, local economic development practitioners, researchers, and businesses from across Ireland.
Alison Lobb, CFHuron Board President, traveled to Ireland to take part in the rural development study tour on behalf of Community Futures Huron.
The Ireland-Ontario Rural Economic Development Conference was organized in part by Ontario Community Futures, the University of Guelph, University College Dublin, and IRD Duhallow. Funding came through a Connections Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Alison traveled to Ireland with Professor Ryan Gibson of the University of Guelph, Shawn Heard, General Manager of the East Algoma Community Futures Development Corporation, Garry McKinnon, Atikokan Economic Development Corporation, and Diana Jedig, Executive Director of the Ontario Association of Community Futures Development Corporations.
Further information on this research initiative can be found at www.ruraldev.ca/ecdev/. Watch the website for further details emerging from the workshop in the coming weeks.
— With information from Examining Rural Economic Development in Ireland and Ontario
