S2E10-Opioid crisis in rural Canada – Pt. I

The opioid crisis impacts hundreds of thousands of lives across North America and rural areas are increasingly at risk. To investigate the impacts of opioids in rural contexts, we’re presenting a special two-episode edition of Rural Routes, featuring stories from both individuals and institutions with experience on the frontlines of the rural opioid crisis. These difficult and sometimes inspiring stories address important questions about the fight against opioid addiction; are rural communities disproportionately affected? How are individuals and institutions working, or not working, to help communities heal? Is enough being done? In this we hear stories of personal challenge and determination from Stephen Miller, a recovering user and vivid storyteller, and Susan Boone and Brian Reese, whose personal experiences led them to organize a community-based harm reduction program on a small island off the coast of Newfoundland.

Rural Routes Partners:
The Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development, MUN
Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation 
Rural Policy Learning Commons Partnership
The National Campus and Community Radio Association

CHMR Campus Radio

Music by Laura C. Bates performed by Trent Severn.

S2E9 – Fantasy Farming

While the numbers of farms in North America are decreasing every year, virtual farms are thriving. What does the bounty of farming related computer, video and mobile games say about the urban-rural divide? Are they just dumb time wasters, or could they actually be used to help create both knowledge and understanding? Join us for a (slightly goofy) chat about virtual pigs and cows, and the millions of people playing them. Our guests include video game researcher and film and media studies professor Dr. Alenda Chang of University of California, Santa Barbara and gamer Andrew Cohoe. We’ll also ask Jane Tucker, originally of Southern Ontario, but now living in St. Philips, Newfoundland and Labrador, what puts her town on the map.

Resources

Wireframe lab

Rural Routes Partners:
The Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development, MUN
Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation 
Rural Policy Learning Commons Partnership
The National Campus and Community Radio Association

CHMR Campus Radio

Music by Laura C. Bates performed by Trent Severn.

 

S2E6 – The Future of Forestry

Forests are a part of Canadian identity and are the basis of an industry that supports thousands across the country (and has for centuries.) While forestry’s past played a significant role in the development of many rural places, major shifts, including some as a result of climate change, are shaping a future that might look quite different from what we’re used to.

Join us for a discussion of the future of forestry. You’ll hear voices (and sounds) from the Harrop-Proctor Community Forest, Greg Lay, a life-long forester, Dr. Sarah Breen, a researcher at Selkirk College in Castlegar, BC, and Dr. Philomena of the University of the Highlands and Islands in Inverness.

Rural Routes Partners:
The Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development, MUN
Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation 
Rural Policy Learning Commons Partnership
The National Campus and Community Radio Association

CHMR Campus Radio

Music by Laura C. Bates performed by Trent Severn.