S2E13 – National Parks and protected areas Pt. 1

When it comes to Canadian identity, the popular imagination summons forests, wildlife, and untouched nature that goes on forever. In some ways, our national parks reflect that idyllic picture; however, in other ways, they are complex, complicated, and contested. Join us for the first in a two-part look at how our national parks are created, who determines what we do with our natural spaces, and the impact that parks have on the people who live in and around them. We’ll chat with Dr. Phillip Vannini, Dr. Alistair Bath, Dr. John Calder and Colleen Kennedy.

Resources and links:

Dr. Phillip Vannini
Dr. Alistair Bath
Dr. John Calder
Gros Morne National Park
Gros Morne Cooperators
Joggins Fosile Site
Mistaken Point 
The National Park of Abruzzo

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.

S2E11-Opioid crisis in rural Canada – Pt. II

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 last part of our look at the opioid crisis you will hear from Michele Specht and Jodi Salvo from Ohio, Dr. Tara Gomes from Toronto, Mae Katt from Thunder Bay, and Justice Peter Wright from Perth, Ontario.

Resources and links:

Michele Specht bio
Anti-drug coalition Tuscarawas County
Dr. Tara Gomes profile at St. Michael’s Hospital
Mae Katt profile at Families for Addiction Recovery

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.

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.

 

S2E8-Christmas in Pang

Santa doesn’t have to go far to reach the children of Pangnirtung, Nunavut. For this very special holiday episode, we chat with A.J., Jasmine, Sheila, Steven, Rhoda, Tasha, Sipula, Myra, and Phoebe along with their teacher, Jonny Lush, from their school in the small community on Baffin Island. From their favourite holiday traditions, to the most popular bands in Pang (as the locals call it), join us as they answer our questions, share their talents, and open our eyes to the things they love about where they live. Jonny also shares his experiences as a teacher raised in the South but living and working in the North.

Resources

Pangnirtung website
Riit

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

 

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.

EPISODE 15: Community development with Wendy Keats

Wendy Keats is the executive director of the Co-operative Enterprise Council of New Brunswick. We talked about the ground level view of co-ops and social enterprises in rural areas and the need for good legislative support to help them grow and prosper.

Resources:

Co-operative Enterprise Council of New Brunswick

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

Music by Laura C. Bates performed by Trent Severn.

Episode 14: Rural Health with Lars Hallström

In Canada, we recognize 14 social and economic factors that influence human health. These social determinants of health range from income and education, to housing, to gender and race. Lars Hallström thinks we could add living rural to that list. This episode of Rural Routes is the first one in which we tackle health and well being in rural areas.

Resources:
Dr. Lars Hallström’s faculty profile

Social Determinants of Health on Canadian Public Health Association page

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

Music by Laura C. Bates performed by Trent Severn.

EPISODE 13: Rural Immigration with Michael Haan

“Canada is a land of immigrants” is a phrase we hear often. And while that is certainly true in many ways, immigration is a complex issue we don’t spend nearly as much time talking about as we should. Michael Haan is Canada Research Chair in Immigration and Ethnic Relations at Western University in London, Ontario, and he spends a lot of time thinking about immigration in Canada, especially rural Canada. I had an opportunity to talk to Dr. Haan last fall in his office at Western University. This is a part of that conversation.

 

Resources: 
Dr. Michael Haan’s faculty profile
On the Move Partnership

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

Music by Laura C. Bates performed by Trent Severn.

EPISODE 12: Building homes in Alaska

Ryan Gibson comes back on Rural Routes to tell us how a group of Alaskan researchers is trying to solve housing issues in rural and remote regions of America’s most northern states. They also tell us about their connections to Canada and we learn about honey buckets. And they are definitely not what their name would imply .

Resources: 
Cold Climate housing Research Centre

Sustainable Futures North

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

Music by Laura C. Bates performed by Trent Severn.