R2R24 Pathways to Practice

The CCRC is committed to its contribution to a strong Canadian rural voice through collaboration, dialogue, and building collective wisdom. This year’s conference provides a space and place to explore our differences together and highlight various formats on how we can listen, learn, and collaborate.

Pathways to Practice (P2P) takes place on Day 3, Friday, October 18th, and runs from 9:30 – 11:30 am.

P2P presenters will present their work, engage in dialogue, and connect with delegates. The 12 stations will be spread around the community hall. Delegates will move from table to table during these 2 hours.

Specifically, P2P offers the opportunity for presenters and delegates to:

1. Share ideas through an economic lens – ideas that are working in rural communities now and can be adapted or adopted in another place
2. Explore contemporary research connected to that work
3. Bring multiple generations/organizations together to discuss their commitment to community
4. Present government programs by those who had a hand in it. Programs that support projects to keep the EC DEV ball rolling in rural community development
5. Showcase collaboration ‘in action’ among practitioners, researchers, and organizations

We are excited to share the lineup!

TITLE	DESCRIPTION	PRESENTERS	LOCATION
STATION 1 LABOUR FORCE ATTRACTION	Learn about the Hanover Innovative People Program (HIPP) that drives recruitment and retention of people, businesses and investments to the community. It infuses creativity, culture, and business with tools to accelerate Hanover to the next level. Coupled with research from Seaforth, ON – a ‘Business Walk’ – that gathered the stories of main street businesses. What are the challenges & opportunities before them and what goals and dreams do they hold?	EDCO MEMBER April Marshall Economic Development Manager Hanover County Email Conference BIO RESEARCHER Paul Sitsofe, MSc. student, SEDRD, University of Guelph Email Conference BIO	BACK STAGE LEFT THEATRE
STATION 2 FOOD SECURITY & RESILIENCE	An Emergency Food Plan launched in Thunder Bay inspired similar programs in Simcoe and Wellington Counties with exciting results. Do you have an emergency food plan for your community? Learn how a grant over four years helped to develop an emergency food plan based on a circular economy came to fruition – and how it’s still roaring ahead. A shareable idea extraordinaire.	EDCO MEMBER Justine Dainard Wellington County Email Conference BIO RESEARCHER Steven Clarke SEDRD, University of Guelph Email REGISTERED DIETITIAN/ COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST Courtney O’Neill Centre Wellington Community Foundation Email	THE LINK
STATION 3 FROM DENMARK TO CANADA: HOW A SMALL RURAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPED A SUCCESSFUL INTEGRATED ENERGY SYSTEM	An economic/climate change development project in Skive, Denmark, is turning heads internationally and in rural places. GreenLab is a green and circular industrial park built on the belief that the energy system of the future is an integrated energy system – improving the way renewable energy is produced, transformed, stored, and utilized. Delegates can explore how this green and circular system can find a home right here in rural Ontario with the Mayor of Central Huron.	COMMERCIAL ADVISOR Alex Ripley Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark Email MAYOR Jim Ginn Mayor of Central Huron Email Conference BIO	THE LINK
STATION 4 THE EVOLVING NATURE OF AGRICULTURE IN THE 21st CENTURY	What does…. -Economics on the farm – Food security -Farming and the community -Farming and nature -Rural and urban connections … mean to you? Join rural planner/scholar Wayne Caldwell as he leads a discussion with a crowd of other fine ruralists making a difference in Rural Ontario. A rural talks to rural in the best sense of the word(s).	FARMER/PLANNER/ SCHOLAR Wayne Caldwell (he/him) Professor Emeritus, University of Guelph Email Conference BIO LOCAL FARMER & SCHOLAR Kate Procter (she/her) Email Conference BIO RURAL PLANNER/ RESEARCHER Regan Zink (she/her) OMAFA & Rural Studies student, University of Guelph Email Conference BIO FARMER/ RESEARCHER Dean Orr (he/him) Organic & Conventional Farmer, RPD Student, University of Guelph Email Conference BIO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Martin Straathof (he/they) Ontario Farmland Trust Email Conference BIO CAPACITY DEVELOPER & COMMUNITY FARM COORDINATOR Kiana Simmons (they/them), Federation of Canadian Municipalities Email Conference BIO	MAIN STAGE THEATRE
STATION 5 DESTINATION NORTH: ECONOMICS, TOURISM & COLLABORATION	From our neighbours in the north, we take a look at unique partnerships and collaborations that built a tourism model that is still going strong. How a town and country connection, that started with a note on the back of a napkin, brought together tourism operators, professionals and destinations at a local, regional and global level. You will also hear how tourism research impacted economic development in South Algonquin and Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan. This station is all over the map – in a very good way – stop in and pick up some adaptable ideas for your community.	ECDO MEMBER Mike Wozny Strategic Initiatives Coordinator, Destination North Ontario Email EDCO MEMBER Karen Bittner Director of Facilities and Community Services, Blind River Email PROFESSOR & SCHOLAR Chris Fullerton Geography & Tourism Studies, Brock University Email	THE LINK
STATION 6 SUCCESSION PLANNING FOR THE HURON COUNTY FARM	Using podcast interviews to get the succession planning discussion started was only one of the techniques Huron County used to engage those in the silver tsunami and their family members.  Reluctant farm owner/operators are putting billions of capital assets at risk during one of the largest exchanges of wealth from one generation to the next that we have ever experienced in our history. Learn about the challenges facing this transition of farm knowledge and assets and the opportunities to foster greater understanding and more successful transitions.  Farm succession cuts across economics, family, traditions, selling out to investors and sometimes losing connection to our home communities.  Explore opportunities to learn more about rural research concerning succession planning across the country.	EDCO MEMBER Vicki Lass Director of Economic Development, Huron County Email Conference BIO PROFESSOR & SCHOLAR Ryan Gibson SEDRD, University of Guelph Email Conference BIO	LOWER HALL
STATION 7 WELCOMING, ATTRACTING & RETAINING SKILLED FOREIGN WORKERS IN ONTARIO	A collection of stories from the newcomer/immigrant community – stories that speak to the experience of newcomers to Wellington County. Research will also be presented on the settlement and integration of refugee women in other rural and small towns across Ontario. Hear about the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) which recognizes the importance of immigration in addressing the workforce needs of employers in Ontario and across Canada.	EDCO MEMBER Anuradha Dam Economic Development Officer, Wellington County Email Conference BIO RESEARCHER Rana Telfah SEDRD, University of Guelph Email PROGRAM ADVISOR Meaghan Edwards Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training, and Skills Development Email Conference BIO	ART GALLERY
STATION 8 HOW’S YOUR RURAL HEALTH?	Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health started as an idea – an idea that came from a health centre in rural Kentucky. From there it has developed into its own healthcare model that could inspire something similar in your community. It is a model that successfully links health research, education, evidence-based practice, and economic development through innovation.  Through health research, we improve health care and healthcare delivery. Through innovation in rural health research, education, and business we attract healthcare professionals. Alongside community partners we create an economic driver for a rural health and knowledge-based economy. Come on by and learn how.	EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Gwen Devereaux Gateway CERH Email Conference BIO GATEWAY STUDENT RESEARCHERS Neelia Lewis Meagan Tamming Sage Milne	LOWER HALL
STATION 9 FROM THE ROCK: PLACED-BASED DEVELOPMENT IN RURAL NFLD & LABRADOR	Learn how a cottage hospital in rural Norris Point on the doorstep of Gros Morne National Park was transformed into a local cultural and heritage centre. Built around arts, crafts, music, and oral history and given plenty of room to evolve there’s now a community radio station, recording studio, a kitchen for all occasions, and rooms to let as this wondrous project continues to evolve. It’s still a centre for the promotion of health and wellness using art, culture, and stories as medicine and it is once again the heart and soul of the community. From Memorial University a researcher will be talking about place-based development in rural, Island, and remote regions, and from the world of Documentary and Education notions of identity, place, and process will be explored through the mixed L’nu (Mi’kmaw) and European heritage. This station could be the hospitality suite of P2P.	PROFESSOR & SCHOLAR Kelly Vodden Memorial University Email Conference BIO OWNER & OPERATOR Joanie Cranston Norris Point & Cottage Hospital Community Centre Email Conference BIO FILMMAKER & EDUCATOR Evan Butler College of the North Atlantic Email Conference BIO	LOWER HALL
STATION 10 TWO ROW ON THE GRAND + THE VOICE OF THE RIVER	The Two Row on the Grand is a canoe paddle that happens over 10 days on the Grand River every summer for the past 10 years. It is an embodiment of a 400-year-old Two Row Wampum – an original peace treaty between indigenous and settler communities. The Voice of the River in its 3rd year of development will culminate in August of 2025 with a production that will play in communities from the headwaters, across the watershed, and like the Two Row, culminate at the mouth of the Grand River at Lake Erie. Both are cultural experiences that bring people together to share stories, build community, and come to an understanding of the others we share the place with. RTO4 (Regional Tourism Organization 4) will offer insights into regenerative tourism and how their Histories Project brought us together. Research from the University of Waterloo will be presented that speaks to both projects and offers this: ‘to go far, we go together – let’s invite the talents of many and move at the speed of trust.”	EXECUTIVE & CREATIVE DIRECTOR Pete Smith CCRC Email RESEARCHER Mashad Akhoundoghli University of Waterloo Email MOHAWK ELDER Ellie Joseph Six Nations & co-founder of Two Row on the Grand Email DIRECTOR Tristin Vogel Regional Tourism Organization 4 (RTO4) Email	ART GALLERY
STATION 11 OMAFA UPDATE: RESIDENT RETENTION & ATTRACTION	The Ontario government is updating the Community Immigration Retention in Rural Ontario (CIRRO) program. The updated program will focus on the retention and attraction of residents in rural communities through a strategic community approach. Visit the Ontario booth to engage with us about : – Community Readiness – Your Current & Future Projects – Hosting Community Conversation – Best Practices & Next Steps	ECONOMIC & BUSINESS ADVISOR Serena Viola (She/Her/Elle) Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Agribusiness Email Conference BIO ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR & SCHOLAR Dr. Sara Epp Rural Planning & Development, University of Guelph Email Conference BIO	LOWER HALL
STATION 12 PITCH IT/ TRY IT/ MOVE IT: MAINSTREET REVITALIZATION IN MINTO	From the energy behind a plan to revitalize Minto and how it’s going to the resources and strategies that moved it along –  to the power of innovative thinking. The research on rural downtown transformation connected to youth, a collaboration between a business park and mainstreet – with a strong mix of passion and hope.	DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Belinda Wick-Graham Town of Minto Email Conference BIO RESEARCHER Luc Berek SEDRD, University of Guelph Email	LOWER HALL