Activity

RFRC researchers and affiliates (Elizabeth Fitting, Catherine Bryan, Karen Foster and Jason Ellsworth) have authored a new paper in the journal Agriculture and Human Values.

Climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation are major threats of the 21st century. Such crises are global in scope, but they manifest in everyday life through small, incremental changes that people observe in their local environments.

Click here to be directed to the Farmers Market Survey.

The RFRC is a partner on the Perceptions of Climate Change and Social Futures project, a component of the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI)-funded Future Ocean and Coastal Infrastructures (FOCI) research consortium. The Perceptions research team is led by University of Western Ontario's Howard Ramos, and includes RFRC director Dr. Karen Foster, research associate Rachel McLay, and post-doctoral fellow Dr.

Two publications by RFRC members are included in a special issue of the International Journal of Child, Youth & Family Studies. The theme of the special issue is Youth Transitions to Education and Employment: A Mobilities Perspective.

RFRC research associate Ray Bollman has analyzed quantitative data on rural Canada, and in 2020-2021, much of this research focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural employment.

He also has recently published a paper in the Journal of Rural and Community Development titled "Change in Reporting an Aboriginal Identity: Age Matters"

This data brief takes a look at how employment has been affected by the pandemic in rural and small town areas (RST) compared to larger urban centres (LUC). Prepared by RFRC associates Hannah Main and Ray Bollman.

This report presents results of an online survey of farmers’ market and CSA consumers. Conducted in spring 2020, the survey is one component of a larger study investigating the global footprint of the local food system in Nova Scotia. The objective of the survey was to gather data on farmers’ market and CSA consumers’ perceptions of local food, their motivations for buying local, their knowledge of food production, and where farmers’ markets and CSA participation fit into the rest of their household’s provisioning.

This summary report presents high-level findings from our 2019 survey of Atlantic Canadians. The survey, part of a larger SSHRC Insight-funded project called 'Seeing a Future in it: Generations and Work in Atlantic Canada', examined Atlantic Canadians views toward community, work and economy as well as their experiences as workers and residents of urban, rural and suburban Atlantic Canadian communities.

RFRC director Karen Foster is interviewed to discuss the ways in which women's careers have been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Women got the worst of both worlds here — they were more likely to be in sectors that shut down, and also more likely to be working the jobs that got busier, more dangerous and more stressful as a result of COVID."

The Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation (CRRF) is publishing a series of short policy primers on COVID-19's impact on rural communities. Dr. Foster is the author of the latest, titled Exports, Imports, and Local Economic Resilience. View the primer here.

RFRC Research Associate Ray Bollman has been tracking the impact of COVID-19 on rural and small town employment in Canada. His detailed analyses are available on the Rural Ontario Institute's website here. RFRC Research Associate Hannah Main summarized some of the findings in the PDF below.