Author: Greg Misener

Rural Ireland is not alone in sharing local artisans with the world. Economusee is a growing network of agencies supporting unique local experiences in rural areas.

Over the course of a dozen days, students heard successful rural development reaches beyond an agricultural sector. While progressive agricultural policy includes and promotes small farmers and value-add niche processing and products, in Europe as in Canada off farm incomes remain a necessity for family survival.

Business growth, improving local health services, and retaining youth and newcomers are all critical challenges facing rural areas on both sides of the Atlantic. While the size of the challenges varied, the need and urgency of response were consistently mentioned.

Throughout rural areas in Ireland, 2014 legislation requires local governments to team up with economic and social development agencies. The steering committee of this new Local Community Development Committee is dominated by citizens and some elected officials.

Brenda LePage, Western Diversification, spoke to the need of investing in rural areas. Others on this opening panel at the OECD modern rural policy conference spoke on the need to have integrated policy with rural and urban areas.

Rural communities are more than sites of extraction, they are sites of shared values with national significance. Dr. Koster, Lakehead University, moderated five presenters from Canada, Chile, Finland, and Japan.