Athabasca University has received a grant from the Alberta Real Estate Foundation (AREF) to address these issues through a project called Enhancing Rural and Regional Real Estate through Community Learning. This initiative focuses on the education of related professionals and the public in respect to the role that real estate can play in the economic, environmental and social recovery of rural and regional Alberta. Several rural Alberta communities will have the opportunity to collaborate with the research team to identify prospective problems and strategy-based solutions through a needs assessment, workshop, and resources specific to each community.
Funded through Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the goal of the Athabasca University Communities in Transition initiative is to counter trends of decline in rural communities in by uncovering and amplifying strategies and solutions for rural regions across western Canada, supporting rural networking and sharing, and contributing to and making more accessible relevant data/information to strengthen the economic, social, and cultural fabric of rural communities.
There are numerous complex and urgent problems facing rural Canada that require interdisciplinary, intersectoral and diverse solutions to address them. Shrinking tax bases, aging infrastructure, climate change, diminishing and aging populations, and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic and opioid crisis are undermining the ability of rural communities to sustain basic services and facilities.
The Enhancing Rural and Regional Real Estate through Community Learning and Communities in Transition projects are addressing rural issues in housing, diversity and sustainability: read the article
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