Journal of Rural and Community Development
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The Implications of Successful Fisheries Management: A Decade of Experience With The Upper Grand River Tailwater Fishery
Get PDFManagers of recreational fisheries have traditionally focused on biophysical factors related to the provision and maintenance of fish stocks. However, human dimensions and community development are equally important considerations. This paper highlights the angling experiences, economic impacts, and community development associated with the creation of a brown trout fishery in the upper section of the Grand River in Ontario, Canada. Results are presented from a series of four surveys conducted on this reach of river over the past decade. Findings build upon traditional measures of success and encompass other factors linked to the fishery. Considering these often unintended implications from successful fisheries management makes clear the importance of broadening fishery considerations beyond biophysical elements. The study highlights the potential for developing nature-based recreation amenities as a strategy for broadening the economic development base in rural communities and an ongoing need for fisheries managers to work with members of the community.
Keywords: human dimensions of fisheries management, economic impacts, rural economic development, community development, Grand River, Canad
Orillia's Got Talent: Attracting Tourists with Nonstop Entertainment
Get PDFThe cottage country in the Province of Ontario is a major tourist destination. Bringing tourists into a specific part of cottage country requires a unique attraction. When one thinks of Orillia, Ontario, for example, one thinks of author Stephen Leacock’s fictional town, Mariposa. When one thinks of Mariposa, one thinks of the Mariposa Folk Festival. While this is the key event in Orillia’s tourist program, it by no means stands alone. The Jazz Festival, the Blues Festival, the Beatles Celebration, and other musical events have been linked with art, drama, comedy, literary, and other cultural events to create an extended summer of tourist attractions. This paper discusses the development of this cultural tourism program and examines its success at drawing tourists to Orillia, contributing to the redevelopment of the downtown, and providing employment alternatives to a bygone industrial community.
Keywords: urban tourism, cultural economy, economic development, downtown redevelopmen
Capitalizing on Creativity in Rural Areas: National and Local Branding in Japan
Get PDFIn an effort to help local and rural areas respond to globalization, the Japanese
national government in 2006 initiated a local products branding policy, allowing
cities to brand their local products and services. The result has been an explosion
of recognition for existing local products and frantic identification and
development of new potential local products throughout Japan. This paper will
consider the implications of this policy in terms of what has evolved to this point
and the potential that can be identified in missed opportunities. The research is
initially organized on the notion of intentional creation of creative areasâ€"areas
recasting themselves as cradles of creativityâ€"and the creative character of the
local products and services that are branded. Using data from a national
government local products promotion policy and an independent brand research
association, the research considers the limit of creativity expressed through
branding for a nation or a broader geopolitical unit, along with the danger of
branding overlap and dilution that may emerge; it then examines the specific case
of a rural Japanese prefecture and the branding of its local products. Focusing on
Aomori prefecture, a rural area of northern Japan, and more closely on a distinctive
area within Aomori called Tsugaru, the research reveals the complexity of
branding for rural places in contemporary nation-states.
Key words: branding, creativity, Japa
The Challenge of Preserving Rural Industries and Traditions in Ultra-peripheral Europe: Evidence from the Canary Islands
Get PDFDemographic, economic, environmental, and political changes shape many
rural areas and their communities across Europe. As a result, some
fundamental aspects of these communities, including traditions, culture, social
fabric, and their very raison d’être, are being tested and threatened by what
seem to be irreversible events. Ultraperipheral European regions, including the
Canary Islands, are not an exception; in fact, because of their physical
isolation from the mainland and other barriers, these regions may be more
susceptible to changes. While these dimensions are very important and need to
be addressed, to date very few studies have attempted to do so with regard to
European ultraperipheral areas. Using face-to-face interviews among operators
of Canary Island wineries, food confectioners, and handcraft artisans, this
study seeks to understand how small rural businesses involved in traditional
industries in this region cope with contemporary changes. The findings indicate
that while generally participants vie to continue their involvement with
traditional industries that have characterized the archipelago for centuries, lack
of succession and marginal financial viability instill a strong sense of
uncertainty about their future. These findings may have several implications
for policy makers and local authorities, particularly in the design of strategies
to assist small businesses located in ultraperipheral regions.
Key words: Canary Islands, rural communities, rural industries, traditions,
small businesses, ultraperipher
Realizing Rural Community-Based Tourism Development: Prospects for Social Economy Enterprises
Get PDFCommunity-based tourism (CBT) is often considered as one component of a broad-based plan to improve rural economies. CBT development is characterized as a form of locally situated development that uses tourism to generate economic, social, and cultural benefits within a community. This process occurs through increased community participation in decision making and the sustainable development of both natural and cultural resources. Recent work in the field of community economic development has shown that social-economy enterprises, often called the third sector of the economy, can fill multiple areas of need within rural communities, contributing to economic, social, and cultural goals. As opposed to services and businesses controlled by private or public interests, the social economy is made up of community-based and mutually controlled enterprises that exist to serve the identified needs of a specific community. Examples of social-economy enterprises include worker-owned cooperatives, credit unions, community-based training organizations, and volunteer-run projects. This paper examines the potential for social-economy enterprises to contribute to the implementation of CBT within the Canadian rural tourism landscape. Two main roles for the social economy are identified: supportive and product delivery. Each role is described with reference to examples from across Canada. Challenges and benefits within each are evaluated, outlining areas for further research and on-the-ground development of social-economy enterprises to support rural CBT.
Keywords: rural tourism, social economy, Canada, social-economy enterprises
Many rura
Using the Social Economy in Tourism: A Study of National Park Creation and Community Development in the Northwest Territories, Canada
No full textThe primary concern of social-economy organizations is the social and economic well-being of individuals in the communities where they work. However, social, economic, and environmental considerations also play a role in the wider community or regional spheres of development. In the Canadian North, local and regional development strategies are linked in many places to a growing number of large-scale conservation efforts, such as parks and protected areas, that can have important positive and negative roles. As a result of their social and economic interests, social-economy organizations might become involved in these community development strategies linked to conservation. This paper explores such involvement by outlining a collaborative community research project undertaken in ?utsël K’e, Northwest Territories, the gateway community to a proposed national park. The research is based on a series of interviews with community members and external parties with particular development responsibilities. The paper explores the ways in which social-economy organizations might facilitate rural community tourism development related to the creation of the park. The paper also considers several activities and approaches that could enhance the support provided by social-economy organizations for local tourism development relating to conservation in this community.
Keywords: social economy, community tourism development, social and economic development, ?utsël K’e, national park, northern Canad
Countryside Capital, Changing Rural Landscapes, and Rural Tourism Implications in Mennonite Country
No full textThe purpose of this paper is to apply a framework of countryside capital to a culturally unique yet rapidly evolving rural landscape in Ontario, Canada. Countryside capital, a concept used to recast rural resources as capital assets of the rural tourism industry, reassesses the value of rural resources for rural tourism and sustainable rural development in the Waterloo region of Ontario. The region has a distinctive cultural heritage resource, the Old Order Mennonite culture and its unique rural landscapes. It also has a well-defined projected rural tourism product and image that have been altered over a short period of time from that of Mennonite Country to that of St. Jacobs Country. Furthermore, urban encroachment and the commodification of the rural landscape create conflict over the preservation of rural heritage. This study discusses these important issues in the context of countryside capital, as well as the implications for the future of tourism in the region and for rural sustainability in general. Perceptions of rural accommodation operators and their visitors, field observations, and an analysis of promotional literature provide an empirically based discussion. However, the case study acts as an illustration of the theoretical component that is the wider, in-depth application of countryside capital to a Canadian context.
Keywords: rural tourism, countryside capital, cultural heritage, sustainability, bed and breakfas
Integrated Pest Management Training in Indonesia: Does the Performance Level of Farmer Training Matter?
Get PDFIndonesia introduced integrated pest management (IPM) technology to farmers
through a package of training called the Farmer Field School (FFS). This study
aims to analyze the performance of FFS. A descriptive analysis and a simple
regression method are used to estimate trends of FFS performance and its
impact on rice production and pesticide use. This study uses data of IPM
performance drawn from a monitoring and evaluation database and farm-level
data drawn from surveys conducted in 1999, 2001, and 2004. The results
indicate poor performance of FFS. But there was a slight improvement in the
performance resulting from project management efforts. The main factors
leading to poor performance of FFS were a low rate of attendance of
participants in the training and untimely supplies of training materials. Further
results show that the performance of FFS is one of the significant factors that
increases the level of rice production and diminishes the level of pesticide use.
The low FFS performance is the cause of low rice production and high
pesticide use.
Key words: integrated pest management; Farmer Field School; indicators of
performance, rice production, and pesticide us
A Profile of Canadian Agritourists and the Benefits they Seek
Get PDFThe family farm is being threatened by changes in agriculture and the globalization of our food system. In response, many farms have diversified into tourism. However, farm diversification into tourism is based more on a leap of faith than on solid market research. Using data drawn from the 2006 Canadian Travel Activities and Motivation Survey (TAMS), the current study identified five discrete rural tourism niche market groups, including agritourists (i.e., those whose primary trip purpose was to visit a farm), to determine if their demographic profiles and the benefits they sought were different. The results indicated that agritourists were not notably different from other rural tourism niche markets. The findings question the niche status of agritourism as a viable diversification strategy for struggling farm families. Hence, rather than perpetuating agritourism as a special and distinct niche market, future research should identify and explore appropriate strategies that might help farm families transition out of a predominately agrarian economy into service-based and experience-based economies.
Keywords: agritourism, rural tourism, niche markets, benefits sough