Category: Publications

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Will Migrant Workers Rescue Rural Regions?

Marit Aure, Anniken Førde and Tone Magnussen recently published:  Will migrant workers rescue rural regions? Challenges of creating stability through mobility in the Journal of Rural Studies

Abstract

Many rural communities experience new growth through in-migration. In Herøy, Northern Norway, this is a result of increased labour migration in the fishing industry and a comprehensive effort by the municipality to encourage migrant workers to settle there. This paper addresses the ambiguities of creating stability through mobility. Through a case study from Herøy, we explore the complex relations between migrants’ mobile economic practices and social integration processes by analysing how migrants engage with Herøy’s landscape in multiple manners. This landscape entails networks of people and relations, materialities, dreams and hopes. Studying engagement, in addition to contestations and intersecting trajectories, we analyse how the landscape of those on the move is interrelated with that of those “being moved through”. We argue that creating stability in rural communities by encouraging migrant settlement requires going beyond economic integration – emphasising the more versatile and vulnerable processes of relating to unfamiliar places and worlds. It also requires an understanding of stability that embraces uncertainty and opens up towards various forms of belonging.

Free access for 50 days!

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0743016717311622 or use this link

https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1Wjzz2eyKFVrw6

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The Population Project

Newfoundland and Labrador has the most rapidly aging population in Canada – combined with youth out-migration, declining birth rates, and an increasing number of people moving from rural parts of the Newfoundland and Labrador to more urban centres, the province is facing an unprecedented population challenge. Without intervention, this trend will have a drastic impact on the economy, governance, and overall quality of life for the people living in the province. Planning for this change and developing strategies to adjust and adapt to the change is paramount.

The Harris Centre’s Population Project is using expertise from both inside and outside the university to explore the implications of the demographic changes projected for the next 20 years. The research reports generated and public discussion of them are intended to help inform and contribute to government policy as well as to strategies that private and non-profit sectors will need to develop to respond to the broad range of issues related to health, governance, transportation, housing, etc., resulting from the population shift.

The Labrador portion of the Population Project has been generously supported by the International Grenfell Association.

Source: https://www.mun.ca/harriscentre/

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From Black Horses to White Steeds: Building Community Resilience

From Black Horses to White Steeds: Building Community Resilience celebrates and critiques the dynamics of innovation, governance, and culture in place. Case studies from both sides of the North Atlantic illustrate episodes of “turning around”; evolution, transformation, and visionary strategy that breathe new life into the term “think global, act local.”

The chapters explore how various dark horses including minorities, small towns, peripheries, Aboriginal communities, those with little money, status, voice, or political leverage can rise to the occasion and chart livable futures.

From Black Horses to White Steeds is a companion book to Remote Control (ISER 2009) and Place Peripheral (ISER 2015).

“Rural folks have always been both resilient and resourceful. The narratives in this book are truly inspiring in ways to deal with the current and future pace as new technology and environmental change presents challenges and opportunities. Local communities everywhere will benefit from the insights contained herein.”
– Hon. Diane Griffin, Senate of Canada

 

“Like so many collections of case studies, this book provides plenty of inspiring examples. Unlike many, however, it includes useful international comparisons with thoughtful interpretations, methodological transparency, and respect for the limits of the techniques that make the cases useful for critical analysis as well as activism.”
– Bill Reimer, Professor Emeritus, Sociology and Anthropology, Concordia University

 

“That remote rural and island communities should thrive in this day and age might fly in the face of conventional wisdom. Yet, there is clear evidence of vibrant communities that creatively exploit the opportunities presented by their geographical predicament. No horsing around here: these are narratives of leadership, vitality, and resilience; crafted out of grit, imagination, and public / private / voluntary-sector partnerships.”
– Godfrey Baldacchino, UNESCO co-chair in Island Studies and Sustainability, UPEI, Canada

6×9, 378 pages with photos, charts, tables
Endnotes, Bibliography, and Index
ISBN 978-1-988692-07-4
Also available as a PDF
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

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“Navigating the North – Memorial University’s Marine Institute team to escort cruise ship through Northwest Passage”

The Gazette, August 29, 2016

When the 820-foot-long, 13-deck luxury cruise ship Crystal Serenity traverses the historic Northwest Passage this month, Marine Institute researchers and students will accompany the vessel onboard its escort ship, the RRS Ernest Shackleton.

The logistics and research ship, operated by the U.K. government-funded British Antarctic Survey, will take the Crystal Serenity through the passage, providing ice-breaking assistance as necessary. The crew will be joined by three researchers from the institute’s Centre for Fisheries Ecosystems Research (CFER) and two nautical science cadets. Along the 32-day voyage, the researchers will collect oceanographic and biological data; the cadets will assist in navigating the route.  Read the full story.

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“Road Stories – A conversation about community sustainability, Canada-wide”

The Gazette, August 31, 2016

In May, the recent Oxford University graduate got on his bike in British Columbia in the hopes of making it across Canada. His other goal was to speak with citizens and organizations about his area of study, community sustainability, along the way.

Cape Spear, N.L., was his final destination. Last week, after a long ride across the island, he finally completed his tour and checked into a residence room at Memorial to relax for a couple of days before heading back west to Alberta. Of course, his trusty bike was parked outside. Read the full story.