CDI Books

Infrastructure and InnovationService Provision And Rural Sustainability: Infrastructure and Innovation

Greg Halseth, Sean Markey, Laura Ryser (eds.)
November 2018

Access to quality services and community infrastructure are vital parts of supporting sustainable and resilient rural and small town places. Renewing outdated infrastructure and supporting the delivery of services in rural communities present significant challenges from the constrained fiscal and policy realities of the 21st century.

Drawing upon contributors from five Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, this book describes innovative service delivery and community infrastructure models that are appropriate to the contemporary rural and resource-dependent regions of developed economies. The examples show that an entrepreneurial approach to service delivery and infrastructure provision by local organizations and governments is needed. Critical economic and community development supports are crucial to assist creative and innovative sets of solutions that work for small communities. Chapters in this book argue that community development foundations for resilient rural and small town communities and regions must be co-constructed and co-delivered in partnership by both local and senior government actors, in terms of both policy and committed resources.

Towards A Political Economy Of Resource-dependent RegionsTowards A Political Economy of Resource-dependent Regions

Greg Halseth, Laura Ryser
August 2017

This book advances our understanding of resource-dependent regions in developed economies in the 21st Century. It explores how rural and small town places are working to find success in a new economy marked by demographic, economic, social, cultural, political, and environmental change. How are we to understand the changes and transformations working through communities and economies? Where are the trajectories of change leading these resource-dependent places and regions? Drawing upon examples from Canada, USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and the Nordic countries, these and other questions are explored and addressed by constructing a critical political economy framework of resource hinterland transition.

This book is available in paperback, as well as digital download. Click here for more details or to order.

Transformation of Resource Towns and PeripheriesTransformation of Resource Towns and Peripheries

Greg Halseth (ed)
July 2016

Most developed economies, including single-industry and resource dependent rural or small town regions, are transforming rapidly as a result of social, political, and economic change. Collectively, they face a number of challenges as well as new opportunities. This international collaboration describes a critical political economy framework that will be useful for understanding these transitions.

Transformation of Resource Towns and Peripheries describes the multi-faceted process of transition and change in resource dependent rural and small town regions since the end of the Second World War. The book incorporates international case studies from Australia, Canada, Finland and New Zealand, with the express purpose of highlighting similarities and differences in patterns and practices in each country. Chapters explore three main themes: how corporate ties and trade linkages are changing and impacting rural communities and regions; how resource industry employment is changing in these small communities; and how local community capacity and leadership are working to mitigate challenges and take advantage of new opportunities.

The Integration ImperativeThe Integration Imperative: Cumulative Environmental, Community and Health Effects of Multiple Natural Resource Developments

Michael Gillingham, Greg Halseth, Chris Johnson, Margot Parkes
April 2016

The purpose of this work is to develop a better understanding and thinking about the cumulative impacts of multiple natural resource development projects. Cumulative impacts are now one of the most pressing, but complex challenges facing governments, industry, communities, and conservation and natural resource professionals. There has been technical and policy research exploring how cumulative environmental impacts can be assessed and managed. These studies, however, have failed to consider the necessary integration of community, environment and health. Informed by knowledge and experience in northern British Columbia, this book seeks to expand our understanding of the cumulative impacts of natural resource development through an integrated lens. The book offers a timely response to a growing imperative – proposing integrative response to multiple natural resource developments in a way that addresses converging environment, community and health issues. Informed by the editors’ experiences across several complementary areas of expertise, we envision this book as appealing to a wide range of researchers, educators and practitioners, with relevance to a growing audience with appetite for and interest in integrative approaches.

Doing Community Based ResearchDoing Community-based Research: Perspectives From The Field

Greg Halseth, Sean Markey, Laura Ryser
June 2016

Community-based research (CBR) offers useful insights into the challenges associated with conducting research and ensuring that it generates both excellent scholarship and positive impacts in the communities where the research takes place. This depends on two important variables: the capacity of CBR to generate good information, and the extent to which CBR is understood and constructed as a two-way relationship that includes a set of responsibilities for both researchers and communities. Offering expert advice on the crucial relationship between communities and researchers, the authors outline the main stages of the CBR process to guide researchers and practitioners. They discuss the reasons for conducting CBR, provide tips on how to design research, and detail how researchers and communities should get to know one another, as well as how best to work in the field and how to turn fieldwork into research that counts. By focusing on the lessons learned from the use of CBR, the authors make the messages, lessons, and practices applicable to a variety of research settings. Drawing collectively from decades of community-based research experience and including vignettes from researchers from around the world who share their CBR experiences, Doing Community-Based Research is an essential book for scholars, students, practitioners, and the educated public.

Sustainable Development Book CoverSustainable Development in the Circumpolar North - From Tana, Norway to Oktemtsy, Yakutia, Russia,The Gargia Conferences for Local and Regional Development (2004-14)

Tor Gjertsen and Greg Halseth (eds.)
November 2014

This book is about creating sustainable futures for rural and northern communities. It confronts critical issues and ways to facilitate positive change for communities that are experiencing economic and social transformation and provides strategies and tools for successfully dealing with the challenges and opportunities that come with this change. Editors Gjertsen and Halseth present examples from northern communities that illustrate a more holistic and integrated approach to local and regional development. Key themes explored include governance, community, economic, and social development, as well as development in Indigenous communities and regions.

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Economic Renewal in Northern British Columbia Book CoverInvesting in Place: Economic Renewal in Northern British Columbia     

Sean Markey, Greg Halseth, and Don Manson
July 2012

Investing in Place is about creating the foundations for renewing northern British Columbia’s rural and small-town economies. Markey, Halseth, and Manson argue that renewal is not about nostalgic reliance on the policies and economic strategies of the past -- rather, it is about building a pragmatic and innovative vision for development, one that acknowledges both the opportunities and the challenges posed by resource development and global and technological change. The path to renewal lies in place-based development, in people working together at all levels of the community and region to take advantage of local opportunities in a sustainable, responsible way.

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The Next Rural EconomiesThe Next Rural Economies: Constructing Rural Place in a Global Economy       

Greg Halseth, Sean Markey and David Bruce (eds.)
2010

This book brings together rural and small town scholars from seven OECD countries to present essays on the possible future of rural development, with a focus on sharing and advancing understanding of place-based approaches. A place-based approach to rural development takes into account the unique attributes and assets of individual communities and regions, and considers these in identifying particular and contextually appropriate types of activities and investments. The stories told in the chapters of the book highlight the benefits of place development, including local ownerships fostered by participatory engagement, efficiencies achieved through collaboration, and innovations in the rural economic enterprise revealed by truly understanding the competitive appeal of place.

book coverUnderstanding Indigenous Economic Development in Northern, Rural, and Remote Settings: Frameworks for Change

Greg Halseth, Julia Schwamborn, Ray Gerow, and Tor Gjertsen (eds.)
November 2010

This eBook features presentations and discussions that evolved from the “Understanding indigenous economic development in northern, rural, and remote settings” workshop, jointly hosted by the Community Development Institute at UNBC and the Aboriginal Business and Community Development Centre. The goal was to produce a rich dialogue that could enhance our understanding of key barriers and opportunities related to successful indigenous economic development both on reserves and in urban Aboriginal communities. Workshop speakers identified and challenged the framework of current indigenous economic development, and pointed out key barriers to successful development, as well as actions and supports needed to achieve change.

eBook

Beyond the MetropolisBeyond the Metropolis: Urban Geography As If Small Cities Mattered

Greg Halseth (contributor)
November 2006

Beyond the Metropolis is an attempt to mend the lacuna that exists between large and small city studies in urban geography, especially in North America. It covers a wide range of topics organized around some of the most common themes that urban geographers have addressed in their study of large cities. In addition to a general introduction and conclusion, the book is divided into three parts. Part I focuses on the evolution and growth of small cities. It outlines in very broad terms the status of small city studies within urban studies, in general, and urban geography, in particular, to underscore the relatively little attention that has been given to small cities. Part II deals with the internal structure of small cities. Part III examines issues related to planning and managing change in small cities. The chapters examine established conventions in urban geography and related disciplines from the perspectives of small cities for the purpose of understanding small cities.

Building_Community_Instant_TownBuilding Community in an Instant Town: A Social Geography of Mackenzie and Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia

Greg Halseth and Lana Sullivan
July 2002

Mackenzie and Tumbler Ridge are recent examples in a long tradition of single-industry instant towns in Canada’s resource hinterland. Built to house the workforce that accompanies a resource boom, these towns become home to workers and their families. How do residents create a community in this instant town setting? This book explores the social geography of community building through four elements: Northern Resource Towns examines the foundations of resource town planning; Industrial Society examines the central place work plays in local social organization; Civil Society examines the role of local governance and the services they provide; and Civil Society examines the role of the voluntary sector in creating community identity.

Prince George A Social Geography of BC’s Northern CapitalPrince George: A Social Geography of BC’s Northern Capital

Greg Halseth and Regine Halseth (eds.)
1998

Social Geography is about people and the communities which they create. With a focus on Prince George, this book is an exploration of how particular social issues work themselves into the changing and evolving fabric of our community. Prince George is an especially interesting community, as growth and development over the past 30 years has led to its becoming "B.C.'s Northern Capital". The eight chapters in this book cover the most commonly discussed social geography topics: population change, work and employment, housing, poverty and homelessness, gender issues, ethnicity, social services, and crime.

Cottage Country in TransitionCottage Country in Transition: A Social Geography of Change and Contention in the Rural-Recreational Countryside

Greg Halseth
1998

The cottage is a powerful image of rural Canada. This image, however, often ignores the rural community that surrounds it, producing a geographically and socially divided landscape and creating friction between cottage owners and rural communities. Cottage Country in Transition is a wide-ranging exploration of the interaction and evolution of these two communities.  Using the Rideau Lakes region of eastern Ontario and the Cultus Lake area of southwestern British Columbia as case studies, this book examines the ways in which economic, political, and social power affect community change.