Place peripheral : place-based development in rural, island, and remote regions

Place Peripheral offers, a compelling overview of rural, island, and remote regional practices the world over, though with a clear focus on the North Atlantic. In this grand sweep, we have sought to effectively counter the dominant paradigm and discourses of development with a re-articulation of place, location, leadership, and identity. We o(er these as key assets or resources, and as the bases for timely strategies that reconceptualize the future of these places, and perhaps in this way assure them of a future. In unabashedly championing place-based development, Place Peripheral offers an opportune counterpoint to the narratives of marginalization, inferiority, victimization, and dependency that often dominate the study of rural and small island development in Canada, the North Atlantic, and beyond. There are other stories to be told.peer-reviewe

Mobile Work in Long Harbour

Long Harbour is a host community for most mobile workers employed at Vale’s nickel processing facility. Workers were found to commute into Long Harbour from across the province but mostly from communities within the St. John’s Census Metropolitan Region (CMA). Findings suggest that Long Harbour is also a source community, with many residents commuting daily into St. John’s for work and some commuting long-distance to Alberta and Ontario. This project, however, focused on the community impacts of mobile workers commuting to and from the nickel processing facility both for their source and host communities in the provinc

Sunnyside Drinking Water Project: Examining Chlorinated Disinfectant By-products, Resident Perceptions and Practices, and Municipal Responses in Securing Safe Drinking Water in the Town of Sunnyside NL

The Sunnyside drinking water project is a university-community partnership between researchers at the Environmental Policy Institute- Grenfell Campus and municipal leaders of the Town of Sunnyside. This project explores the persistent drinking water-related challenges facing Sunnyside, eastern Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), primarily through the viewpoint of local residents. These challenges include: threats to source water; effective water treatment, disinfection and distribution, including dealing with high levels of disinfectant by-products (DBPs) as a result of their current disinfection system; and developing strategies for addressing these issues. Many rural municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador face similar issues, which present a challenge to municipalities in ensuring residents access to clean, safe drinking water. This report is structured through five main parts: 1. Introduction: Community profile, project rationale and methodology; 2. Sunnyside drinking water survey report: Analysis and discussion of the drinking water survey conducted in Sunnyside during the fall of 2014; 3. Chlorinated disinfectant by-products and drinking water in Sunnyside: Literature review and discussion of the potential health impacts posed by DBPs in publically supplied water systems, policy responses and alternative technologies; 4. Community Water Forum: Discussion of the results of the Community Water Forum presentations, which took place in Sunnyside in May 2015, and; 5. Policy recommendations: Concluding thoughts and policy recommendations. One issue that frequently arose over the course of the project is the lack of regulatory emphasis placed on federal water quality guidelines related to DBPs in NL. Arriving at an enforceable level, however, would require consideration of feasible technological solutions and/or significant increases in provincial investment into the water treatment systems of hundreds of small rural communities with high levels of DBPs. Until such time, increased public health education and support is needed for municipal leaders and the public at large. Thus, our main policy recommendation for the Government of NL is to develop and support a multi-faceted education campaign around the potential health impacts of DBPs, the role of chlorination in publicly supplied drinking water, and solutions and alternatives available in preventing and/or mitigating DBP impacts. Education (and research) is also needed on the environmental and social impacts of bottled water in the province, currently the most common drinking water source for Sunnyside residents. DBPs are a collective responsibility shared by residents, municipal and senior levels of government. Municipal governments share in the responsibility of educating their residents about the impacts of both DBPs and bottled water. Home-treatment technologies also offer an alternative for residents in reducing DBP exposure, particularly in the short-term. We are cautious in recommending this as a long-term solution due to issues of affordability and social equity, the need for proper maintenance, and difficulties finding appropriate systems. In general, we argue that it is the responsibility of public institutions (i.e. the government) to ensure that the appropriate water systems are in place to deliver safe drinking water to residents

Mobile Work in the Clarenville-Isthmus area

Findings from research conducted by the Community Impacts Team of the On the Move Partnership in NL

Advancing Innovation in Newfoundland and Labrador: Insights for Knowledge Mobilization and University-Community Engagement

In this paper, we provide insights for knowledge mobilization and university-community engagement based on the lessons learned from the Advancing Innovation in Newfoundland and Labrador Project. Out hope is to provide a window into the experiences of academics as they navigate the complexities and politics of mobilizing research and engaging with diverse stakeholders. Despite the challenges of this work, presented by factors inside and outside the academy, it is crucial to enhance our capabilities if we are to maximize the impact of universities in linking theory, research, and expertise with critical social and economic needs, such as enhancing innovation

Mobile Work in Labrador West

Findings from research conducted by the Community Impacts Team of the On the Move Partnership in NL

Extracción de algas en Pisco: Desafíos, oportunidades, adaptación y perspectivas futuras

The extraction of seaweed is an activity that, in Pisco, generates payments for more than four hundred families than they extract this resource, that is also a fundamental element in the marine ecosystem and which would be being affected by the contamination of this space. In order to identify the integral problem linked to this resource and its operation, and the socio-economic impacts and to propose alternatives, a participating work was made during the accomplishment of a workshop from which it was formulated proposals.La extracción de algas marinas es una actividad que, en la provincia de Pisco, genera empleo para más de cuatrocientas familias que extraen este recurso, a su vez es un elemento fundamental en el ecosistema marino que estaría siendo afectado por la contaminación de este espacio. A fin de identificar la problemática integral vinculada a este recurso y a su explotación así como los impactos socioeconómicos existentes y proponer alternativas, se realizó un trabajo participativo universidad - comunidad que devino en la realización de un seminario - taller a partir del cual se formularon propuesta