Open AccessRural 2.0: Place-Based Rural Community Innovation Systems
Author(s) -
Ashleigh Weeden
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
rural review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2563-1608
DOI - 10.21083/ruralreview.v3i1.6021
Subject(s) - government (linguistics) , conversation , narrative , work (physics) , value (mathematics) , public relations , public policy , rural area , political science , value proposition , proposition , urbanism , sociology , economic growth , public administration , business , engineering , marketing , architecture , economics , geography , mechanical engineering , philosophy , linguistics , communication , epistemology , machine learning , computer science , law , archaeology
We live in an era obsessed with innovation. So much so that in 2016, the Government of Canada began work on a new national ‘Innovation Agenda’ with the following proposition: “Innovation is a Canadian value. It’s in our nature, and now more than ever, it will create jobs, drive growth and improve the lives of all Canadians. It’s how we make our living, compete and provide solutions to the world. We have the talent, the drive, the dedication and the opportunity to succeed. So, what’s next?” However, as every public consultation on the Innovation Agenda took place in a major city and produced initiatives with names like ‘the Smart Cities Challenge,’ it seems like ‘what’s next’ is a national innovation conversation so steeped in unquestioned urbanism that it fails to even acknowledge, let alone include, rural Canadians. This doctoral research project will use a comparative case study approach to investigate the complex relationships at play in place-based rural innovation systems and provide grounded, illustrative narratives for informing public policy.