Rural Spark

It's much more than food tours, and rural Canada has so many delicious experiences to offer. This week Jamie Reaume of Country Heritage Park tells us what we're missing. 

New to the pod? Every week Helen Murphy, a rural newspaper editor and entrepreneur, invites guests to share fresh thinking, success stories and lessons learned. Be sure to subscribe to stay up-to-date on all things rural innovation! Thanks for listening!

Historic Sherbrooke Village is a living museum, an interactive neighbourhood of the 1860’s – the era of tall ships and gold mining on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore. But today it has a bold new plan for the future, one that includes teaching rural skills. Today we speak with Executive Director Stephen Flemming about the potential for rural museum innovation to bring people closer to their roots and grow the local economy.

An innovative program in Ontario is reversing negative trends in one of Canada's highest youth unemployment areas.

New to the pod? Every week Helen Murphy, a rural newspaper editor and entrepreneur, invites guests to share fresh thinking, success stories and lessons learned. Be sure to subscribe to stay up-to-date on all things rural innovation! Thanks for listening!

This week we look at three isolated Acadian communities and their fight to protect, preserve and celebrate their cultural heritage. In recent years, technology is helping. Have a listen!

New to the pod? Every week Helen Murphy, a rural newspaper editor and entrepreneur, invites guests to share fresh thinking, success stories and lessons learned. Be sure to subscribe to stay up-to-date on all things rural innovation! Thanks for listening!

Many rural communities in Canada were originally established in response to a local natural resource. Since then, the natural resource sector has drastically changed due to technological advances, urbanization and market access. 

Today we talk to Rose Olfert from the University of Saskatchewan to answer the question: Why do some communities overcome these economic shifts, while others don’t recover?

New to the pod? Every week Helen Murphy, a rural newspaper editor and entrepreneur, invites guests to share fresh thinking, success stories and lessons learned. Be sure to subscribe to stay up-to-date on all things rural innovation! Thanks for listening!

Today we’re talking about creating opportunities and breaking down barriers through the social economy. Michael Toye from CCEDNET tells us how finding new ways to do business can empower people and lift up communities.

New to the pod? Every week Helen Murphy, a rural newspaper editor and entrepreneur, invites guests to share fresh thinking, success stories and lessons learned. Be sure to subscribe to stay up-to-date on all things rural innovation! Thanks for listening!

Milan Wall has discovered “clues” to rural community survival and prosperity through research done by the Heartland Center for Leadership Development in Nebraska. As co-director of the Center, Wall shares with Rural Spark how people can revitalize their small towns. You may be surprised by the best practices he's discovered.

New to the pod? Every week Helen Murphy, a rural newspaper editor and entrepreneur, invites guests to share fresh thinking, success stories and lessons learned. Be sure to subscribe to stay up-to-date on all things rural innovation! Thanks for listening!

A town of just over 4,000 in Southern Alberta is on track to become Canada's first solar-powered net zero community. Greg Robinson is the Director of Community and Economic Development in Raymond, AB. He joins us to shed some light on where the idea to generate solar power for municipal buildings came from, and how this project has put Raymond in the driver's seat of their electrical needs and their future.  

New to the pod? Every week Helen Murphy, a rural newspaper editor and entrepreneur, invites guests to share fresh thinking, success stories and lessons learned. Be sure to subscribe to stay up-to-date on all things rural innovation! Thanks for listening!

A young entrepreneur-turned-mayor is credited with driving the renewal of a historic town that's bucking the downward trends in Newfoundland and Labrador. In this episode we talk to Bonavista Mayor John Norman about how his small town transformed into a thriving economy with the fastest growing real estate market in the province. 

New to the pod? Every week Helen Murphy, a rural newspaper editor and entrepreneur, invites guests to share fresh thinking, success stories and lessons learned. Be sure to subscribe to stay up-to-date on all things rural innovation! Thanks for listening!

Learn how the Prince Edward Island Connectors Program gets immigrant entrepreneurs and investors out into its rural communities to meet local innovators. 

New to the pod? Every week Helen Murphy, a rural newspaper editor and entrepreneur, invites guests to share fresh thinking, success stories and lessons learned. Be sure to subscribe to stay up-to-date on all things rural innovation! Thanks for listening!