Planning for Rural Resilience
Coping with Climate Change and Energy Futures
Climate change and an evolving non-renewable energy sector threaten the future viability and sustainability of communities across the country. While rural communities have a special place in the national fabric, they often lack the resources to tackle these important and evolving threats.
Planning for Rural Resilience: Coping with Climate Change and Energy Futures makes clear that communities and municipalities have opportunities to make informed and constructive decisions in the face of uncertainty: many of these decisions are “win-win” in the sense that they benefit the community in the short term while also building resilience for the future. Case studies include a town rebuilding itself after a tornado and an individual farmer’s commitment to creating a resilient farm. They provide examples of innovative, successful, and practical on-the-ground actions and strategies.
Planning for Rural Resilience asks central questions about the nature of change and the ability to adapt in rural regions. While change is often feared, communities have capacity that can be rallied, harnessed, and turned towards planning policy and action that responds to threats to the future. This important work will assist municipal decision makers, planners, and community members as well as anyone who has a passion for the future and betterment of rural life.
Reviews
“The speed and magnitude of global change have the potential to significantly alter our living conditions. The issue of local resiliency is, in this context, an important issue that needs to be systematically described and understood. This book makes an important contribution in that direction.”
– Harry Polo Diaz, Sociology and Social Studies, University of Regina
“Planning for Rural Resilience does an excellent job of providing the big picture and essential details of coping with changes and building long term resilience in a rural context.”
– Lauren Kolojejchick-Kotch, Great Plains Research
About the Author
Wayne J. Caldwell is a Professor in Rural Planning at the University of Guelph. He is a Registered Professional Planner and is a passionate advocate for the betterment of rural communities. He has served as chair or president of a number of local, provincial, and national organizations.
Other contributors: Jennifer Ball, Christopher Bryant, Wayne Caldwell, Bill Deen, John Devlin, Erica Ferguson, Evan Fraser, Margaret Graves, Paul Kraehling, Émanuèle Lapierre-Fortin, Sally Ludwig, Eric Marr, Ralph Martin, Tony McQuail, Susanna Reid, Chris White
Book Details
- Planning for Rural Resilience: Coping with Climate Change and Energy Futures
- Wayne J. Caldwell (Editor)
- Published May 2015, 192 pages
- Paper, ISBN: 978-088755-780-4, 6 × 9, $27.95
- Topic(s): Agriculture & Food, Environmental Studies, Resource Management