Our Research

The CDI maintains a clear focus on research and on providing access to valuable resources toward the goal of increasing knowledge and understanding and building capacity around community, regional, and economic development. Our goal is to balance both applied and basic work so as to maintain academic credibility and to be of practical relevance to communities.

The information in this section is organized by topic. Please contact us if you need help finding information or have a question about any of the research or resources included here.

  • Village of Old Massett Economic Development Strategy

    • Community and Economic Development and Transformation

    2007 Completed

    The purpose of this project was to develop an economic development strategy for the village of Old Massett. The work was carried out by a research team from the Community Development Institute at UNBC with the goal to provide community decision-makers with information relevant to local economic development strategies. Funding for the project was through the Office of Economic Development of Old Massett Village Council. The project involved a review of existing economic development materials and an analysis of existing Old Massett economic development materials so as to create a comprehensive Economic Development Strategy for the Village of Old Massett.

    Please note: this project was undertaken in partnership with the community, and the community retains ownership of the project materials and reports.

  • RV Travelers Study

    • Age-friendly Communities
    • Community and Economic Development and Transformation

    2007

    The RV market has been largely neglected by tourism bureaus in their marketing efforts and also remains under-researched. With more and more baby boomers retiring, RVing is expected to boom. Increasing sales figures for RVs in North America despite rocketing gas prices suggest that the RV market is growing. Destinations, attractions and campgrounds that would like to cater to this ever greater number of RVers will need to understand how to serve this particular type of traveler.

    To this end, a research study was conducted by Dr. Anne Hardy at the University of Northern British Columbia and Dr. Ulrike Gretzel at Texas A&M University with the support of the BC Real Estate Foundation, the Elkhart County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Tourism British Columbia, the Northern British Columbia Tourism Association, the Northern Rockies Alaska Highway Tourism Association, Tourism Dawson Creek and the Texas Association of Campground Owners. The goal of the study was to elicit motivations and expectations from RVers and to gain insights into their specific travel and trip planning behaviours.
    A research methodology including quantitative and qualitative methods was developed to reach the study goal. Dawson Creek, BC was selected as the study site as it represents an important RV destination. Two focus groups with 12 participants each were conducted at the Dawson Creek visitor center in early June 2006. A total of 50 in-depth interviews with RVers were conducted at various sites in Dawson Creek from mid-June to the end of July. A total of 860 self-completed surveys were collected from RVers in the area from early June to late August 2006.

    A summary copy is available at: RV Travelers Study   

  • Fort St. John and Area Seniors’ Needs Overview

    • Age-friendly Communities
    • Housing

    2006

    The purpose of this project is to examine housing and support service needs for seniors in the City of Fort St. John, Peace River Regional District Area C, and the District of Taylor (the Study Area). The work will be carried out by a research team from the Community Development Institute at UNBC from May 2006 until December 2006 with the goal to provide community decision-makers with information relevant to local planning and infrastructure investments.

    These project reports include:

  • Terrace Seniors Dialogue

    • Age-friendly Communities
    • Housing

    2006

    Between January and March 2006, the CDI assisted the City of Terrace to examine seniors' issues and needs.  This was a scoping project designed to create a foundation of information for a more detailed future study of seniors' issues in the greater Terrace area. The current project involved an analysis of local population trends, interviews with seniors, decision-makers, service providers, and focus groups to explore housing, services, and quality of life topics.

    The project reports include:

  • From Planning to Action: Reconciling Community Development Strategies with Regional Assets and Infrastructure

    • Community and Economic Development and Transformation

    2006

    The purpose of this project is to produce information that will help to overcome a persistent barrier in economic development planning: the gap between planning and implementation.  Across northern BC, people have told the research team that their communities are frustrated by being “studied to death” while not seeing their efforts translated into viable action.  The findings and ongoing research associated with the Northern BC Economic Development Vision and Strategy Project illustrate that there are two significant gaps that contribute to this impasse: 1) community economic development options, plans, and strategies fail to adequately address and integrate the capabilities and capacities of the local and regional infrastructure and assets; and 2) proposed strategies fail to adequately comprehend or consider practical questions of competitive advantage, on their own and in association with a more regional approach.  The project used a case study approach to explore this gap between planning and implementation with a view to demonstrating how to reconcile local/regional assets and aspirations with the array of economic development possibilities.

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