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.

  • Community-Based Research Centres in Canada

    • Community Services Provision
    • Community and Economic Development and Transformation

    2012

    As communities prepare for, and respond to, economic, social, and political change, they need timely, relevant, and useful information to help them make decisions. Community-based research institutions can be an important source of information for these small communities and can support innovation and competitiveness, inform strategic planning exercises and community development initiatives, mobilize resources, build local capacity, facilitate local and regional networks, empower community engagement, and improve the quality-of-life in small places. This report contains an inventory of community-based research centres in Canada with information on:

    • contact information,
    • background / mandate,
    • general information brochures,
    • student information brochures,
    • annual reports, and
    • policy documents.

  • Clearwater Age-Friendly Needs Assessment Project

    • Age-friendly Communities

    2012

    In this project the CDI will work in partnership with the District of Clearwater. Consultations will include one on one interviews, meetings with stakeholders and an Age-Friendly needs assessment survey and the creation of  an inventory of the services, programs and initiatives that currently exist.

  • Dimensions of Voluntarism in Aging Resource Towns

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

    2011 On-going

    Since the 1980s, the population of many rural and small town places in northern BC communities has been aging. This research project examines the role that voluntary organizations, community groups, and volunteers play in both supporting older people and in influencing community development in aging resource communities. It also examines the influence of seniors in volunteer organizations and community development initiatives. In 2011, reports were completed to provide preliminary information about the dimensions of voluntarism in two pilot study towns. These communities include Quesnel and Tumbler Ridge. In 2013, profiles were created for a series of voluntary sector initiatives in these communities. The goal was to explore a range of roles in the voluntary sector and in community development in order to explore how seniors’ engagement and voluntary initiatives are reshaping and changing these communities. The project is based out of the UNBC Community Development Institute in collaboration with Mark Skinner at Trent University and Alun Joseph at the University of Guelph.

    2013 project reports include:

    2011 project reports include:

  • (Re)Defining poverty in resource dependent rural and small town places

    • Community and Economic Development and Transformation
    • Housing

    2011

    Poverty remains an important, but challenging research, policy, and lived world issue.  It is found in all communities – in all regions.  In Canada, most poverty research has been urban focused and our knowledge about the dynamics, experiences, and complex underpinnings of rural poverty is more limited.  Since the early 1980s, Canadian rural and small town places have experienced accelerated change due to economic and social restructuring.  These have generated new pressures and trends that affect those living on low-income and households at risk of living in poverty. These impacts are especially important in resource-based economies and those places located at a distance from major urban centres.

    Based on a pilot study in the McBride and surrounding region, this project explores how key factors, attributes of place, and institutional processes affect rural household journeys into and out of poverty.  This includes exploring interactions between low-income households and service support networks to develop a greater understanding of emerging issues for households in resource-dependent towns undergoing intense economic and service restructuring.

  • District of Clearwater - Community Economic Development Plan

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

    2011

    This research partnership between the District of Clearwater and UNBC’s Community Development Institute reviewed past community and economic development plans and talked with local residents to create a new Community Economic Development plan for the District and the surrounding Electoral Area of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.  The Community Development Institute has a longstanding relationship with the people and communities of the North Thompson Valley.

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