Announcing Projects for 2016-17

Projects for 2016-17 have been scoped as 18-month projects that could be extended beyond the community-based pilot projects based on an assessment of impact and ‘phase 1’ learnings. Each project adopts an approach that works with individual pilot communities addressing areas of regional importance, similar to the approach undertaken by the Regional Business Retention and Expansion project. Three State of the Basin indicator suite projects will be implemented in order to further align indicator work with community priorities and capacity realities. The projects respond to priorities identified by the RDI Regional Advisory Committee and to ‘joint ’ requests made by communities.

STATE OF THE BASIN: ENABLING PROGRESS MEASUREMENT IN BASIN-BOUNDARY COMMUNITIES

CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
The purpose of this project is to pilot, evaluate, refine, and support uptake of the State of Climate Adaptation and Resilience in the Basin (SoCARB) indicator suite. SoCARB was developed in 2014 as a result of a research partnership between Columbia Basin Trust’s Communities Adapting to Climate Change Initiative and the RDI. It is a “made in the Basin-Boundary” approach to measuring progress in adapting to climate change. The project was recommended by the RDI Regional Advisory Committee and feedback was provided by CBT staff. The communities of Kimberley and Rossland have expressed interest in participating as pilot communities. It is anticipated one Regional District will serve as a pilot in year one. It is anticipated the resulting indicator suite will serve both the State of the Basin environmental indicator portfolio and the related planning and performance measurement needs of individual communities and the region as a whole. Learn more.

POVERTY REDUCTION
The purpose of this project is to measure the Basin-Boundary’s progress on poverty reduction efforts using indicators. Indicators are helpful for informing residents, organizations, and governments regarding key trends in poverty reduction, facilitating understanding of complex issues, evaluating the effectiveness of various poverty reduction measures, and motivating change. This project responds to a request made by the communities of Lower Columbia, Nelson, Cranbrook and Revelstoke to support their collaborative poverty reduction indicator work and interest in more directly linking their efforts to the State of the Basin. It is anticipated the resulting indicator suite will serve both the State of the Basin social indicator portfolio and the related planning and performance measurement needs of individual communities and the region as a whole. Learn more.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT
The purpose of this project is to measure the Basin-Boundary’s progress on economic development efforts using indicators. Indicators are especially important in informing and evaluating the impact of a community’s economic development plan. This project responds to a request made by the Basin-Boundary Economic Development Practitioners Network (EDPN) to provide performance measurement training support. The RDI recognized the opportunity to tie this need to the State of the Basin. It is anticipated the resulting indicator suite will serve both the State of the Basin economic indicator portfolio and the related planning and performance measurement needs of individual communities and the region as a whole. The RDI will be working in partnership with the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training (MJTST) and the Basin Boundary EDPN to pilot the Performance Measurement Toolkit in our rural communities. Join the webinar on May 16. Learn more.

APPLIED RESEARCH PROJECTS

In addition to the ongoing workforce development applied research project, the following project will also be implemented in 2016-17.

ASSET-BASED RURAL DEVELOPMENT: LEVERAGING ASSETS TO BUILD SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES
The purpose of this applied research project is to better understand how local assets can be linked and leveraged to attract and retain new residents, workers and investors. This research is positioned to advance regional efforts related to workforce attraction, business investment, regional marketing, and the desire expressed by communities to better understand how they can use community assets as an attraction tool. The project was recommended by the RDI Regional Advisory Committee and feedback was provided by CBT staff. Learn more.

BECOMING A PILOT COMMUNITY
Communities interested in becoming a pilot community for any of the above projects are encouraged to complete the fillable PDF Project Application Form. Applications will be accepted until 4:30pm (PST) June 30th, 2016. Please submit to: sbreen@selkirk.ca.

Successful applicants will be informed by July 15th, 2016 with the expectation that project planning will begin in August 2016. Learn more about the project selection criteria.

Have questions? Contact us.