Reflections on place-based policy… … some thoughts shared with the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Rural Policy
By: Ashleigh Weeden
I’m currently in Scotland completing research for my doctoral dissertation on place-based innovation and rural policy foresight. I’m incredibly fortunate to be supported through a Research & Exchange Mobility Grant from the Rural Policy Learning Commons as well as mentored, advised, and generously given opportunities to learn and participate by Dr. Jane Atterton and the team at the Rural Policy Centre at Scotland’s Rural College in Edinburgh, where I am primarily based during my time here (in addition to the mentorship and advice of Drs. Ryan Gibson, Sean Markey, and Wayne Caldwell, who are my Dissertation Advisory Committee at the University of Guelph).
Last night (October 29, 2019), I had the great privilege to have five minutes to share some reflections on place-based policy with the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Rural Policy. I was the last speaker in an excellent program of rapid-fire, five-minute interventions that highlighted issues related to demographic change in rural Scotland and place-based responses to those changes. As an outsider, a Canadian, and someone who has worked on all sides of questions of place-based interventions — well, it was interesting to be the cap on the night! Below, I’ve included the notes on what I intended to say. Due to time, some of the finer details were missed, but I thought it worth sharing these reflections here…
