Community Stewardship
Rural Futures assists communities and regions to become more sustainable in their use and management of natural landscapes. Realizing that every community, and every community relationship with the landscape, is different, Rural Futures works with local organizations to:
| • | increase public understanding of the ecological and cultural values of natural landscapes through research, publications and outreach; |
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| • | build the capacity of communities and private landowners to become better land stewards through education programs and access to information resources; and |
| • | help people to articulate and meet their conservation goals through the design and delivery of community-based stewardship, land management and conservation plans/projects. |
‘Community stewardship’ involves local people taking responsibility for the well-being of the natural landscape and recognizes the importance – to humans and all other species – of maintaining healthy communities within a healthy environment. Across British Columbia, municipalities and regional governments are taking stewardship of surrounding landscapes. Official Community Plans, growth studies and community forests are incorporating land stewardship and exercising local management of landscape use.
Rural Futures offers the following services to rural communities, business associations, and community organizations.
Education, Presentations and Workshops
What can communities hope to achieve from landscape stewardship? What tools are available for planning and managing stewardship? What are the aspirations and stewardship goals of your community? What are the appropriate strategies for your community to reach those goals?
Rural Futures and its affiliated organizations have decades of experience in facilitation of community processes that lead to strategic management of landscapes as community and regional ecological and cultural resources. Using case studies from around the world and tools adapted for Western Canada, our goal is too assist your community or organization to find solutions to your unique landscape stewardship objectives.
Strategic Planning
Once a community or a region has developed a vision and a management framework for landscape stewardship, Rural Futures will assist in the design of a strategic plan of action for realizing that vision.
Our team has studied strategic landscape management policies from around the world and has assisted many communities in Western Canada and the United States to achieve their stewardship vision. We understand the economic and social forces that are drivers of change in rural British Columbia. We use multiple futures scenario analysis to assist you to articulate a vision, understand the forces that will shape your future and develop a strategy of actions designed to attain the preferred scenario.
Email: futures@ruralfutures.ca