Image courtesy of Fraser Institute.or













Settlement Heirachy Used to Classify Our Communities Click here to show/hide the table

Learn about Windhorse Farms

  • Creative Food Movement

    Creative Food Movements are excellent ways of diversifying local tourism. Annual festivals that highlight and promote local products, chefs, restaurants, and collaboration amongst businesses are fundamental in sustaining a community food system and a healthy and ethical local economy. These communities attract and retain people who wish to leave the city behind in favour of a more rural, farm-to-table, lifestyle characteristic of an ever-growing creative food movement.
    Click here to learn more

  • A Local Institution

    Farmer's markets are staples of rural life and often showcase the region's best in produce, meats, and dairy. These markets become an institution of the community and often support and promote local farmers and artisans.
    Click here for more information

  • Overcoming Barriers and Creating Jobs

    Communities often face enormous amounts of pressure in terms of employment, living standards, and services. Areas that once solely focused on struggling industries for survival are now finding other opportunities to create and sustain growth. Community development finincial institutions offer an escape from the barriers of economic exclusion, poverty, poor housing, and unsecure employment.
    Click here to read more.

  • Rebirth and Revitalization

    What were once vacant and neglected properties now have the oppurtunity to become beautifully restored private homes, affordable housing units, vacation rentals, bed and breakfasts, pubs, and restaurants. This becomes an attraction to people unhappy with urban life who crave culture and a community rich in heritage. See what Millenials are saying

  • Sustainable, Responsible, and Beautiful

    Creating beautiful pieces of art and furniture from sustainably-grown trees is a continuously-growing industry that highlights and promotes the value and unique character of the tree itself. Using solely naturally felled, infected, or damaged trees for artistic purposes gives the wood new life and a new purpose, strengthening the bond between humankind and the forest.
    Read about Windhorse Woods

  • Old Ways, New Beginnings

    The outports of Newfoundland have always been important for the health of the nation, the province, and their communities. Finding new ways to ensure their survival built on cultural and economic resilience brings hope and investment to these quaint, historical outports and the people that depend on them. Read more about this

  • Agri-Tourism

    Agricultural tourism offers city-dwellers, yearning for an escape from their fast-paced urban lives, an opportunity to reconnect with the Earth and experience an agrarian lifestyle. This offers prospects for generating and diversifying revenue for farmers who benefit from urnban tourists. See how it works

  • Unique Culture = Unique Brand

    A strong perception of quality of place can be found almost anywhere. In rural communities, this can be their saviour when it comes to long-term viability. By embracing uniqueness, culture, arts, and heritage, rural communities can etch out a profitable existence in an age of modernity and urbanization. Read more

  • Waste Knot

    Trees that are naturally felled or are slated for removal to make way for urban expansion can indeed enjoy a new life as one-of-a-kind furniture pieces with a unique identity. Harvesting reclaimed urban trees is an increasingly popular, sustainable, and trendy way to promote a more responsible attitude towards nature. Giving these trees new life also encourages communication between arborists, artists, and their communities. Check it out on the 'Gram

  • Artisan Products from Heritage Centres

    Preserving local heritage and encouraging co-operation amongst businesses and entrepreneurs has succeeded in forming creative home-grown economies that thrive. A unique product with a unique history can be a catalyst for success. Read more on CBC.ca

  • Artisan Communities

    The lure of small towns has a magnetic effect on artists and their communities. There they can practice their art while simultaneously contributing to their local economies through exhibitions, galleries, and workshops.
    See what Almonte has to offer

  • Buying Local

    The best and freshest produce comes from your own backyard. When you buy and sell locally, everyone benefits. Healthy local economies thrive on the business and interactions between growers, sellers, and consumers. The lack of a middleman brings people closer to their food and to their communities. Read about buying local

Key Concepts

Promoting Resilience

Torjman (2007) suggests that shared places help to promote strong and vibrant communities because it helps to build resilient communities capable of prospering in times of adversity. By bringing together people, a foundation for engagement is provided whereby which people can find common understanding. From this engagement and understanding, we are able to work towards common goals to help further support and build stronger communities. Shared spaces present great opportunities for great discussion. (Torjman, S. (2007). Shared Space: The Communities Agenda. ON: The Caledon Institute of Social Policy) .

Explore this concept

Importance of Place

The concept of shared and public spaces is rooted in the notion of place. Whether it be the physical space in which we live or emotional place, place provides meaning and belonging in our daily lives. Places are the foundation upon which a network for people can be built. The importance of place takes significance when we think about well-being and development; quality of places and their attributes impacts our health, social cohesion, and economic welfare (Torjman, S. (2007). Shared Space: The Communities Agenda. ON: The Caledon Institute of Social Policy).

Explore this concept

Social Capital

The purpose of shared spaces is to bring people together, they are a location whereby which human interaction occurs. The way a place is planned ultimately impacts community health as increased social activity helps to foster an environment of support, security and trust. The socio-spatial attributes associated with these places help create unique spaces for community gatherings. Regardless of their size or geometry, public spaces serve as a means of community development and social development creating and reinforcing social bonds among people. (Friedman, A. (2014). Planning Small and Mid-Sized Towns. NY: Routledge).

Explore this concept

Click on the images below to learn more about concepts about ecological design that creates economic opportunities

Click the images below!