Mandy

The Harris Centre recently hosted a workshop in Marystown, inviting those living in the broader Burin Region to share their vision and ideas for a thriving region.

In general, the participants expressed their belief that the Burin region has plenty of existing assets and great potential.

They identified the following four priority areas:

1. Realizing Our Tourism Potential: The Burin Peninsula has a number of unique and compelling assets, including its proximity and relationship with St. Pierre & Miquelon. Building upon existing tourism assets, products and services, workshop participants see opportunities for further developing and combining these in ways to advance tourism across the region.
2.  Senior and Child Friendly Communities: Healthy communities find ways of providing opportunities for people of all ages – seniors, youth, families, etc. – to engage in and contribute to community life. Workshop participants expressed desire for finding innovative, fiscally responsible approaches for meeting the needs across different age groups within the region. 
3. Attraction & Retention of Workers and Families: Similar to many rural regions in the province, the Burin Peninsula is experiencing demographic shifts and the associated challenge of meeting the staffing needs for businesses and service organizations. There is strong interest in identifying strategies for attracting new people and families, and for retaining those already in the region. 
4. Ocean Health & Seafood Opportunities: The Burin Peninsula has a long history of working with and on the sea. Building upon this tradition and existing assets, there is interest in exploring new opportunities in seafood and saltwater resources (e.g., fishery, aquaculture, kelp resources, value-add products from existing waste streams, etc.).

The Harris Centre invites interested researchers to submit proposals related to either of these four areas.

Do you have ideas for exploring specific opportunities, strategies and next steps that could move the region forward in realizing its tourism potential? Do you have ideas for exploring innovative opportunities for how the region could improve the experiences of children and/or seniors? Do you have ideas for attracting and retaining workers? Do you have ideas for seafood opportunities and improving ocean health?

This research opportunity aims to benefit both the researcher and the community: successful applicants will be provided $15,000 in funding and will work with the community to address their priorities.

This project is part of the Harris Centre’s Thriving Regions Partnership Process.For more information on the fund, click here.

Deadline for submissions is Monday, January 6th.

Apply Now!

For help with applications or for any other information, contact Chris Paterson at cpaterson13@mun.ca