Rural Spark
Welcome to Rural Spark – the podcast that explores and celebrates rural innovation! Join Helen Murphy, rural newspaper editor and entrepreneur, as she invites guests to share fresh thinking, success stories and lessons learned in rural innovation.
Episodes
64 episodes
People are coming, but will they stay?
Rural communities are benefitting from a new wave of urban-to-rural migration during the pandemic. Especially in coastal communities of Atlantic Canada and B.C., new families are providing a much needed boost to school populations and local eco...
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Season 1
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Episode 64
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24:22
The rural-urban divide in Canadian elections: cause for concern?
The recent federal election result builds on a trend in the rural-urban vote split in Canada. At what point is that cause for concern? Should our electoral system and political parties take any steps to address potential negative impacts of the...
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Season 1
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Episode 63
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24:14
Rural medical students to urban counterparts: try rural practice
A group of medical students from Ontario medical schools are reaching out to those in urban schools to extoll the benefits of small town practice. Their efforts could be one part of the puzzle in solving Canada's rural doctor shortage. Current ...
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Season 1
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Episode 62
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24:54
The secrets of seaweed: New festival celebrates the art, food, science and economic potential of marine plants
Scotland is about to host its first seaweed festival -- an artistic, culinary and environmental event on Isle Martin. Festival curator and environmental photographer Julia Barton shares the story and rolls out the welcome mat.
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Season 1
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Episode 61
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20:37
Piloting innovative ideas for rural communities
Test driving new, innovative ideas for rural communities makes sense. It's a low-risk, low-cost way of seeing what might work, what doesn't and what could be a success with a little adaption. That's the kind of work Mary Doyle does in her enter...
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Season 1
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Episode 60
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28:35
Youth Hackathon tackles pressing rural problems
Young people from countries bordering the North Atlantic recently spent a weekend working in teams to tackle some of the urgent challenges facing our rural communities. We talked with Paula Haapanen with the Canadian partner organization -- the...
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Season 1
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Episode 59
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18:43
Recruiting rural doctors? Don't forget those studying abroad
While studying medicine in Ireland, Canadian Sarah Kaip is building a network of future doctors there, encouraging them to consider rural medicine back home in Canada. There's no shortage of Canadians studying medicine abroad, and they're somet...
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Season 1
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Episode 58
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14:49
Gurdeep Pandher on joy-making during COVID-19
Who could have predicted that videos of Bhangra dancing from the wilds of the Yukon would help so many of us get through COVID-19? Gurdeep Pandher had to step back and try to make sense of it all himself, as he tells us in this episode. Hear hi...
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Season 1
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Episode 57
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31:19
From dairy byproduct to vodka: the Dairy Distillery story
Got milk? In the small town of Almonte in Eastern Ontario, the Dairy Distillery is using a byproduct of the dairy industry to make vodka -- to rave reviews. It's a terrific example of rural business innovation that turns waste into valuable pro...
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Season 1
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Episode 56
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13:46
Mental health on the family farm
The risk of mental illness among farmers is much higher than in the general population, with often devastating results for individuals, families and communities. DoMoreAg is a non-profit working to raise awareness, break down the stigma and bui...
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Season 1
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Episode 55
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18:13
Indigenous legends add value in tourism
Indigenous storyteller Mary Louise Bernard shares Mi'kmaw legends with Parks Canada visitors, to rave reviews. We talk with Mary Louise about the benefits of bringing Indigenous culture into rural tourism planning. New to the pod? ...
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Season 1
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Episode 54
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20:05
Rethinking rural medicine during COVID-19
12 days from idea to implementation -- that's how long it took to get a new Virtual Triage Assessment Centre up and running in Renfrew County at the start of the pandemic. Dr. Jonathan Fitzsimon tells us how it happened and what it might mean f...
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Season 1
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Episode 53
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24:40
Should I start a business during pandemic?
Is there an upside to starting a rural business during the pandemic? That's what Anthea Taljaard did. And so far, so very good. Hear our conversation with her on this week's pod.
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Season 1
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Episode 52
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16:59
Small towns ask urbanites to stay home
With some urban centres in Canada becoming COVID-19 hotspots, rural communities are seeing some city dwellers retreat to small towns. Ashleigh Wheeden, a PhD student in Rural Studies at Guelph, joins us today to help break down why this is happ...
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Season 1
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Episode 50
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34:39
Caremongering across Canada
Caremongering is a movement spreading across Canada in the face of COVID-19. Through social media, Caremongering works to promote kindness and share information and resources to help people cope. This week we check in with two Caremongering gro...
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Season 1
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Episode 49
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25:09
From Nairobi to Nova Scotia: a solution to staff shortages
Like many healthcare facilities across Canada, Glen Haven Manor experiences staff shortages. But in 2019, the Pictou County nursing home had an opportunity to find a solution at a refugee camp -- and they seized it.New to the pod? Every...
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Season 1
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Episode 48
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23:07
Leveraging your local college: the collaboration advantage
A maker space in Trail, B.C. just became the first rural fabrication lab in Canada to house a 3D metal printer. Jason Taylor is an instructor & applied researcher at Selkirk College and he joins us today to explain how getting the right too...
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Season 1
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Episode 47
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23:57
Planet, people and purpose in business: Going global from Cape Breton
This week we talk to the owner of a new 'ethical' business in Nova Scotia that has quickly gained an international clientele. Tara Milburn's keys to success include smart online networking and growing a team that can work from wherever they wan...
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Season 1
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Episode 46
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36:56
Are rural people really happier? Some lessons for urbanites
Feel like escaping to the countryside? Rural life is seen by many as a happier alternative to long commutes and crowded cities, but what does the research tell us? We invited McGill professor Dr. Chris Barrington-Leigh to the podcast to share h...
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Season 1
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Episode 45
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41:25
From poverty-stricken to remote jobs leader: how connectivity transformed a rural Kentucky county
It’s old school meets modern technology, a tale that starts with a mule named Bub and ends (for now) with good-paying jobs, a reversal of outmigration and hope in Jackson County, formerly one of the most impoverished areas of the U.S. Keith Gab...
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Season 1
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Episode 44
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24:40
Makers, innovators, & entrepreneurs unite! The shared space solution?
Yukonstruct, the first community innovation hub north of 60, believes in the power of synergy. When entrepreneurs, makers and innovators come together, good things happen – good things that create jobs and drive the economy. Executive Director ...
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Season 1
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Episode 43
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24:53
Grab a carbon neutral cold one
Cowbell Brewing is located in Blyth, Ontario, a town of around 1000 residents. But in its first two years of operations, Cowbell has served hundreds of thousands. In this episode we talk to Grant Sparling from Cowbell Brewing about how this ent...
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Season 1
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Episode 42
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20:28
Cradle to career: closing the rural education gap
This week we look into the gap in post-secondary education access and achievement for rural students. To help explain what's being done to close that gap, we're joined by Dreama Gentry of Berea College in eastern Kentucky and John White, former...
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Season 1
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Episode 41
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27:41
Success in rural medicine: The Marathon model
This is a model worth replicating. The small town of Marathon, Ont. has a surplus of doctors. And that's benefiting not only locals, but also neighbouring communities that run short.New to the pod? Every week Helen Murphy, a rural newsp...
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Season 1
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Episode 40
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32:37