Boom and Bust: Local strategy for big events is the result of a collective effort at the Universi... more Boom and Bust: Local strategy for big events is the result of a collective effort at the University of Alberta to better understand the dramatic ups and downs which too often characterize western Canadian communities. From the Canadian analysis stems this book, which can be helpful in any community experiencing radical ups and downs, any community worried about its future. It offers community leaders, politicians, administrators, academics, students, and all active citizens helpful techniques to analyze the current state of their own community, understand how it got where it is today, and ultimately, identify possible ways forward. We encourage analysis of historical paths and policy contexts to better understand what strategies might work (or not) in a community. The authors encourage readers to learn from local histories, a broad range of tested theories, and the experiences of other communities to develop a context-sensitive strategy of asset building, while at the same time taki...
Abstract We draw on research in Western Newfoundland (Canada) to investigate the possibilities an... more Abstract We draw on research in Western Newfoundland (Canada) to investigate the possibilities and limits of community reinvention, defined as radical change in the nature of the community, as perceived by local residents. Community reinvention is understood as an extreme form of strategic change in communities, one typically embraced under extreme circumstances. As such, reinvention offers a privileged vantage point on the utility of strategy to effectuate community change. We examine three communities in western Newfoundland, a region that has experienced a prolonged economic decline and is therefore keen on changing its development path. We coin the concepts of reinvention paths to grasp the set of transformation options available to a community, a matrix that can be reconstructed through analysis of the governance path(s) of a community. The concept of reinvention paradox is devised to point out that envisioned strategic change amounting to reinvention is likely to significantly alter, and perhaps even ultimately undermine, that strategy by altering, if successful, the actors, perspectives, power relations and identities at play. This paradox will unfold over time and, it is argued, can be amenable to adaptive management.
Sustainable Development and Planning VII, May 19, 2015
Resource-based communities (RBC) are a significant feature of the economic geography of Canada. F... more Resource-based communities (RBC) are a significant feature of the economic geography of Canada. For many of these economies, particularly those based on minerals and petroleum resources, the past 20 years has witnessed tremendous growth. For example, energy exports contributed $113 billion to the Canadian economy in 2011 alone. At the center of this boom is the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB). Like no other RBC in Canadian history, the region's population has doubled to over 100,000 in less than 10 years. This growth has caused the RMWB to struggle to keep pace with the infrastructural needs of its residents (e.g. health, education, recreation facilities). Despite such concerns, the population of the region is estimated to increase to 250,000 within 30 years. Using the RMWB as a case study, this project examines Canada's premiere resourcebased region from a long-term resiliency perspective. This project uses key informant interviews with local stakeholders to examine local perceptions of growth and development and their impact on community resiliency. We identify resident retention and resident involvement as the two primary concerns of residents linked to resiliency. This exploratory study suggests the need for further research to examine: (1) the perceived linkages between local infrastructural ideals and institutional governance; (2) the potential role of external information sources (e.g. the mainstream media) on perceptions of growth and development; and (3) the need to develop a "tool-kit" of informative resources for future resource-based communities grappling with rapid growth and attempting to become resilient to the associated challenges.
Sustainable Development and Planning IX, Jun 27, 2017
The dynamics of the modern workforce required for large industrial development has changed over t... more The dynamics of the modern workforce required for large industrial development has changed over the last several decades. More specifically, many companies based in oil and gas extraction are opting to adopt a fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) workforce model, in particular those based on the extraction and production of oil and gas, in an attempt to minimize infrastructure costs and alter the cyclic boom/bust nature associated with resource extraction. Employing semi-structured interviews with key informants from Fort McMurray, Alberta, perhaps the most notorious resource-based community in Canadian history, this paper details how residents perceive the FIFO workers and what impacts this new employment strategy may have on their community. The primary findings indicate that while it is necessary to have access a large workforce, the use of FIFO workers negatively impacts the local community in several ways. First, the use of FIFO workers not only reduces the interaction that employees have with the nearby community, but alters their perception of that community. Second, FIFO workers access local infrastructure (e.g. healthcare) but do not support further development through taxes and discretionary income. Third, the transiency of FIFO workers affects place-attachment and long-term sustainability of the region. This research contributes to existing literature on resourcebased communities, sustainable urban development, and FIFO employment through use of a Canadian case-study that illustrates local experiences of the impacts of a relatively new employment model that has the potential to significantly impact resource-based communities.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential, both analytically and practica... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential, both analytically and practically, of understanding research methods as bridging devices. Methods can bridge theory and empirics, but it is argued that they can perform several bridging functions: between theory and praxis, between analysis and strategy and between past and future. The focus is on those forms of bridging relevant for understanding and effectuating change in governance, at community level and at the scale of organizations. Design/methodology/approach The paper develops a perspective on methods as bridging devices. It uses the newly minted methods of governance path and context mapping as a case study. These methods conceptually derive from evolutionary governance theory (EGT) and were developed and tested in Canadian empirical research. The case helps to develop insight in features, forms and limitations of methods as bridging devices in governance research and practice. The authors then use the case ...
Quarantine measures and the crises triggering them are never neutral in the sense that a return t... more Quarantine measures and the crises triggering them are never neutral in the sense that a return to the past is impossible. These measures are also a signal of other things like systemic risks and weaknesses. A period of quarantine is also a thing in and by itself. What happens after quarantine is thus shaped both by the state of the social-ecological system preceding quarantine and by what happened during quarantine. The selectivities introduced during quarantine span discursive, institutional and material realms. Old discourses can return with a new meaning. Social and economic relations can reappear seemingly unchanged, they can be more visibly altered and they can be dismantled. Ideologies, however, to be understood here as master discourses, read problems and solutions in their own way and do not necessarily come closer to each other or disappear. All this, offers food for thought regarding the possibilities and limits of resilience and transition. We argue that the current COVI...
Resource-based communities (RBCs) are a common feature of Canada’s economic
landscape. Community... more Resource-based communities (RBCs) are a common feature of Canada’s economic landscape. Community resilience is critical for RBCs, where economic cycles associated with the fluctuations in prices of natural resources in international markets occur regularly. This paper presents an analytical framework of community resilience of RBCs in the Canadian context. Using the Town of Devon, Alberta as a case study and publicly accessible sources of data, indicators of community resilience for an RBC are identified. The results highlight that the case study community has typical demographic and economic characteristics of a boom and bust cycle in an RBC for majority of the indicators of resilience. Additionally, results also show that existing regional and municipal policies focus on a diversified economic base, improved municipal facilities, and environmental management. This case study suggests the need for further research to examine a RBC’s long-term growth trajectory, sensitivity to distance from centres of business and trade, and the impact of policy directives for diversification and environmental protection.
Boom and Bust: Local strategy for big events is the result of a collective effort at the Universi... more Boom and Bust: Local strategy for big events is the result of a collective effort at the University of Alberta to better understand the dramatic ups and downs which too often characterize western Canadian communities. From the Canadian analysis stems this book, which can be helpful in any community experiencing radical ups and downs, any community worried about its future. It offers community leaders, politicians, administrators, academics, students, and all active citizens helpful techniques to analyze the current state of their own community, understand how it got where it is today, and ultimately, identify possible ways forward. We encourage analysis of historical paths and policy contexts to better understand what strategies might work (or not) in a community. The authors encourage readers to learn from local histories, a broad range of tested theories, and the experiences of other communities to develop a context-sensitive strategy of asset building, while at the same time taki...
Abstract We draw on research in Western Newfoundland (Canada) to investigate the possibilities an... more Abstract We draw on research in Western Newfoundland (Canada) to investigate the possibilities and limits of community reinvention, defined as radical change in the nature of the community, as perceived by local residents. Community reinvention is understood as an extreme form of strategic change in communities, one typically embraced under extreme circumstances. As such, reinvention offers a privileged vantage point on the utility of strategy to effectuate community change. We examine three communities in western Newfoundland, a region that has experienced a prolonged economic decline and is therefore keen on changing its development path. We coin the concepts of reinvention paths to grasp the set of transformation options available to a community, a matrix that can be reconstructed through analysis of the governance path(s) of a community. The concept of reinvention paradox is devised to point out that envisioned strategic change amounting to reinvention is likely to significantly alter, and perhaps even ultimately undermine, that strategy by altering, if successful, the actors, perspectives, power relations and identities at play. This paradox will unfold over time and, it is argued, can be amenable to adaptive management.
Sustainable Development and Planning VII, May 19, 2015
Resource-based communities (RBC) are a significant feature of the economic geography of Canada. F... more Resource-based communities (RBC) are a significant feature of the economic geography of Canada. For many of these economies, particularly those based on minerals and petroleum resources, the past 20 years has witnessed tremendous growth. For example, energy exports contributed $113 billion to the Canadian economy in 2011 alone. At the center of this boom is the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB). Like no other RBC in Canadian history, the region's population has doubled to over 100,000 in less than 10 years. This growth has caused the RMWB to struggle to keep pace with the infrastructural needs of its residents (e.g. health, education, recreation facilities). Despite such concerns, the population of the region is estimated to increase to 250,000 within 30 years. Using the RMWB as a case study, this project examines Canada's premiere resourcebased region from a long-term resiliency perspective. This project uses key informant interviews with local stakeholders to examine local perceptions of growth and development and their impact on community resiliency. We identify resident retention and resident involvement as the two primary concerns of residents linked to resiliency. This exploratory study suggests the need for further research to examine: (1) the perceived linkages between local infrastructural ideals and institutional governance; (2) the potential role of external information sources (e.g. the mainstream media) on perceptions of growth and development; and (3) the need to develop a "tool-kit" of informative resources for future resource-based communities grappling with rapid growth and attempting to become resilient to the associated challenges.
Sustainable Development and Planning IX, Jun 27, 2017
The dynamics of the modern workforce required for large industrial development has changed over t... more The dynamics of the modern workforce required for large industrial development has changed over the last several decades. More specifically, many companies based in oil and gas extraction are opting to adopt a fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) workforce model, in particular those based on the extraction and production of oil and gas, in an attempt to minimize infrastructure costs and alter the cyclic boom/bust nature associated with resource extraction. Employing semi-structured interviews with key informants from Fort McMurray, Alberta, perhaps the most notorious resource-based community in Canadian history, this paper details how residents perceive the FIFO workers and what impacts this new employment strategy may have on their community. The primary findings indicate that while it is necessary to have access a large workforce, the use of FIFO workers negatively impacts the local community in several ways. First, the use of FIFO workers not only reduces the interaction that employees have with the nearby community, but alters their perception of that community. Second, FIFO workers access local infrastructure (e.g. healthcare) but do not support further development through taxes and discretionary income. Third, the transiency of FIFO workers affects place-attachment and long-term sustainability of the region. This research contributes to existing literature on resourcebased communities, sustainable urban development, and FIFO employment through use of a Canadian case-study that illustrates local experiences of the impacts of a relatively new employment model that has the potential to significantly impact resource-based communities.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential, both analytically and practica... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential, both analytically and practically, of understanding research methods as bridging devices. Methods can bridge theory and empirics, but it is argued that they can perform several bridging functions: between theory and praxis, between analysis and strategy and between past and future. The focus is on those forms of bridging relevant for understanding and effectuating change in governance, at community level and at the scale of organizations. Design/methodology/approach The paper develops a perspective on methods as bridging devices. It uses the newly minted methods of governance path and context mapping as a case study. These methods conceptually derive from evolutionary governance theory (EGT) and were developed and tested in Canadian empirical research. The case helps to develop insight in features, forms and limitations of methods as bridging devices in governance research and practice. The authors then use the case ...
Quarantine measures and the crises triggering them are never neutral in the sense that a return t... more Quarantine measures and the crises triggering them are never neutral in the sense that a return to the past is impossible. These measures are also a signal of other things like systemic risks and weaknesses. A period of quarantine is also a thing in and by itself. What happens after quarantine is thus shaped both by the state of the social-ecological system preceding quarantine and by what happened during quarantine. The selectivities introduced during quarantine span discursive, institutional and material realms. Old discourses can return with a new meaning. Social and economic relations can reappear seemingly unchanged, they can be more visibly altered and they can be dismantled. Ideologies, however, to be understood here as master discourses, read problems and solutions in their own way and do not necessarily come closer to each other or disappear. All this, offers food for thought regarding the possibilities and limits of resilience and transition. We argue that the current COVI...
Resource-based communities (RBCs) are a common feature of Canada’s economic
landscape. Community... more Resource-based communities (RBCs) are a common feature of Canada’s economic landscape. Community resilience is critical for RBCs, where economic cycles associated with the fluctuations in prices of natural resources in international markets occur regularly. This paper presents an analytical framework of community resilience of RBCs in the Canadian context. Using the Town of Devon, Alberta as a case study and publicly accessible sources of data, indicators of community resilience for an RBC are identified. The results highlight that the case study community has typical demographic and economic characteristics of a boom and bust cycle in an RBC for majority of the indicators of resilience. Additionally, results also show that existing regional and municipal policies focus on a diversified economic base, improved municipal facilities, and environmental management. This case study suggests the need for further research to examine a RBC’s long-term growth trajectory, sensitivity to distance from centres of business and trade, and the impact of policy directives for diversification and environmental protection.
In this book, we present a perspective on communities experiencing ups and downs which can help t... more In this book, we present a perspective on communities experiencing ups and downs which can help them to mitigate the cycles. We propose a two part approach: a self- analysis based on a deep understanding of governance paths, and secondly community strategizing, where the quality of strategy hinges on the quality of the self- analysis. Learning is crucial, and will have to be context- dependent; we discuss learning from the community's past, from other places, from theory.
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Papers by Leith Deacon
landscape. Community resilience is critical for RBCs, where economic cycles associated with
the fluctuations in prices of natural resources in international markets occur regularly. This
paper presents an analytical framework of community resilience of RBCs in the Canadian
context. Using the Town of Devon, Alberta as a case study and publicly accessible sources of
data, indicators of community resilience for an RBC are identified. The results highlight that
the case study community has typical demographic and economic characteristics of a boom
and bust cycle in an RBC for majority of the indicators of resilience. Additionally, results also
show that existing regional and municipal policies focus on a diversified economic base,
improved municipal facilities, and environmental management. This case study suggests the
need for further research to examine a RBC’s long-term growth trajectory, sensitivity to
distance from centres of business and trade, and the impact of policy directives for
diversification and environmental protection.
landscape. Community resilience is critical for RBCs, where economic cycles associated with
the fluctuations in prices of natural resources in international markets occur regularly. This
paper presents an analytical framework of community resilience of RBCs in the Canadian
context. Using the Town of Devon, Alberta as a case study and publicly accessible sources of
data, indicators of community resilience for an RBC are identified. The results highlight that
the case study community has typical demographic and economic characteristics of a boom
and bust cycle in an RBC for majority of the indicators of resilience. Additionally, results also
show that existing regional and municipal policies focus on a diversified economic base,
improved municipal facilities, and environmental management. This case study suggests the
need for further research to examine a RBC’s long-term growth trajectory, sensitivity to
distance from centres of business and trade, and the impact of policy directives for
diversification and environmental protection.