16 July 2016 — Day 3
Blog post by Naomi Finseth, Brandon University, Canada
As day three of ICRPS 2016 comes to a close I pause to reflect on the many topics discussed today. What I find interesting is that I am reflecting more on the informal conversations I had throughout the day rather than the formal presentations. This is not to say that the formal presentation are meaningless, instead, I see the true power of ICRPS in the networking and relationships that are developed over the course of these two weeks. We truly are building both human and social capital as we learn and grow at ICRPS. Today we discussed many important topics such as what a rural policy graduate certificate could look like, mobilizing research to inform policy and social/environmental justice. These topics were all very interesting and engaging, however, what I enjoyed the most was supper at the Salmon Bake (restaurant in Fairbanks). It was at this time that I was able to get to know more about the different contexts that we all live in. It was amazing to learn about social, cultural, economic and political differences that are experienced by each of us and how they change the way we view the world and how we approach rural and northern issues. I am looking forward to continuing to learning about my fellow collogues and rural communities around the world while I enjoy the beauty of Alaska.
Blog post by Gemma Estany Ferrer, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
The more the institute advances, more interesting topics are arising. Today we started with the presentation of how will be our final pitch presentations. We will have to come up with social innovative ideas and transfer/compare it to northern territories. I think that it is very challenging and a fun way to learn, also because we will have to exchange and debate in groups dealing with similar topics. Related to this, we also had some insights on how to translate our findings into policy briefings and presentations which raised a very interesting debate about the relationship between policy research and policy implementation. Additionally, only to mention some of the ideas that intrigued me the most today are: we can measure social capital and in many cases it is not fully used, so how can we trigger it? Climate change has a global dimension on environmental justice further than what I imagined. And finally, how much salmon can you be able to eat in the Salmon Bake in Pioneer Park? By the way, it was a great afternoon activity…!