Harnessing the Power of Stories for Rural Sustainability: Reflections on Community-Based Research on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland
Stories have the power to shape understanding of community sustainability. Yet in places on the periphery of capitalist systems, such as rural and resource-based regions, this power can be used to impose top–down narratives on to local residents. Academic research often reinforces these processes by...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
UTS ePRESS
2021-12-01
|
| Series: | Gateways |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://10.44.7.44:8080/index.php/ijcre/article/view/7766 |
| _version_ | 1828467180839108608 |
|---|---|
| author | Brennan Lowery Joan Cranston Carolyn Lavers Richard May Renee Pilgrim Joan Simmonds |
| author_facet | Brennan Lowery Joan Cranston Carolyn Lavers Richard May Renee Pilgrim Joan Simmonds |
| author_sort | Brennan Lowery |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Stories have the power to shape understanding of community sustainability. Yet in places on the periphery of capitalist systems, such as rural and resource-based regions, this power can be used to impose top–down narratives on to local residents. Academic research often reinforces these processes by telling damage-centric narratives that portray communities as depleted and broken, which perpetuates power imbalances between academia and community members, while disempowering local voices. This article explores the potential of storytelling as a means for local actors to challenge top–down notions of rural sustainability, drawing on a community-based research initiative on the Great Northern Peninsula (GNP) of Newfoundland. Five of the authors are community change-makers and one is an academic researcher. We challenge deficiencies-based narratives told about rural Newfoundland and Labrador, in which the GNP is often characterised by a narrow set of socio-economic indicators that overlook the region’s many tangible and intangible assets. Grounded in a participatory asset mapping and storytelling process, a ‘deep story’ of regional sustainability based on community members’ voices contrasts narratives of decline with stories of hope, and shares community renewal initiatives told by the dynamic individuals leading them. This article contributes to regional development efforts on the GNP, scholarship on sustainability in rural and remote communities, and efforts to realise alternative forms of university-community engagement that centre community members’ voices and support self-determination. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T04:01:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-034858cfe1f34c0ead64d9ebc221232a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1836-3393 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T04:01:16Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | UTS ePRESS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Gateways |
| spelling | doaj.art-034858cfe1f34c0ead64d9ebc221232a2022-12-22T01:21:38ZengUTS ePRESSGateways1836-33932021-12-0114210.5130/ijcre.v14i2.7766Harnessing the Power of Stories for Rural Sustainability: Reflections on Community-Based Research on the Great Northern Peninsula of NewfoundlandBrennan Lowery0Joan CranstonCarolyn LaversRichard MayRenee PilgrimJoan Simmonds{'en_US': 'Post-doctoral Researcher'}Stories have the power to shape understanding of community sustainability. Yet in places on the periphery of capitalist systems, such as rural and resource-based regions, this power can be used to impose top–down narratives on to local residents. Academic research often reinforces these processes by telling damage-centric narratives that portray communities as depleted and broken, which perpetuates power imbalances between academia and community members, while disempowering local voices. This article explores the potential of storytelling as a means for local actors to challenge top–down notions of rural sustainability, drawing on a community-based research initiative on the Great Northern Peninsula (GNP) of Newfoundland. Five of the authors are community change-makers and one is an academic researcher. We challenge deficiencies-based narratives told about rural Newfoundland and Labrador, in which the GNP is often characterised by a narrow set of socio-economic indicators that overlook the region’s many tangible and intangible assets. Grounded in a participatory asset mapping and storytelling process, a ‘deep story’ of regional sustainability based on community members’ voices contrasts narratives of decline with stories of hope, and shares community renewal initiatives told by the dynamic individuals leading them. This article contributes to regional development efforts on the GNP, scholarship on sustainability in rural and remote communities, and efforts to realise alternative forms of university-community engagement that centre community members’ voices and support self-determination.http://10.44.7.44:8080/index.php/ijcre/article/view/7766rural developmentstorytellingsustainabilitycommunity-based researchself-determinationNewfoundland and Labrador |
| spellingShingle | Brennan Lowery Joan Cranston Carolyn Lavers Richard May Renee Pilgrim Joan Simmonds Harnessing the Power of Stories for Rural Sustainability: Reflections on Community-Based Research on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland Gateways rural development storytelling sustainability community-based research self-determination Newfoundland and Labrador |
| title | Harnessing the Power of Stories for Rural Sustainability: Reflections on Community-Based Research on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland |
| title_full | Harnessing the Power of Stories for Rural Sustainability: Reflections on Community-Based Research on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland |
| title_fullStr | Harnessing the Power of Stories for Rural Sustainability: Reflections on Community-Based Research on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Harnessing the Power of Stories for Rural Sustainability: Reflections on Community-Based Research on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland |
| title_short | Harnessing the Power of Stories for Rural Sustainability: Reflections on Community-Based Research on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland |
| title_sort | harnessing the power of stories for rural sustainability reflections on community based research on the great northern peninsula of newfoundland |
| topic | rural development storytelling sustainability community-based research self-determination Newfoundland and Labrador |
| url | http://10.44.7.44:8080/index.php/ijcre/article/view/7766 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT brennanlowery harnessingthepowerofstoriesforruralsustainabilityreflectionsoncommunitybasedresearchonthegreatnorthernpeninsulaofnewfoundland AT joancranston harnessingthepowerofstoriesforruralsustainabilityreflectionsoncommunitybasedresearchonthegreatnorthernpeninsulaofnewfoundland AT carolynlavers harnessingthepowerofstoriesforruralsustainabilityreflectionsoncommunitybasedresearchonthegreatnorthernpeninsulaofnewfoundland AT richardmay harnessingthepowerofstoriesforruralsustainabilityreflectionsoncommunitybasedresearchonthegreatnorthernpeninsulaofnewfoundland AT reneepilgrim harnessingthepowerofstoriesforruralsustainabilityreflectionsoncommunitybasedresearchonthegreatnorthernpeninsulaofnewfoundland AT joansimmonds harnessingthepowerofstoriesforruralsustainabilityreflectionsoncommunitybasedresearchonthegreatnorthernpeninsulaofnewfoundland |