Research Objectives

The overarching research objective is to generate and gather evidence-based knowledge on how a college-led rural knowledge cluster model can contribute to rural community capacity building and rural development, by using participatory approaches and supporting community and regional economic diversification initiatives through the transfer of knowledge, workforce development and applied research and commercialization support. Specific research objectives to be considered are as follows:

Collaborative and Participatory Approaches

• Determine how collaborative and participatory approaches, as opposed to competitive approaches, can contribute to sustainable community capacity-building and give a rural community and/or region competitive advantage in the sector targeted for development.
• Research community engagement to maximize community participation.

Knowledge and Knowledge Transfer

• Determine the best way that knowledge can be developed, packaged, transferred and diffused in order to enable communities to effectively move forward with community development and capacity-building objectives.
• The findings of research on knowledge transfer will be used to identify and create innovative approaches to knowledge transfer thus affording industry, colleges and community stakeholders the best use of their resources, and allow for a sharing of these innovative approaches with other clusters and regions with similar clusters.
• Determine how knowledge of markets can be presented in a way that is relevant for the small entrepreneur or business and that can be easily translated into a viable opportunity.

Workforce Development

• Identify innovative practices for the delivery of education and training programs which address community capacity building needs identified by rural knowledge clusters.
• Determine the reach of education and training programs delivered to address targeted community capacity building objectives in each of the pilot project sites.
• Determine how new skills and knowledge are being applied to community development initiatives, and assess their impact on community capacity building initiatives at the three pilot project sites.

Applied Research, Innovation and Commercialization

• Assess how college applied research and commercialization services offered within the framework of the rural knowledge cluster give a rural community and/or region competitive advantage in the sector targeted for development.

Partnerships and Networks

• To determine how the rural knowledge cluster model helps to create and foster effective partnerships and networks for community capacity building and rural development.

Lessons Learned

• To gather, analyse and disseminate lessons learned from the three pilot projects on the impact and effectiveness of college-led rural knowledge clusters and their impact on rural development and community capacity building.

Rural Secretariat Policy and Program Impact

• To assess how the rural knowledge cluster model can lead to the development of a common understanding of rural development and community capacity building issues.
• To link and assess the impact of the research results on the rural knowledge cluster model to the policies and programs of the National Rural Planning Framework (NRPF).