2006

The purpose of this project is to produce information that will help to overcome a persistent barrier in economic development planning: the gap between planning and implementation.  Across northern BC, people have told the research team that their communities are frustrated by being “studied to death” while not seeing their efforts translated into viable action.  The findings and ongoing research associated with the Northern BC Economic Development Vision and Strategy Project illustrate that there are two significant gaps that contribute to this impasse: 1) community economic development options, plans, and strategies fail to adequately address and integrate the capabilities and capacities of the local and regional infrastructure and assets; and 2) proposed strategies fail to adequately comprehend or consider practical questions of competitive advantage, on their own and in association with a more regional approach.  The project used a case study approach to explore this gap between planning and implementation with a view to demonstrating how to reconcile local/regional assets and aspirations with the array of economic development possibilities.

• Re-orient Report