About the Journal
The Journal of Rural and Community Development is pleased to publish Volume 21, Issue 2.
The JRCD is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that publishes development research on and in rural and small town areas around the world. We do not charge authors for publication in the JRCD.
The JRCD gratefully acknowledges funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) through their 'Aid to Scholarly Publications' programme. We secured renewed SSHRC funding for 2026-2029.
We respect the treaties that were made on these lands and acknowledge that Brandon University is located on Treaty 2 Lands. On behalf of Brandon University, I welcome you to the traditional homelands of the Dakota, Anishanabek, Oji-Cree, Cree, Dene and Metis peoples.
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La Revue de développement rural et communautaire est heureuse de publier le volume 21, numéro 2.
Le journal JRCD est un journal en libre accès, revu par des comités de lecture et qui publie la recherche de développement sur et des zones rurales ainsi que des petites villes partout dans le monde.
Le JRCD tient à remercier le Conseil de Recherches en Sciences Humaines (CRSH) du Canada grâce à leur programme d''Aide aux Revues Savantes'. Nous avons garanti le renouvellement des fonds du CRSH pour 2026-2029.
Nous respectons les traités qui ont été conclus sur ces terres et reconnaissons que l'Université de Brandon est située sur les terres du Traité n° 2. Au nom de l'Université de Brandon, je vous souhaite la bienvenue sur les terres traditionnelles des peuples Dakota, Anishanabek, Oji-Cree, Cree, Dene et Metis.
Current Issue
We are pleased to release Volume 21, Issue 3, just in time for the new semester! This issue is quite diverse with topics and authors from Europe (Estonia, Ireland, and Austria), the United States, Canada and Central (Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica) and South (Brazil, Colombia) America. The topics are equally diverse, including social innovation, farming and agriculture, fish farming, community resilience, rural values, and volunteerism.
This is also the last issue with me as Editor-in-Chief. The new Editor-in-Chief will be announced with the next issue. I will continue to be on the editorial board, including taking on the new role for the JRCD of regular article editor. Dr. Rachel Herron continues her role as Case Study editor. We are also in the process of finalizing the editorship for the Policy and Program Evaluation Section.
The volume of submissions and total readership has increased substantially in recent years. As of the end of August 2026, there were 2,554,562 downloads (abstract, file views or PDF) for the 637 articles published prior to this issue (October 2005-August 2026). This represents an average of 4,010 downloads per article. In July 2026, we had the highest number of monthly downloads in our 21-year history with 15,675! These results make us proud because since the first idea of a new journal was discussed in 2002, our goal was to bring the development literature to anyone with access to the Internet at no cost.
The success of the JRCD has been made possible by the Rural Development Institute (RDI), the founding and current JRCD publisher. The past (Dr. Robert Annis and Dr. William Ashton) and current (Dr. Wayne Kelly) directors played pivotal roles in the JRCD’s development and operations. Through five successful applications I made (2011, 2014, 2018, 2021, 2025), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) has funded the JRCD since 2011. The JRCD would not exist without RDI or SSHRC. This ongoing support is gratefully acknowledged.
We also want to thank authors for having confidence in us and reviewers and editorial board members for supporting this important process. The JRCD employs three people who ensure that the journal functions and provides a high-quality product. Thank you, Christiane Ramsey, Cathy Greenwood, and Laurence Lemoine. There is also no journal without them.
I want to thank all of you for your support of the JRCD.
Doug Ramsey, PhD
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Rural and Community Development
Articles
We would like to thank the Editorial Board, Editorial Assistants, Copy Editors, Reviewers, and Brandon University for the support and energy they bring to the JRCD. This support includes the efforts of IT services at Brandon University who assist the JRCD in administering the web platform.
The JRCD also gratefully acknowledges funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) through their 'Aid to Scholarly Publications' programme. We secured renewed SSHRC funding for 2022-2025. The JRCD has received continued funding from SSHRC since 2011. This funding is central to improving the review and publication process, marketing the JRCD, and ensuring an open access publication venue for rural and community development studies.
The JRCD is published by the Rural Development Institute (RDI) at Brandon University. RDI was established in 1989 as an academic research centre and a leading source of information on issues affecting rural communities in western Canada and elsewhere. For more information, please visit: https://www.brandonu.ca/rdi.
The JRCD is abstracted and indexed by the following databases: CABI, Clarivate Analytics (including Web of Science), De Gruyter Saur, EBSCOhost and ProQuest.
ISSN: 1712-8277.
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Nous aimerions remercier le comité de rédaction, les assistants éditoriaux, les relecteurs, les membres des comites de lecture et l'université de Brandon pour leur support et l'énergie qu'ils apportent au JRCD. Ce support inclut les efforts des services informatiques de l'université de Brandon qui aident le JRCD dans la gestion de la plateforme Internet.
Le JRCD tient à remercier le Conseil de Recherches en Sciences Humaines (CRSH) du Canada grâce à leur programme d''Aide aux Revues Savantes'. Nous avons garanti le renouvellement des fonds du CRSH pour 2022-2025. Cette subvention est fondamentale pour améliorer les procédés de révision et de publication, faire le marketing du JRCD et assurer un lieu de publication libre d'accès pour les études sur le développement rural et communautaire.
Le JRCD est publié par l'Institut sur le Développement Rural (IDR) de l'université de Brandon. L' IDR a été crée en 1989 comme centre de recherches académiques et première source d'informations sur les problèmes affectant les communautés rurales dans l'Ouest Canadien et ailleurs. Pour plus d'information, veuillez visiter: https://www.brandonu.ca/rdi.
Le JRCD est résumé et indexé par les bases de données suivantes: CABI, Clarivate Analytics (Web of Science), De Gruyter Saur, EBSCOhost and ProQuest.
ISSN: 1712-8277.
