In late 2008, Green Hectares finished a strong business case that highlighted the need for rural and agricultural communities to develop opportunities to connect, collaborate and learn.  It became apparent through the course of the research that there are many effective rural resources and programs already in existence but highly underutilized. 

“The study found that out of 37 common rural and agriculture programs, in the case of 35 of these programs over 75% (or more) of respondents indicated that they had not used the program and/or were not aware of the program”. 

The needs of program users are not always well understood.  Learning styles and learning needs can change depending on the subject matter and the needs of the individual in a given stage of their education.  Without understanding the needs of the learner and the gaps in the supply, the programs developed have a much lower chance of being relevant to the participant.  Without relevant programming, the programs that are developed go underutilized.  Rather than recreating, reinventing and rebranding stand alone programming, Green Hectares believes that the most effective next step for rural Alberta is to develop resources that enable the existing infrastructure to work more effectively and sustainably. 

Many organizations have great programs however they have no distribution model to get them beyond their immediate circles of influence so that they can build a critical mass.  Without this key piece, the agriculture resource base is fragmented and resources are funnelled to creating and recreating programs.  Green Hectares believes that a province-wide initiative that maintains not only existing programs, but also furthers the rural and agriculture sector to a deeper level of knowledge, is the next logical step.  

The benefits of having these three programs developed is that through the creation of distribution channels, information can flow more easily which ultimately will have an impact on education, business and the overall quality of life in rural Alberta.

• Distribution channels developed for rural areas will allow for more opportunities and services (whether they are opportunities for business, culture or education) to flow into rural areas (ie a person can pursue education, a business could offer needed products not currently available in the rural area, small rural not for profits could access new sponsorship funds, etc). 
• As well, distribution channels developed for rural areas allow for more rural based talent and skills to offer their services to other  rural areas and urban centres.  
• Distribution channels enable clustering through the understanding of what services are available in communities surrounding each other.  This will create paths for partnership within rural regions.  

    Once can flow between rural communities, programs and services can be built with more depth rather than simply breadth, the need to recreate programs is minimized and resources can be allocated altogether. The impact can result in attracting health care workers, enhancing rural infrastructure, ensuring environmental sustainability, etc) or whatever the community deems to be the priority.  

In late 2008, Green Hectares finished a strong business case that highlighted the need for rural and agricultural communities to develop opportunities to connect, collaborate and learn.  It became apparent through the course of the research that there are many effective rural resources and programs already in existence but highly underutilized. 

“The study found that out of 37 common rural and agriculture programs, in the case of 35 of these programs over 75% (or more) of respondents indicated that they had not used the program and/or were not aware of the program”. 

The needs of program users are not always well understood.  Learning styles and learning needs can change depending on the subject matter and the needs of the individual in a given stage of their education.  Without understanding the needs of the learner and the gaps in the supply, the programs developed have a much lower chance of being relevant to the participant.  Without relevant programming, the programs that are developed go underutilized.  Rather than recreating, reinventing and rebranding stand alone programming, Green Hectares believes that the most effective next step for rural Alberta is to develop resources that enable the existing infrastructure to work more effectively and sustainably. 

Many organizations have great programs however they have no distribution model to get them beyond their immediate circles of influence so that they can build a critical mass.  Without this key piece, the agriculture resource base is fragmented and resources are funnelled to creating and recreating programs.  Green Hectares believes that a province-wide initiative that maintains not only existing programs, but also furthers the rural and agriculture sector to a deeper level of knowledge, is the next logical step.  

The benefits of having these three programs developed is that through the creation of distribution channels, information can flow more easily which ultimately will have an impact on education, business and the overall quality of life in rural Alberta.

• Distribution channels developed for rural areas will allow for more opportunities and services (whether they are opportunities for business, culture or education) to flow into rural areas (ie a person can pursue education, a business could offer needed products not currently available in the rural area, small rural not for profits could access new sponsorship funds, etc). 
• As well, distribution channels developed for rural areas allow for more rural based talent and skills to offer their services to other  rural areas and urban centres.  
• Distribution channels enable clustering through the understanding of what services are available in communities surrounding each other.  This will create paths for partnership within rural regions.  

    Once can flow between rural communities, programs and services can be built with more depth rather than simply breadth, the need to recreate programs is minimized and resources can be allocated altogether. The impact can result in attracting health care workers, enhancing rural infrastructure, ensuring environmental sustainability, etc) or whatever the community deems to be the priority.