The Rural Voices Network (RVN) wants rural Ontarian’s to know their opinion is important.
That is the basis for a survey distributed to over 10,000 rural residents in Ontario. The RVN launched the Let Your Voice Be Heard survey on Feb. 20 to examine what enables rural citizens to participate in the common life of their community, and to identify barriers to rural civic engagement.
“Rural community members are the grassroots of rural Ontario. Their voice, knowledge and experiences are the real testimony in trying to understand how to boost rural civic engagement. The importance of factoring in the rural voice, and grassroots understanding to the issues and needs of rural citizens is key to developing collaborative solutions,” said Lynn Ruigrok, executive director of the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario (FWIO).
The RVN survey was developed through dialogue with over 140 rural participants in the 7 RVN public forums that happened across Ontario, from Nov. to Jan. 2012.
The online survey is available until March 16 at www.ruralvoicesnetwork.ca
Hard-copy surveys will be mailed within a week, across the province through Women’s Institute (WI) Branches. To find a branch near you visit www.fwio.on.ca or call 519-836-3078.
Hard-copy surveys must be returned to the FWIO Office at 7382 Wellington Road 30, RR 5, Guelph, ON N1H 6J2, no later than March 23.
All participants have a chance to win prizes such as a digital camera, Kobo Readers, gift cards from Shopper’s Drug Mart and Tim Hortons.
The recommendations gathered from this research will enhance the work of rural volunteer organizations, and represent the voices of rural citizens. The data will be key in a research and civic engagement report of rural communities across Ontario. The final report and community bulletins/posters will be released at the end of June 2012.
