Student Research and the State of the Family Report Release

The State of the Family report draws on data generated from last year’s Teck Serv Summer Student Research Internship and from indicators research compiled by the RDI’s research team. Each year Selkirk College, with the support of the RDI’s Regional Innovation Chair, administers a community-based summer research internship with funding from Teck Trail Operations. Last year’s successful proponent was the Kootenay Boundary Community Services Co-Operative and their research goal was to update family-relevant socio-economic indicators and resource inventories that were presented in their 2009 Understanding the Early Years report.

“By linking in our State of the Basin indicators research with the student generated data we were able to create a report that covered the entire Columbia Basin-Boundary region instead of the West Kootenay region only. This report will be of interest to both local and regional level decision-makers; evidence suggests the first six years of a person’s life is the most important, setting the stage for their health and well-being for the rest of their lives,” says Dr. Terri MacDonald, Regional Innovation Chair at the RDI.

This year’s successful proponent is the Greater Trail Community Skills Centre. This year’s research will focus on poverty reduction in the Lower Columbia region. The research will build on the foundations laid by the Women Creating Change project which was jointly managed by the Skills Centre and the Trail FAIR Society. The student research intern will focus her efforts on indicators of poverty and poverty reduction impacts and will learn about initiatives already underway in the region at the upcoming Understanding the Economics of Poverty Reduction annual Columbia-Kootenay-Boundary Regional CED Forum in Revelstoke.

“This year’s research project nicely dovetails with the RDI’s recently announced Measuring Poverty Reduction project. The Lower Columbia region is one of four ‘pilot communities’ we’ll be working with over the next 18 months so this student research opportunity is incredibly timely,” say MacDonald. “Building on what we’ve learned through the TeckServ program we will be exploring the expansion of RDI-related student research internship opportunities this year beyond the Selkirk College catchment area in partnership with our colleagues at College of the Rockies, Okanagan College and College of New Caledonia.

For communities, organizations and businesses interested in working with students RDI also offers college brokering services. Learn more.