Abstract
Stories have the power to shape understanding of community sustainability. Yet in places on the periphery of capitalist systems, such as rural and resource-based regions, this power can be used to impose top–down narratives on to local residents. Academic research often reinforces these processes by telling damage-centric narratives that portray communities as depleted and broken, which perpetuates power imbalances between academia and community members, while disempowering local voices. This article explores the potential of storytelling as a means for local actors to challenge top–down notions of rural sustainability, drawing on a community-based research initiative on the Great Northern Peninsula (GNP) of Newfoundland. Five of the authors are community change-makers and one is an academic researcher. We challenge deficiencies-based narratives told about rural Newfoundland and Labrador, in which the GNP is often characterised by a narrow set of socio-economic indicators that overlook the region’s many tangible and intangible assets. Grounded in a participatory asset mapping and storytelling process, a ‘deep story’ of regional sustainability based on community members’ voices contrasts narratives of decline with stories of hope, and shares community renewal initiatives told by the dynamic individuals leading them. This article contributes to regional development efforts on the GNP, scholarship on sustainability in rural and remote communities, and efforts to realise alternative forms of university-community engagement that centre community members’ voices and support self-determination.
Highlights
Stories are uniquely powerful in shaping our understanding of community sustainability
Several members of the author team have become involved in a new initiative called the Great Northern Peninsula (GNP) Community Place (GNPCP), which seeks to establish a clinic in Port au Choix to improve access to primary care and offer various wellness programs not available in the area
People are still growing the same things; resource sharing, diversified crops, adequate soil and cold storage are some of the bigger items we’re identifying, and hope to address in time. Through both the deep story emerging from local voices and stories that community change-makers have told of their renewal efforts, this article contributes to scholarly understanding of sustainability in rural and resource-based regions and efforts to achieve it in practice
Summary
Stories are uniquely powerful in shaping our understanding of community sustainability. The Great Northern Peninsula (GNP) is often associated with high rates of population ageing and youth out-migration (Roberts 2016; Simms & Ward 2017) These narratives overlook the GNP’s many assets, such as natural resources, social cohesion and cultural heritage (Parill et al 2014). 5) concluded: ‘[t]hat’s the story of the Northern Peninsula: heavy youth out-migration; one of the oldest median ages in the country; an economic base teetering on the brink’ These assessments may make for eye-catching journalism or compelling research, they impose top–down narratives on to the GNP, privileging expert knowledge over that of rural residents. Participants came from a variety of stakeholder groups (Table 1); to our knowledge, one participant self-identified as Indigenous and the rest were Caucasian
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