A tool-book for economic education and trend analysis in Canadian rural communities

This Masters Degree Project applies the concepts of sustainable community development and ecological economics to the Sonoran Institute's primary tool for rural economic education, Measuring Change in Rural Communities: A Workbook for Western Canada. The stated purpose of Measuring Change is to help residents collect and analyse comparative data about their local economy in order to produce a current socio-economic profile that will allow them to better understand and prepare for problems and capitalize on opportunities arising from rapid growth and change.;This research critiques Measuring Change based on both its ability to meet its own, internally stated purpose, as well as its ability to meet the demands of the theory and practice of sustainable community development (SCD) and ecological economics.;Measuring Change is tested in the community of Invermere, BC, a community that had prior to this research, already expressed an interest in pursuing broadly defined sustainable development. Five criteria for an effective tool for economic education toward sustainable community development are outlined. From these criteria, five recommendations are made that, if applied, will ensure that Measuring Change effectively promotes both the theory and practice of sustainable community development and ecological economics.