On June 11-12, 2009, over 40 economic development planners from eight countries gathered in London, UK to discuss service delivery for rural communities for a workshop orgnaized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and and Development (OECD) and the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC).  Over the two-day event, participants discussed case studies on broadband, community engagement, and housing to generate ideas on how public services can be designed and delivered in cooperation with end users.

As part of the workshop, Jeff Dixon, Project Coordinator for the KIS project, presented research from the project to illustrate how rural communities can compete in the new creative economy.  Featuring a case study of Picton's Fifth Town Aritsan Cheese Co., as well as an analysis of how government policies on the creative economy are affecting Eastern Ontario's economic development, his presentation is now available for download here.  Further details on the workshop are available on the OECD website. The Monieson Centre's KIS research is also profiled in Strategies to Improve Rural Service Delivery, an OECD Rural Policy Review building on the workshop.