Congratulations Hannah Wiseman winner of the Livia Properties: Women in Trades $2,000 award!

Hannah Wiseman, originally from Dartmouth, came to Pictou Campus to study cabinet making. Hannah’s joy of working with wood started with her father who was in the construction industry and then flourished in her woodworking class during high school. Hannah will be starting a work placement soon! Congratulations Hannah and good luck on your graduation this year!

This year, RCFNS looked forward to connecting with Nova Scotians and address climate change and explore rural Nova Scotia solutions to climate change together. But given the growing concerns around COVID-19, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel the Community Impact Conference scheduled for Oct 8, 2022 in Port Hawkesbury and reschedule the Community Impact Conference to April 22, 2023.

This was a tough call to make — the Community Impact Conference is an incredibly important event for RCFNS — but we need to prioritize the health and safety of all involved.

We’ll share additional details on our plans for the Community Impact Conference rescheduled for April 22, 2023 in the coming weeks. In the meantime, thanks for your patience and understanding — and we look forward to seeing the Community Impact Conference in 2023!

What are people doing about climate change in rural Nova Scotia? How are communities leading the way in moving from ideas to action? In this one-day conference, RCFNS highlights the work of several communities dealing with a wide variety of climate change issues to create a circle of informed, innovative, and supportive problem solvers.

The Rural Communities Foundation of Nova Scotia is pleased to announce the successful applicants/recipients of the 2022 Joan Feynman Climate Change Fund.

The Cape Sable Historical Society will undertake the Museum Activism ClimateChange Exhibition / Climate Action Project. The project will involve developing a climate change pop-up exhibition with local connections and accompanying programming designed to engage community members in everyday climate action and campaigning for climate justice.

The Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute is taking on a project called Cultivating Resilience and Relationships. This project will host a professional development leadership event for people working in the fields of climate change & land conservation will help participants cultivate the resilience, relationships, capacity and stamina needed to continue to engage in this vital & challenging work.

Potlotek First Nation will engage in a feasibility study for the St. Peter's Canal Water Turbine. The grant will help to hire a consultant to work with Potlotek First Nation to conduct a feasibility study regarding installing a water turbine at the St. Peter's Canal locking system.

Cape Breton Country Recording Artist Drake Jensen has collaborated with the Rural Communities Foundation of Nova Scotia (RCFNS) to create a fund (Soaring Eagle Fine Arts Grants) for persons who identify with LGBTQI+ and work with the community. Drake Jensen is generously donating 100% of the profits from his new single, “Rise Again”. RCFNS and Drake Jensen are pleased to announce the 2022 recipients of the Soaring Eagle Fine Arts Grants. This years recipients are: Antigonish Culture Live, MacPhee Centre, and Mackie's Mobile Studio.

For more than 20 years, RCFNS has been developing and delivering grant programs and has been widely recognized for their excellence and leadership in the field of rural grant-making. RCFNS is committed to using the lens of the 17 UN Sustainable goals, the 7 pillars of the Canadian Philanthropic Commitment to Climate Change and Nova Scotia’s 10 Social Determinants of Health when supporting community-based initiatives in rural Nova Scotia. These lenses direct the foundation in all that they do: from board education and make up; policy adaptations; community outreach; and RCFNS’s own 3 pillars; convening, fund development and granting. RCFNS convenes to improve their understanding of issues facing communities and how they relate to the UN Sustainable Goals. RCFNS develops funds to address the gaps and offers grants that seek to help find community-based solutions to problems and challenges. Ultimately RCFNS’s mandate is to support projects that enhance and sustain rural communities while adhering to their commitments.