<p>Northern British Columbia is a place of rich cultures, diversecommunities, and a strong sense of identity. The future of this vast,resource-rich region and the people who call it home could be eitherdriven by a narrow economic agenda or guided by innovative, place-basedsolutions that seek to build viable communities and resilient local andregional economies.</p><p><i>Investing in Place</i> is about creating the foundations forrenewing northern British Columbia's rural and small-towneconomies. Markey, Halseth, and Manson argue that renewal is not aboutnostalgic reliance on the policies and economic strategies of the past-- rather, it is about building a pragmatic and innovative vision fordevelopment, one that acknowledges both the opportunities and thechallenges posed by resource development and global and technologicalchange.</p>For policy-makers and residents alike the path to renewal lies inplace-based development, which consists of people working together atall levels of the community and region to take advantage of localopportunities in a sustainable, responsible way.<p><p><b>Sean Markey</b> is an associate professor in the Schoolof Resource and Environmental Management and the Centre for SustainableCommunity Development at Simon Fraser University. <b>GregHalseth</b> is a professor of geography, director of the CommunityDevelopment Institute, and Canada Research Chair in Rural andSmall Town Studies at the University of Northern British Columbia.<b>Don Manson</b> is an adjunct professor of geography andcoordinator of the Community Development Institute at UNBC.</p>