Donald G Reid

Biography

Dr. Donald G. Reid is University Professor Emeritus in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD) at the University of Guelph in Canada. Dr. Reid is an internationally respected scholar whose research focuses on social planning, including the subjects of poverty, community development, leisure and tourism. His research encompasses many projects in both Canada and Sub-Saharan Africa. He has authored or coauthored six books, sixteen chapters in books, thirty-four refereed journal articles, twenty-seven refereed conference papers, over forty research and professional reports and conducted numerous workshops across the world delivering the results of his research.  He is highly regarded by his peers in this field for his ground breaking work on the challenges presented to society by poverty as the world transitions from the industrial era to the information/digital age.  Dr. Reid was visiting scholar for a two-week period at WICE (World International Centre of Excellence, sponsored by the United Nations) at Wageningen University in the Netherlands each year from 1990 to 1995.  His first book published in 1995 titled “Work and Leisure in the 21st Century: From Production to Citizenship” addresses the question of the role of work and leisure in life-construction and life-satisfaction in a world where resources are unequally shared and access to those same resources is becoming increasingly scarce for many citizens. His book published in 2003 titled “Tourism, Globalization and Development: Responsible Tourism Planning” is based on his many years of research in Africa, and presents a critique of tourism development and its exploitation of the developing world, particularly on the African continent where poverty has not been eradicated but continues to be a major human tragedy. He co-edited a book in 2010 titled, “Decentring Work: Critical Perspectives on Leisure, Social Policy and Human Development” that discusses the role of leisure in providing purpose in life to many individuals and the failure of the mature capitalist system to provide a satisfying way of life to all citizens.  Dr. Reid contributed a co-authored chapter to that book titled, “Removing the Scar: Social Solidarity and Leisure Policy”. In 2009 he co-authored a volume with colleagues titled, “Rural Tourism Development: Localism and Cultural Change”. In 2008 Dr. Reid was an expert witness to the hearings of the Canadian Senate Committee on Rural Poverty that was investigating the plight of Canada’s poverty stricken and marginalized populations. Dr. Reid’s ground breaking research and many years of critical thinking on this subject just been released in a new book published by Routledge in the U.K. titled, “Social Policy and Planning for the 21st Century: In Search of the Next Great Social Transition”. Dr. Reid has recently been a principle co-researcher in the ‘Protected Areas and Poverty Reduction’ project with colleagues from the University of Victoria and Vancouver Island University in Canada.  This project has many partners and research sites in Ghana, Tanzania, and Tofino BC, and is funded by an ICURA international research grant.

Education

PhD, University of Waterloo, Canada

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

research focuses on social planning, including the subjects of poverty, community development, leisure and tourism. His research encompasses many projects in both Canada and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Books