Ramara 2050 — A Summer Learning Experience

At a glance

What: Ramara 2050, a four-week summer learning experience. Volunteer and unpaid.
Who: up to two Ramara residents, 18 or older. Living in Ramara is required.
Interviews: late June 2026. Applications are open now.
Program: starts the second week of August, runs four weeks.
Time: light and part-time, mostly remote with short check-ins.
Cost: free.

The decisions and tools that shape Ramara over the next 25 years won't come from one place, or one person. They'll come from residents who decided to learn how things work and build something useful. Ramara 2050 is a small head start on exactly that. Ramara Hub (ramarahub.ca) is a free, independent community resource that answers residents' questions about the Township of Ramara with straight, sourced facts, built on modern AI. This summer, one or two local people get to learn how it works from the inside and build something real with it. It's volunteer and unpaid: the whole point is what you learn, create, and contribute, not chores.

You'll work directly with the Hub's founder, Russell Cole, who builds with frontier AI tools every day and is genuinely motivated to help the next generation use them well, and responsibly. This is mentorship, not busywork.

What you'll actually do

Let's be honest: you probably already use AI. This isn't a beginner class. It's about taking that ability and making it rigorous, trustworthy, and presentable, the difference between "I made a thing with AI" and work a business or a community would actually rely on.

Make it trustworthy

Learn to ground AI work in real sources, check claims, and never guess, the standard that makes people trust an answer.

Ship something real

Build a project that goes live or in front of real people, not a folder that sits unseen.

Make it presentable

Turn your work into something you can show, explain, and stand behind, the skill that gets noticed in the business world.

Work like a pro

Scope, build, and finish with a clear weekly rhythm and direct feedback, how real projects actually get shipped.

No coding or technical background is required. If you already tinker with AI or tech, even better, that's an asset, not a prerequisite. Curiosity and reliability matter most.

Example projects

To give you a feel, a project might be something like:

Researching and writing a clear, sourced explainer on a local topic residents keep asking about.
Building a small tool or page that makes some piece of township information easier to find.
Designing a more modern, visual version of the Hub, with charts, data visualizations, even short explainer videos, to show what a civic resource can look like.
Turning a messy public record into a clean, checkable summary people can actually use.
Helping shape how the Hub answers a category of questions, end to end.

None of these are set in stone. Your actual project depends on where the Hub is when you start and what you're genuinely interested in, we'll choose it together.

The shape of it

Interviews: the final week of June.
Program: starts the second week of August and runs four weeks.
Time: light and part-time, with short check-ins a few times a week plus your own project time.
Where: mostly remote, with check-ins. It fits around work and life.
Cost: none. It's a free, volunteer learning experience.

Late JuneInterviews. This is also where we cover orientation, so week one isn't spent on logistics.
Week 1 (mid-August)Settle in, learn the tools, and lock in your project.
Weeks 2–3Build, with short regular check-ins and direct feedback.
Week 4Finish, polish, and get it presentation-ready.
This fallPresent what you built to the community, a real, proud line for your resume or applications.

Who we're looking for

We're offering up to two spots this year, ideally one resident from a rural, septic-system part of the township and one from an urban, serviced area, so the experience reflects both sides of our community.

A Ramara resident, 18 or older. Living in Ramara is required, this is for our community.
Curious, reliable, and a clear communicator.
Wherever you're at, in college or university, recently finished, working, or figuring out your next step, you're welcome to apply.
A genuine interest in your community, public or civic service, or how local decisions get made is a real plus. If that's you, tell us about it.

Our promise: we reply to everyone. The moment you apply you'll get a confirmation, and however it turns out, you'll hear back from a real person. No application disappears.

Apply

Fill this out, the last few questions matter more than a polished resume.

Your name * Email * Phone (optional)

I live in the Township of Ramara, and I'm 18 or older. *

Where are you at right now? * If it helps, tell us your program/field or what you're up to right now Why are you interested in this? * Do you have an interest or passion for your community, public/civic service, or politics? Tell us about it. * What do you hope to learn or build? * Tell us about something you built, organized, or figured out on your own.

It does not have to be technical, or about AI. Anything you made happen.

Roughly what time could you give over the four weeks? If you're selected for an interview (final week of June), when are you generally free to meet? Any questions for us?

Ramara Hub is an independent, free community resource — a Ramara Civic Forum project. Ramara 2050 is an unpaid volunteer learning experience, open to all eligible Ramara residents on equal terms.