2013 Short List Announced for Million Dollar Arctic Inspiration Prize
HALIFAX, Oct. 24, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - Six projects have been shortlisted for the 2nd Annual Arctic Inspiration Prize. The $1 million Prize was established in 2012 to support projects that translate knowledge to action to benefit Canada's Arctic and its Peoples.
Project teams selected for the 2013 shortlist are as follows:
The AVATIVUT Program - A community program engaging Inuit youth in scientific research including long-term environmental monitoring through scientist-led Learning and Evaluation Situations. www.cen.ulaval.ca/avativut
CANHelp Working Group - A research program working with northern community leaders to communicate research findings and address concerns about the health risks of Helicobacter pylori infection, a bacterial infection linked to high frequencies of stomach diseases in Arctic populations. www.canhelpworkinggroup.ca
The Hudson Bay Network - A community-based research and monitoring program in eastern Hudson Bay which would provide training and digital platforms to share knowledge and assess the impacts of environmental change. www.arcticeider.com
Ikaarvik: From Barriers to Bridges - Connecting 5 Inuit communities with scientific researchers at Southern zoos and aquariums, providing the opportunity to participate in community-based science, and promoting understanding of Arctic issues to all Canadians. www.arcticonnexion.ca/en and www.vanaqua.org
The National Strategy on Inuit Education - National Parent Mobilization Initiative - A national campaign to engage parents in their children's education with the key message: "Getting children to school every day, all day, well rested and ready to learn." https://www.itk.ca/publication/national-strategy-inuit-education
SakKijânginnatuk Nunalik - An integrated action plan for healthy homes in thriving Nunatsiavut communities. The project includes plans to build Nunatsiavut's first sustainable, multi-unit residential dwelling, designed and built by Inuit for Inuit.
"We are thrilled that the goals of the prize are so broadly reflected in the six shortlisted projects." said Arnold Witzig, co-founder of the Arctic Inspiration Prize. "These multidisciplinary teams include Northerners and Southerners who are working together to bring knowledge to real action to tackle the cause, not the symptoms, of core issues for Northern Canadians, including health, housing, education and the environment."
The winners will be chosen by a distinguished selection committee that includes: the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Former Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada, Co-President of the Michaëlle Jean Foundation, UNESCO Special Envoy for Haiti and Chancellor of the University of Ottawa; Peter Mansbridge, Chief Correspondent, CBC News and Anchor, The National; Susan Aglukark, Inuk singer, songwriter and Juno Award winner; Michel Allard, Professor, Centre for Northern Studies, Université Laval; Erin Freeland Ballantyne, Rhodes Scholar and founder of Dechinta: Bush University Centre for Research and Learning; Peter Harrison, Professor, Stauffer-Dunning Chair and Director, School of Policy Studies, Queen's University; Kyla Kakfwi-Scott, Senior Advisor, Department of Health and Social Services, Government of the Northwest Territories; Tom Paddon, President & Chief Executive Officer, Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation; Geraldine Van Bibber, Chancellor of Yukon College and Former commissioner of Yukon; and Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and Inuit activist.
The winners will be announced on December 11th at the Arctic Inspiration Prize Ceremony to be held in conjunction with the ArcticNet 9th Annual Scientific Meeting, taking place in Halifax.
For more information on this year's shortlisted teams and the 2012 Laureates, please visit: www.arcticinspirationprize.ca
About The Arctic Inspiration Prize
www.arcticinspirationprize.ca
The Arctic Inspiration Prize recognizes and promotes the extraordinary contribution made by multidisciplinary teams in the gathering of Arctic knowledge and their concrete plans to implement this knowledge into real world applications for the benefit of the Canadian Arctic, its Peoples and therefore Canada as a whole.
Nominations are accepted for projects that address the causes rather than the symptoms of one or more of the following priority areas in the Canadian Arctic: education, human health, socio-cultural issues, the environment and the economy. For the purpose of the Prize, the Canadian Arctic is defined as the region including the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Nunavut, Nunavik and Nunatsiavut.
The Arctic Inspiration Prize is made possible through the generous endowment of the S. and A. Inspiration Foundation, the commitment of the ArcticNet Network of Centres of Excellence to voluntarily manage the Prize, as well as the contribution of numerous volunteers and partners.
About ArcticNet
http://www.arcticnet.ulaval.ca
ArcticNet is a Network of Centres of Excellence of Canada that brings together scientists and managers in the natural, human health and social sciences with their partners from Inuit organizations, northern communities, federal and provincial agencies and the private sector to study the impacts of climate change in the coastal Canadian Arctic. Over 140 researchers and 1000 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research associates, technicians and other specialists from 30 Canadian Universities, and numerous federal, provincial and regional departments and agencies collaborate on 38 ArcticNet research projects with over 150 partner organizations from 14 countries.
The ArcticNet Administrative Centre is hosted at Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada.
SOURCE: ArcticNet
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