Inuit youth exploring research, digital skills and entrepreneurship in Arviat
Written by Jamie Bell-
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Nanisiniq Arviat History Project member and Global Dignity Canada national role model Curtis Konek (in orange) with members of the Arviat Film Society celebrated Global Dignity Day events at John Arnalukjuaq High School last week with their teacher, Gord Billard.
On Wednesday October 17, Curtis spoke Inuktitut to more than 1,200 students who came together virtually from classrooms across the country for Global Dignity Canada's national videoconference last week.
Established in 2005, by HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Operation HOPE Founder, Chairman and CEO John Hope Bryant and Professor Pekka Himanen, GD is linked to the 2020 process of the World Economic Forum, in which leaders from politics, business, academia, and civil society join efforts to improve the state of the world. GD is an independent, non-political organization focused on empowering individuals with the concept that every human being has the universal right to lead a dignified life.
Transitioning research to action, Curtis, along with his Nanisiniq and Arviat Film Society peers have been raising money for the last two years to support film, media, research, digital skills and career development training in their community. To date, they've raised roughly $50,000, which they are using as seed money to fund the delivery of community-based media and communications workshops with professional trainers.
Nanisiniq, a project between Arviat and the University of British Columbia School of Social Work was also highlighted in this year's Annual Report from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada as an example of research talent and innovation.
Follow their adventures ...
On October 26, Arviat's young researchers with the Nanisiniq Arviat History Project will be presenting their findings and experiences at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. for the 18th Inuit Studies Conference.
