ARCTIC FUTURE The Circumpolar International Internship Newsletter Issue 3, January 2005 Happy New Year! In This Issue Exploring Northern Cultures ■ Exploring Northern Cultures In November 2004, two students and three staff from Iqaluit’s ■ Six Dynamic Young Canadian Inuksuk High School travelled to Karasjok, Norway, for a prelimi- Leaders Selected to Participate nary meeting with staff and students from Samisk Videregående in the Circumpolar Young Leaders Program Skole, to identify common themes for a longer-term project. The project will be designed to enhance the identity of circumpolar ■ Fourth Arctic Council youth. Shirley Wolff Serafini, Canada's Ambassador to Norway, Ministerial Meeting was also in attendance. ■ “Healeying” the World While there, the students were involved in meetings with other stu- ■ “You Become Canadian When dents from around the world based around a UN theme—celebrat- You Leave Canada”: Interview ing the decade of indigenous peoples—and thus were able to meet with Letia Cousins with young people from New Zealand, Tanzania and Morocco through the UN organizers. “The best part however was, without Arctic Resource question, the time spent with our hosts from Karasjok,” said David Links Lloyd, Assistant Principal, Inuksuk High School. Arctic Human Development “It is our hope that this project will create bonds between our insti- Report tutions and between pupils/staff at a personal level; and facilitate http://www.svs.is/AHDR/ sharing elements from each other’s cultures to develop new cultural Reykjavik Declaration expressions,” said David Lloyd. http://www.uarctic.org/documents/ Reykjavik_Declaration.pdf The overall aim of the project is to promote a circumpolar identity for young people in Iqaluit and Karasjok by studying traditional Arctic Council http://www.arctic-council.org Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) http://www.uarctic.org/documents/ ACIA_Policy_Doc.pdf Participants in November meeting in Karasjok, Norway. Arctic Future: The Circumpolar International Internship Newsletter rights and culture, and by focusing on previous, This program is supported by Human Resources present and future lifestyles. The schools also envis- and Skills Development Canada, Foreign Affairs age annual exchanges of small groups of teachers Canada, The Walter & Dunacan Gordon and pupils. Samisk Videregående Skole has been Foundation, and Indian and Northern Affairs looking forward to cooperating with a school in Canada. For further information please see another area of the North. The background for the http://www.iisd.org/interns/arctic/ visit was an initiative from the Mayor of Karasjok and the Canadian Embassy in Oslo. Fourth Arctic Council Six Dynamic Young Canadian Ministerial Meeting Leaders Selected to By Lee-Anne Hermann Participate in the Circumpolar A melting ice sculpture of a polar bear was the centrepiece at the WWF reception held on the Young Leaders Program margins of the Fourth Arctic Council Ministerial One of the greatest challenges for the North is Meeting, which took place on November 24, engaging and building capacity among its youth 2004, in Reykjavik, Iceland. The melting polar who will ultimately bear the responsibility for bear was an appropriate symbol to hit home to implementing the policies and programs neces- delegates and observers the effects of climate sary for sustainable development. Awareness is change on the Arctic, one of the major themes growing internationally of the role the Arctic for the one-day meeting. The biennial meeting plays in global environmental and climate trends. saw ministers (and in the case of the USA, the Undersecretary of Global Affairs) meet to review The Circumpolar Young Leaders Program assists the achievements of the Arctic Council under the participants in understanding how to strengthen Icelandic Chairmanship, approve the work plan collaboration among organizations and commu- and way forward for the Russian Chairmanship, nities in the North, enhances their ability to and sign the Reykjavik Declaration. undertake integrated sustainable development research and move that research into policy and The Arctic Council was established in 1996 in practice, and learn about the tools for communi- Ottawa, Canada, to advance circumpolar cooper- cation and leadership. Participants acquire profes- ation. As a high-level intergovernmental forum, sional competencies, enhance their cross-cultural the Council’s mandate is to protect the Arctic skills and gain a broader understanding of cir- environment and promote the economic, social cumpolar issues. and cultural well-being of Northern peoples. It is one of the world’s first international fora promot- “Over the last few years the International ing the principles of sustainable development. Institute for Sustainable Development has placed more than 18 young Northern Canadians abroad, The following were some of the key deliverables many of whom are now working in positions of presented at the meeting: leadership in their communities,” says Carolee • Completion of the Arctic Human Buckler, Project Manager at the International Development Report. The Arctic Human Institute for Sustainable Development in Development Report was presented to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Ministers at the Ministerial Meeting. The Six new participants (Geoff Rigby, Cherie Arrow, report provides a coherent framework by Katy Dillon, Lauren Haney, Vita Hoyles and Ian identifying priority issues and future chal- Caldwell) will soon be leaving for six-month lenges for Arctic livelihoods, human well- placements in Finland, Norway and Sweden to being and community viability. It identifies work with the World Wide Fund For Nature, major issues related to sustainability in the Stockholm Environment Institute, University of Arctic and its findings will help the Arctic the Arctic and UNEP/GRID-Arendal. Council determine future areas of work. 2 Arctic Future: The Circumpolar International Internship Newsletter • The report from the international conference lifestyle. Growing up, running dog teams and on information and communication technolo- connecting with the elders were a regular part of gy (ICT) to build the capacity of Arctic resi- life, but so was her passion for community educa- dents to shape their own destiny. tion and health. As a teenager, Gwen co-founded • The Arctic Marine Strategic Plan, which is a Kids on the Net, a science and technology pro- coordinating framework intended to improve gram for children in Nunavut. She continued her how the Arctic coastal and marine environ- work with Kids on the Net and her dedication to ment is managed. The Plan attempts to teaching excellence was recognized by Actua’s address emerging issues (e.g., oil and gas, ship- Shell Award. Before applying for her Arctic ping activities), employing a risk assessment internship, Gwen received a physics degree from approach, taking into account the special Queen’s University and spent her summers work- needs and requirements of indigenous com- ing for the Department of Justice and her home- munities, to facilitate sustainable development town hospital. decisions. Gwen says the people were by far the best part of However, the major deliverable at the Ministerial her experience, from the interns, to IISD staff, to Meeting was the Arctic Climate Impact her Norwegian and Finnish colleagues and Bill, Assessment (ACIA), a four-year comprehensive the owner of the Winnipeg hostel where interns review and compilation of research on the science stayed during their orientation. Initially placed in and socio-economic impacts of climate change in Norway with the University of the Arctic, Gwen the North. Over 250 leading Arctic researchers quickly advanced to a position co-hosted by the from 15 countries from and beyond the circum- University of the Arctic and UNEP GRID. Her polar North have assembled and distilled available work focused on indigenous health interests and scientific information about the Arctic climate made her realize that similar issues are dealt with and the impact of climate change on it. Unique to very differently in Scandinavia and Canada. the ACIA is that it also incorporates indigenous She underlines that the skills and insights gained traditional knowledge and perceptions. in her placement have given her a new perspective Overall the Ministerial Meeting was a success. The on familiar problems: “[Before going away,] I Arctic Council has proven once again that it can thought I had an understanding of circumpolar produce high-quality scientific assessments and health just because I came from the region, but reach consensus on concrete action plans. However, this was not the case.” Upon return to Canada, the success of the Arctic Council will ultimately be Gwen worked with the Nunavut territorial gov- measured by its ability to turn all of this important scientific work into language and actions that indi- viduals and communities can effectively use to understand the challenges and implement policies that will make their lives better. “Healeying” the World By Jordan Gold If you ask Gwen Healey about her master plan she will tell you she “just wants to be a doctor.” While being a doctor is honourable and impressive in its own right, Gwen’s simple response does not nearly capture her intellect, contagious energy and passion. Gwen was born and raised in Iqaluit in a cultural- ly rich community heavily rooted in a traditional Healey: “I thought I had an understanding of circumpolar health just because I came from the region, but this was not the case.” 3 Arctic Future: The Circumpolar International Internship Newsletter ernment as a Health Promotion Specialist where for the program. Candidates who do qualify are she was able to use her experience to develop pro- great, but in short supply. I didn’t have the grams such as the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative “usual” experience because I didn’t go through and Care Close to Home. She is currently study- orientation and debriefing with a group of ing bone health of Aboriginal women as part of Canadians. After I finished the program, Carolee her MSc studies in Community Health Sciences (Buckler) and I talked about how to better appeal at the University of Calgary. to Northern youth.