Why We Do This
Why Inuit Youth
More than half of the Inuit population is under the age of 25 (with nearly a third being 14 years or younger), making them one of the youngest and fastest-growing populations in Canada.
They are experiencing rapidly changing landscapes, climates, and technologies. They also recognize the opportunity to use technology alongside their cultural knowledge to shape a better future.
Supporting Indigenous sovereignty, rights and reconciliation
Policymakers and researchers have a moral, ethical and legal obligation to support Inuit youth leadership in research and policy. For too long, research in the Arctic has followed extractive, colonial patterns in which knowledge is collected from communities without ensuring that they benefit from, or even have access to, the results.
Decolonizing research and policy practises requires a fundamental shift: ceding power and recognizing Inuit youth not as subjects of study, but as experts with vital lived experience and land-based knowledge.
Supporting Inuit self-determination and sovereignty in policy and research—as outlined in the National Inuit Strategy on Research—is a matter of justice. By centring the voices of those most impacted by environmental change, we move beyond passive observation toward a "research/policy for us, with us" approach that respects Inuit sovereignty and fosters communal well-being.
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Supports the rights and principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action.
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Supports the youth-identified priorities under Canada’s Youth Policy:
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Leadership and Impact;
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Health and Wellness;
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Innovation, Skills and Learning;
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Employment;
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Truth and Reconciliation;
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Environment and Climate Action.
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Shifting what counts as ‘evidence’ in policy & research
By honouring the use of creative and land-based approaches in policy engagement, we can move beyond endless cycles of ‘seeing & reacting’ to environmental change and societal challenges toward vividly ‘sensing and responding’ to it in ways that are answerable to communities.