Youth Initiatives

Our Iniatives

By providing youth workshops, assemblies and community service programs we empower the youth of today for a better tomorrow.

What makes our initiatives different?

Why is youth engagement important?

What are youth initiatives?

Through their makerspace experiences, students can learn the value of persistence, invention, and collaboration as well as how thinking critically helps drive innovative solutions. Perhaps most significantly, it’s these elements of real-world relevance that make makerspaces so important.

Who benefits from our Initiatives?

As members of your community and future leaders in the making, youth have unique perspectives to share.

Listen to what they have to say, ask them what is most important to them, find out what they want to learn, and ask them how they want to be involved. Wherever possible, support youth to get out on the land and waters. And encourage older and younger generations to spend time together and learn from each other.

What makes our initiatives different?

The Canadian Arctic winters are long, giving youth things to do that our counterparts in the south can do is important
Our initiatives differ because we try to bring new innovative ideas and engagements to the north. Take the Cambridge Bay paintball project, some kids had never seen or even held a paintball marker before however considering their abilities, desires and needs to hunt to provide for their families paintball was a great initiative to develop their fine motor skills.
Youth are the next generation of community leaders so it is important that they know and understand the stewardship values and issues of importance to their community.
From Paintball-drone training we connect youth to new ways of developing themselves and keeping their minds and bodies engaged in ways that have never been attempted before in Nunavut.

Why is youth engagement important?

Youth engagement is a central principal of youth development. Youth engagement offers community leaders the expertise and partnership of young people, helping adults fully understand what it is like to grow up in a rapidly changing world. From a political point of view, youth engagement is important because young people deserve the right to represent their own interests. Youth civic engagement is also critically important to prepare young people to be active citizens in a democracy.

What are the benefits of Youth engagement?

Youth engagements are always a win-win proposition. Young people benefit from gaining skills, knowledge, self-esteem, and concentration and from the lasting effect of positive role models.

What are the solutions?

Strengthen the Inuit Nunangat food system by working in partnership with Inuit to:

Social Inclusion

Youth engagement works best when it’s youth-led. When youth see their peers in the same positions of influence, it gives them greater confidence that their interests and perspectives will be respected and reflected by city/town leaders. Youth want to be heard, they want to know that their concerns and needs are important and that they matter.

Mentorship

Mentoring is often one component of a program that involves other elements, such as tutoring or life skills training and coaching. The supportive, healthy relationships formed between mentors and mentees are both immediate and long-term and contribute to a host of benefits for mentors and mentees.

Innovation

Leveraging technologies is our primary focus on developing Indigenous youth engagements. Youth-led innovations whereby young people develop strategies/solutions to tackle issues are important. Youth see and use technology on a regular basis and connecting them to the technologies of the future is a must.

Empowerment

We empower youth by giving them access to the tools, the training and the support to allow them to realize their own potentials. We want them to harness their extraordinary leadership skills, talents and motivate them to better themselves, to grow and to be positive people in their communities.

Postive Communication

Good communication skills is a critical component in our strategies, consistent and positive conversations will influence youth in helping youth develop the values, security, and sense of worth that can lead to healthy decision making in life. The impact is seen in their relationships with others.

Youth Voice & Recognition

Engaging youth in your community will produce more positive outcomes for all residents and for the future of the community at-large. Recognizing the outstanding youth of our communities and cities is also a way to foster good spirits by helping youth obtain recognition for the work that they are already working on.

Our Approach

Our Youth Engagement Plan aims to bring more youth voices into city/municipal planning conversations by:

Understanding how and when to engage youth on city/municipal planning issues; and,
Creating a framework that will mobilize a generation to take ownership of and become active on planning issues and engaging youth in conversations and topics surrounding politics.

We go where the youth are:

Meeting youth in their physical playground, be it in virtual spaces they inhabit can bring them into conversations in a way that is convenient for them. Youth are more likely to engage in and participate in a process that’s fun, creative social and on their terms.