Ways of gathering information

Yours&my propositions:
-books
-Internet
-old YEs
-writing to some representatives of Inuit culture - maybe we could find an Inuit school and start talking with our peers? Or ask for information in an institution like any office, department (I don't really know which, but there must exist institutions responsible for ecology etc.)? What do you think?
-...

http://www.sikunews.com/Commentary

http://www.sikunews.com/Commentary/What-is-ethical%3F-7542

http://www.sikunews.com/Commentary/Commentary%3A-%22Education-reform%2C-reclaiming-language-go-hand-in-hand%22-7401

http://eyeonthearctic.rcinet.ca/en/news/canada/46-culture

Hey! I would like to contact Qikiqtani Inuit Association - Youth Section for the most basic information. My proposition of an e-mail to them (http://www.qia.ca/apps/authoring/dspPage.aspx?page=youth)is:

Dear Becky and Thomas,

My name is Zuzanna Łukasik and I'm from Cracow, Poland. Together with 15 other young people from all over the world I got selected to attend the 9th Selection Camp of the Pangaea Young Explorers Program. The goal of this program, leaded by Mike Horn - a famous explorer - is to show the young generation how wonderful our Earth is and how to protect it efficiently. 8 participants of each camp are being invited to join an expedition - in my case the desired destination place is Nunavut, around Baffin Island.

But before the camp (12-22 June) we have to prepare a conspect of a project that could be led by Young Explorers during the Expedition. This project must concern problems of local ecosystem and community. The aim is to discover and help the region. We must carry out some research in order to identify key environmental and social issues in region of Nunavut, especially Baffin Island neighbourhoods.

Could you please help us with this demanding task? We would be extremely grateful if you could anwser our following questions:
- What do you think we should concentrate on in our project?
- What are the main environmental (both ecological and social) issues in your region?
- How does Climate Change affect normal people living in Nunavut? What are the consequences for their everyday life?
- questions
- questions

Could you please tell us about other sources of information, especially about people specializing in such issues or books and websites that could be useful in our research?

Thank you in advance for your help. By our work, we want to help the region of Nunavut. We are looking forward to receiving your reply.

Yours faithfully,
Zuzanna Łukasik on the behalf of YEP Team 1

I had problems with formulating questions to them. Please, help me! Add something from yourself

hey girls!
We are all very busy this week, so i thought to get some help - I mean Michael did say we should use all our contacts...
still waiting for reply from some other MNP yeps.
Well I asked my grandfather to help with research & he came up with a couple of very intersting arcticels/ websites for us to read.
I will post it tomorrow evening after my exam.
I also think its best to talk to the Nunavut locals - we have links to a lot of local websites/ newspapers - Zula, can we ask you to follow these links & mail same as above to them as well? Will post it tomorrow (wednesday).

Maybe we should do research in our 4 interest fields as we said & post basic stuff under the different topics so that all can read summary.

Thereafter we all make suggestions on project .
then decide.
I think the 1st feedback to Michael is only to say "yes we are busy, our group name, leader, & that we are doing research", so not to stress this week about final project subject - research & then decide?

I thought we only should plan a project in an theoratical way? Or do we have to contact organisations and and communities there? I´m a bit confused;D

Rici wrote:I thought we only should plan a project in an theoratical way? Or do we have to contact organisations and and communities there? I´m a bit confused;D

our project idea must be something that Pangaea can actually start if they think its a good idea. So our project should be based on very good research on problems in Nunavut. As Michael said - research, plan, present & (maybe) start. So whatever we plan, must be able to become reality.

one can do a lot of research on the internet, but i also think its great to talk to the locals - i mean they can tell you exactly how they live & what they would like to see/do!

will post some great links later today!

Micheal also write that we just can propose a draft, and bsic information abt the project, and we can ask some advice from him and other seniors.
So I asked my friend working for a NGO, she said that how abt the food supplier there. was it eco friendly or not?
because in VN, we used to operate a project that provided the oven replacing for the stove, which wastes more coal and release Co2.
I think this is quiet promising idea

Zula your letter is great!
I posted some links under Research - Social to blogs /nunavut newspapers/ etc. Arctic college great place to start. Nunavut Envirionmental Department. Schools.

MOre questions to ask:

Waste management looks like a real problem : does all schools & offices have recycling bins & tin crusher bins?

Water/Ice safety: How is this promoted to people? Do the people go to water safety lessons/ is their enough instructors? Do the people wear PFD's (personal floatation devices) when going out on the ice? How available is PFD's & cost?

Water: Is delivery of fresh drinking water ever a problem?

Electricity usage: DO the schools have energy saving plans in place? (bulbs/ switch off rules/ curtains )



How to make project interesting for people ? (in which way should it be presented so that it does not feel like a school lesson to the kids?)

What is the Best Method of communicating our Project to Nunavut people when there ? posters/ radio/facebook/school

http://www.gov.nu.ca/en/Home.aspx - Nunavut Government website. I have already contacted some people responsible for fishing&sealing. They and their website can be a great source of information.

Hello! I would like to present you my foreign contacts here

1) to Qikiqtani Inuit Association

Dear Becky and Thomas,
My name is Zuzanna Łukasik and I'm from Cracow, Poland. Together with 15 other young people from all over the world I got selected to attend the 9th Selection Camp of the Pangaea Young Explorers Program. The goal of this program, leaded by Mike Horn - a famous explorer - is to show the young generation how wonderful our Earth is and how to protect it efficiently. 8 participants of each camp are being invited to join an expedition - in my case the desired destination place is Nunavut, around Baffin Island.
But before the camp (12-22 June) we have to prepare a conspect of a project that could be led by Young Explorers during the Expedition. This project must concern problems of local ecosystem and community. The aim is to discover and help the region. We must carry out some research in order to identify key environmental and social issues in region of Nunavut, especially Baffin Island neighbourhoods.
Could you please help us with this demanding task? We would be extremely grateful if you could answer our following questions:
- What do you think we should concentrate on in our project?
- What are the main environmental (both ecological and social) issues in your region?
- How does Climate Change affect normal people living in Nunavut? What are the consequences for their everyday life?
- Are youths from Nunavut concerned about ecology? Are they proud of their unique culture?
- How does life of simple youths look like in Nunavut? Maybe there is a way we could chat or e-mail with some local schools?
We are also interested in knowing more about waste management, water&ice safety (water safety lessons, instructors), delivery of fresh drinking water, electricity&energy saving, food supplier - could you please tell us about other sources of information, especially about people specializing in such issues or books and websites that could be useful in our research? Maybe you could recommend us local popular newspapers or magazines?
Thank you in advance for your help. By our work, we want to help the region of Nunavut. We are looking forward to receiving your reply.
Yours faithfully,
Zuzanna Łukasik on the behalf of YEP Team 1

To Nunavut Roundtable for Poverty Reduction:

Dear Roundtable Team!
My name is Zuzanna Łukasik and I'm from Cracow, Poland. Together with 15 other young people from all over the world I got selected to attend the 9th Selection Camp of the Pangaea Young Explorers Program. The goal of this program, leaded by Mike Horn - a famous explorer - is to show the young generation how wonderful our Earth is and how to protect it efficiently. 8 participants of each camp are being invited to join an expedition - in my case the desired destination place is Nunavut, around Baffin Island.
But before the camp (12-22 June) we have to prepare a conspect of a project that could be led by Young Explorers during the Expedition. This project must concern problems of local ecosystem and community. The aim is to discover and help the region. We must carry out some research in order to identify key environmental and social issues in region of Nunavut, especially Baffin Island neighbourhoods. We came across your activities and we are really inspired. We would like to know something more about your organisation!
We would be extremely grateful if you could answer our following questions:
* - What is the actual unemployment rate in the region of Nunavut?
* - Who joined your organisation? Are youths interested in changing their environment?
* - Do you think that schools and educational communities in the region of Nunavut offer enough for kids? Are they satisfied with the number of activities?
* - Does the region offer possibilities of self-development?
* - Are Inuits proud of their unique and outstanding (for us!) culture?
* - What do you think: if the Northwest Passage becomes an alternative and attractive major shipping route - will it bring good or bad? Do you think it will bring a wave of 'American culture'? Degradation of the ecosystem? Or maybe more opportunities to the inhabitants of Nunavut?
* What do you think are other key problems of Nunavut?
We are also interested in knowing more about waste management, water&ice safety (water safety lessons, instructors), delivery of fresh drinking water, electricity&energy saving, food supplier - could you please tell us about other sources of information, especially about people specializing in such issues or books and websites that could be useful in our research? Maybe you could recommend us local popular newspapers or magazines?
Thank you in advance for your help. We're really impressed by what you're doing and support you totally! Best luck! We are looking forward to receiving your reply.
Yours faithfully,
Zuzanna Łukasik on the behalf of YEP Team 1

To 8 schools:
Dear Sir/Madam,
My name is Zuzanna Łukasik, I am 17 years old and I am from Cracow, Poland. Together with 15 other youths from all over the world I am attending the 9th Selection Camp of the Pangaea Young Explorers Program. The Program is leaded by Mike Horn, a famous explorer, who now shows the beauty and uniqueness of the surrounding world do the young generation. His aim is to make us understand how it is important to take responsibility for what we are doing and to teach us how do preserve the Earth. He already organized 8 Expeditions to different places like New Zealand, Malaysia, Himalaya or Magnetic North Pole (the team didn’t reach the MNP and spend most of time in Resolute). The 9th Expedition is going to take place in Nunavut.
But before the Camp, selected youths have to prepare a proposal of a project that could be led by Young Explorers themselves during the Expedition. It needs to be related to key issues (both ecological and social) of the region and its goal is to help the region and people of Nunavut. However, it is very difficult to gather information about a place thousands of kilometers far away. We read local Internet newspapers, contact organizations, but what we would really love to base our knowledge on is contact with our peers. We would like to involve them in our work! That is why I thought of writing this e-mail to you.
I prepared a short questionnaire for youths from your school. Please find it attached to this e-mail. We would be extremely grateful if your pupils could send us back this questionnaire via e-mail to my mailbox: zula.lukasik@gmail.com . We would be also delighted to have a possibility of chatting with our peers via Skype or any other Internet communicator, or even a simple e-mail exchange.
It is also not easy to find the most basic information about education system in Canada, Nunavut. We investigated lots of information but still do not know when is the summer holiday for pupils from Nunavut? Or what are the weekdays? And weekends? Does the school organize extra classes like drama classes or chess club (I realize I am looking from a Polish point of view, totally different realms)? What are they? What are school energy saving plans? Are there any bins for waste segregation? Could you please answer these questions?
Thank you in advance for your time and energy. We are eagerly waiting for the answers as we have only 2 weeks to prepare the proposal of our project. We believe this is a great way to share the uniqueness of our cultures and to get to know more about each other. If it is at all possible, we would appreciate a reply by latest Friday 03 June.
Yours faithfully,
Zuzanna Łukasik + a questionnaire

Time for their feedback! Only two people answered me by now:

1) Madam Vince Pickett, the principal of Ataguttaaluk High School - vpickett@qikiqtani.edu.nu.ca - Igloolik http://mailhub.edu.nu.ca/qikiqtani/orientation/Igloolik.html

Hi Again,
Thanks for sending the questionaire in pdf.
Lust to let you know we are in our final week of school, so everyone is extremely busy. I hope I can get some students to comply with your request over the next couple of days. The students have
three days of school only !!
All the best and good luck
Vince

2) Marvin McKay-Keenan, the principal of Kugluktuk High School - mkeenan@kitikmeot.edu.nu.ca

Dear Zuzanna:
Thank you for your email. Unfortunately our school has closed for the summer holidays. Our 2010-2011 school started on August 6, 2010 and ended on May 27, 2011. As a result there are no students
available to answer you survey but I am going to give you some information about Nunavut and the Nunavut education system.

First of all Nunavut is one of three territories in Canada. Along with three territories Canada also has 10 provinces. A territory has some but not all of the powers of a province. Nunavut became a
territory in 1999. At that time the much larger territory called the Northwest Territories was divided into two. One part remained as the Northwest Territories and the other part became Nunavut.

Nunavut has approximately 37 000 people of which over 80% are Inuit (formally called Eskimos). The first language spoken by about 60% of Nunavut's population is Inuktitut in the eastern part of the
territory and Inuinnaqtun in the western part of the territories. Of the remaining 40% of the population approximately 35% call English their first language and 5% call French their first language.
Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, English, and French are all official languages in the territory of Nunavut. In Canada the two official languages are English and French. All students in Nunavut are
guaranteed an Education in English or French plus Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun.

The government of Nunavut is trying to prevent the Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun languages from declining in use. As a result all schools in Nunavut have a mandate from the Nunavut government to do
everything in their power to provide Inuktitut and/or Inuinnaqtun language instruction.

Kugluktuk High School has grades 7 to 12 and has approximately 170 students. Poor student attendance is a problem throughout Nunavut and Kugluktuk High School is no exception. The average attendance
in grades kindergarten to 12 in all of Nunavut is approximately 70%. This past school year the average attendance in grades 7 to 12 at Kugluktuk High School was 52%.

This school year we had six students graduate from grade 12.

Employment is another big challenge in Nunavut. There are no roads connecting any communities in Nunavut. All communities except one, Baker Lake, are located on either Hudson Bay (part of the
Atlantic Ocean), the Atlantic Ocean, or the Arctic Ocean. Most heavy goods such as trucks, school supplies, and building materials etcetera are shipped to the communities between July and October of
each year. Most people movement is done by air. With poor and expensive transportation links most jobs are in the service industry such as teacher jobs, nursing jobs, working in local stores, and
working directly for the Nunavut government. Some young people still want to pursue traditional life styles which means living off the land (hunting caribou, seals, polar bears, musk oxen, and
trapping foxes etcetera) but most young people who do get jobs end up in the service industry.

Education for young people from 5 years old to 18 years old is compulsory in Nunavut. Although many Nunavutmiut (people of Nunavut) decide not to obey the law and do not send their children to
school. Public education is fully paid for by the government of Nunavut. Students go from kindergarten to grade 12. In grade 12 they have to write the province of Alberta departmental exams. Nunavut
does not make its own departmental exams at this time.

I hope that this information is of some value to you. Please contact me with specific questions about life in Nunavut or about public school education in Nunavut and I will be happy to answer them.

Yours Sincerely,
Marvin McKay-Keenan,
Principal,
Kugluktuk High School,
work email - mkeenan@kitikmeot.edu.nu.ca
personal email - mckaykeenan@gmail.com

And another e-mail, to mister Lynch Wayne who works for the Departament of Fishing and Sealing of the Government of Nunavut:

Dear Sir,
My name is Zuzanna Łukasik and I'm from Cracow, Poland. Together with 15 other young people from all over the world I got selected to attend the 9th Selection Camp of the Pangaea Young Explorers Program. The goal of this program, leaded by Mike Horn - a famous explorer - is to show the young generation how wonderful our Earth is and how to protect it efficiently. 8 participants of each camp are being invited to join an expedition - in my case the desired destination place is Nunavut, around Baffin Island.
But before the camp (12-22 June) we have to prepare a conspect of a project that could be led by Young Explorers during the Expedition. This project must concern problems of local ecosystem and community. The aim is to discover and help the region. We must carry out some research in order to identify key environmental and social issues in region of Nunavut, especially Baffin Island neighbourhoods.
Could you please help us with this demanding task? We would be extremely grateful if you could answer our following questions:
- What do you think we should concentrate on in our project?
- How does Climate Change affect normal people living in Nunavut? What are the consequences for their everyday life?
- We know that for ages a traditional occupation for Inuits was fishing and sealing, but the Climate Change warped their reality. Methods of hunting have changed as well. Is seal&fish meat still the main diet ingredient?
- We are learning more and more about the Northwest Passage. How will the opening of this new and attractive (possibly major?) shipping route affect the ecosystem of Nunavut? What animals reaction is expected?
- What other issues do you think we should focus on?
Could you please tell us about other sources of information, especially about people specializing in such issues or books, documents and websites that could be useful in our research?
Thank you in advance for your help. By our work, we want to help the region of Nunavut. We are looking forward to receiving your reply, as we have only got two weeks to complete our project proposal. We would be extremely grateful if you could answer us quickly.
Yours faithfully,
Zuzanna Łukasik on the behalf of YEP Team 1

No reply yet

And this one is to Inuit Youth Leader's in Nunavut (thanks Henko for their e-mail addresses! I have already contacted two of them, Becky and Tomas from Iqaluit, the other two - today)

Hey guys!
My name is Zuzanna Łukasik and I'm from Cracow, Poland. Together with 15 other young people from all over the world I got selected to attend the 9th Selection Camp of the Pangaea Young Explorers Program. The goal of this program, leaded by Mike Horn - a famous explorer - is to show the young generation how wonderful our Earth is and how to protect it efficiently. 8 participants of each camp are being invited to join an expedition - in my case the desired destination place is Nunavut, around Baffin Island.
But before the camp (12-22 June) we have to prepare a conspect of a project that could be led by Young Explorers during the Expedition. This project must concern problems of local ecosystem and community. The aim is to discover and help the region. We must carry out some research in order to identify key environmental and social issues in region of Nunavut, especially Baffin Island neighbourhoods. We came across your - we would like to know something more about your organisation and your job!
We wanted to contact some schools from Nunavut, but it appeared that the school year is almost over. Although the principals really want to help us, they can not carry out a questionnaire for youths that we wrote. We would be extremely grateful if you could spread it (please, find it attached to this e-mail as a pdf. document). We are able to find almost every information about the ecosystem of Nunavut in the Internet, but there's almost no chance for a personal contact with our peers and they are the generation to who we would like address our project.
We also ask for some information about your job: what do you do as Regional Youth Coordinators? What is your role? Have you got anything to do with environmental protection? Water safety programs?
Thank you in advance for your time and energy. We are eagerly waiting for the answers as we have only 2 weeks to prepare the proposal of our project. We believe this is a great way to share the uniqueness of our cultures and to get to know more about each other. If it is at all possible, we would appreciate a reply by latest Friday 03 June.
Yours faithfully,
Zuzanna Łukasik on the behalf of Team 1

My reply to mister Marvin McKay-Keenan:

Dear Sir,
On the behalf of my team and myself: thank you very much for devoting your time to us. We have contacted 7 other schools from Nunavut and already got feedback from 2 of them - it shows us that you are so open, hospitable and eager to help! Thank you very much.
We would also like to know weather a Students Council exist in your school? (If so, could you please pass me an e-mail address of their president?) Any other students or youth organisation? What are the subjects in your school? Is it only history, geography, biology, mathematics etc. or maybe subjects referring to the region and its culture as well? Are there any extra classes (like chess, dog sledding club) provided for pupils? My friend is especially interested in water safety programs - are there any organized patronized by the school?
Again: we are very grateful for your reply.
Yours faithfully,
Zuzanna

That's all for tonight Goodnight everyone!

Reply I got from mister Marvin McKay-Keenan:

Dear Zuzanna:
There is no student council at Kugluktuk High School.
We have assorted sports teams at our school. Volleyball, ping pong (table tennis), and indoor soccer are particularly popular.
At our school we offer English language instruction, Inuinnaqtun instruction, social studies, science (physics and chemistry), mathematics, art, physical education, and assorted shop courses
(woodworking, metal working (welding), and electrical courses).
Dog sledding is not done in Kugluktuk but is very popular in Arviat (another Nunavut community).
Swimming and water safety programs are infrequently done in Kugluktuk.
Good luck in your project.

What interested me the most was what he wrote about Nunavutmiuts who decide not to send their children to school. Where do they live? What is their job? What kind of upbringing do they give to their children? How do they earn a living when their reality changes so quickly?

Dear Sir/ Madam,

My name is Minh Hang Hoang Le, 20 years old from Vietnam.

At first, I want to introduce about myself and my project: I and 15 young people round the world got selected to attend the 9th Selection Camp of the Pangaea Young Explorers Program. The goal of this program, leaded by Mike Horn - a famous explorer - is to show the young generation how wonderful our Earth is and how to protect it efficiently (http://pangaea-yep.com/). After the selection camp, 8 members will join an Expedition to Nunavut, Canada.

Before the camp (12-22 June 2011) we have to prepare a project proposal which will be led by Young Explorers during the Expedition and could continue to be operated after the Expedition. This project must concern problems of local ecosystem and community to help and change the region. We already carried out some research in order to identify key environmental and social issues in regions of Nunavut.

Our project will focus on raising youth's awareness about environmental issues through a series of activities, such as 3R programs, clean up day, field trip day, sport event, art event...

However, we still need more contribution to improve the content as well as to set the stabilization of our project., since we look forward to the long-term results, not just the outcome after Expedition.

Therefore, I write this letter to call for your help. I myself really want to push some change in Nunavut, but I cannot do it successfully without the support from local youth, the most dynamic generation in Nunavut.

We would be extremely grateful if you could answer our following questions:

* Are young members in your organization interested in preserving environment?

* Will you be willing to cooperate and take over our project after the Expedition?

* If not, could you recommend us some local organizations which are fond of environmental activities?

* If we want to perform a communication campaign, which means should we use to attract the wide citizens (magazines, newspaper, Tv broadcast)? Could you share with us some useful cotacts?

Thank you in advance for your help. I'm really impressed by what you're doing and support you totally! Best luck!

If you have any question, don't hesitate to tell me. I am looking forward to receiving your reply.

Yours faithfully,
Minh Hang, on the behalf of YEP Team 1




from Geoff Green geoff@studentsonice.com
to Minh Hang <uranus.bibi@gmail.com>
date Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 9:07 PM
subject Re: Climate change Project

hide details Jun 7 (3 days ago)

Dear Minh Hang,
Many thanks for your email below. And congratulations for being part of the Pangaea Young Explorers Program!
To answer your questions below, I can say yes to all. I would first just need to know more details and specifics.
We have been working closely with Nunavut youth, government, organizations, etc for many years, and we are always interested in assisting and promoting good initiatives and opportunities.
Please keep us posted and good luck!
Best,
Geoff
------------------------------------------------------------
Geoff Green, Founder & President
Students on Ice Foundation
www.studentsonice.com
www.uantarctic.org
www.geoffgreen.ca




Dear all this is a feedback from youth organization Students on Ice
as you can see, he is willing to share with us.
@zula: can you send me a draft proposal, I want to ask his comment. (since I cant download the article in Google doc)