A sense of optimism

Public Engagement

Dec. 8, 2016

The NunatuKavut Research Ethics Project is a small public engagement project with a big impact.

A collaboration between the NunatuKavut Community Council and the Division of Community Health and Humanities in the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial, the project is helping to define, and model, a better way for universities and Indigenous communities to work together.

Darlene Wall, social sector manager with the NunatuKavut Community Council, was both an on-the-ground organizer and research contributor to the project.
Photo: Submitted

The goal? To create research that is truly collaborative, and that reflects the needs and interests of NunatuKavut.

The NunatuKavut Research Ethics Project was a winner of the inaugural President’s Award for Public Engagement Partnerships, in recognition of its strong collaboration. As part of the prize, Memorial’s Office of Public Engagement and CITL worked with the partnership to create the video below about their work. The 2016 winners will be announced at a ceremony next week.

Todd Russell, president, NunatuKavut, is optimistic about what the project means for the future.

“I think this project has helped us strengthen and grow a relationship that is based more on respect,” he said. “It has helped each of us grow in ways that are beneficial to the university as an institution, and to us as a people.”

Rebecca Cohoe is the manager of public engagement with the Office of Public Engagement. She can be reached at rcohoe@mun.ca.