Government of Yukon, Yukon College & University of Saskatchewan host Circumpolar Innovation Workshop
WHITEHORSE – The Government of Yukon, Yukon College and the University of Saskatchewan (uSask) are providing a launching pad for the development of a circumpolar innovation ecosystem. They are bringing together academics, stakeholders, and business analysts from Sweden, Finland, Norway, Greenland and Wales with Yukon industry leaders for a two-day workshop in Whitehorse this week.
The workshop, Circumpolar Innovation: Making Science and Technology Work for the North, is a partnership between Yukon Economic Development, the College and the International Centre for Northern Governance and Development (ICNGD) at uSask. The goal of the workshop is to develop a Circumpolar Innovation Strategy and Research Agenda.
“The Government of Yukon is pleased to support this workshop, hosted by our partners and bringing together experts from across the circumpolar region,” Minister of Economic Development Stacey Hassard said. “As Yukoners, we continue to develop our northern expertise and seek opportunities to share our knowledge and learn from the partnerships that arise from participating in these types of gatherings.”
“There exists a real opportunity right now for circumpolar innovators to harness scientific and technological developments and make real contributions to the quality of life in the Far North. The circumpolar world lags behind the rest of the industrialized world in our innovative capabilities and are importing solutions from the South. We are ignoring the unique challenges and opportunities of the North,” said Dr. Ken Coates, Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation and the Director of the International Centre for Northern Governance and Development at the University of Saskatchewan.
“Our many partnerships between the Yukon Research Centre and Yukon entrepreneurs and inventors have showcased the possibilities that can happen when we put our energy towards providing northern solutions to northern problems,” said Dr. Karen Barnes, President, Yukon College. “By working in synergy with our circumpolar colleagues we will be able to better capitalize on the opportunities facing us.”
On Wednesday November 25 at 6:00 p.m, Yukon College’s Centre for Northern Innovation in Mining and CH2M Canada are hosting a reception from 6:00 to 6:45 to celebrate the signing of their new memorandum of understanding. The reception will be followed by a free public lecture by Dr. Coates entitled Innovation, the New Economy and the Future of Work in the North. Both events will take place in the Pit at Ayamdigut Campus.
The Circumpolar Innovation Workshop commences on Thursday morning and continues to Friday afternoon. There is also a free public lecture on Thursday November 26 at 12:00 p.m. in room A2206 by Dr. Richard Hawkins of the University of Calgary entitled Evidence-based policy for innovation: Profiting from the conflict between what we know and what we do.
The workshop is also sponsored by the University of the Arctic, a Circumpolar research and teaching collaboration of which Yukon College and the University of Saskatchewan were founding members. The Centre for Sami Studies at the University of Tromso, The Arctic University of Norway, has been a key partner in the development of the workshop.