ReSDA : Media

New project will try to "give people a choice of tools that will help" Throughout the North, but especially in northern Canada, resource development has often proven to be devastating for Arctic peoples and communities. Take Yukon’s gold rush, which saw 100,000 people to travel to the Klondike region between 1897 and 1899 to prospect for gold. That influx of people that caused devastating effects on the indigenous peoples, said Chris Soutcott of Lakehead University during a Sept. 19 presentation at the Nunavut Research Institute in Iqaluit. Soutcott spoke about a project called RESDA, short for “Resources and Sustainable Development of Resources in the Arctic.” The project will try to provide communities with information so they can avoid the kinds of problems caused by the gold rush or by the whaling industry based on Hershel Island in the beginning of the 20th century. The huge northern research project, which involves 60 researchers across the circumpolar world, hopes to help communities in Nunavut get more out of resource development, Soutcott said. The international team of researchers will present their findings to the communities they study after the project wraps up, he said. Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., a partner in this project, plans to advise the researchers on “the types of good research in their region.” These could include looking at communities where mining takes place so “we would know the best ways of doing that mine and the mining benefits to them,” he said. The RESDA project’s overall goal is to make sure northern communities can better manage development.......

Announcement of program made at Lakehead University on February 25th, 2011
View the short video message from some of the partners involved in the Resources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic (ReSDA) project that is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and many other agencies. http://vimeo.com/20377780 or read the announcement on the Lakehead University website at http://communications.lakeheadu.ca/news/?display=news&;nid=798&unitid=1

SSHRC Press Release - Investment will strengthen economy and improve quality of life of Northerners (THUNDER BAY, Ontario, February 25, 2011) - New research will examine how Canadians living in northern communities can benefit from the sustainable development of Arctic natural resources in a manner that improves northerner's health and wellbeing, while preserving the region's unique environment. The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology), made the announcement while speaking at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay..... Read more at http://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/news_room-salle_de_presse/press_releases-communiques/2011/MCRI-eng.aspx

ReSDA partners on Docs North film workshop (Wawatay News, October 14, 2011) – from October 2^nd to 6^th a video production workshop was held in Thunder Bay, Ontario. It was organized through the Flash Frame Film and Video Network, in partnership with the National Film Board of Canada, Keewaytinook Okimakanak Research Institute and ReSDA. Read more at http://wawataynews.ca/archive/all/2011/10/14/docs-north-film-workshop-awesome-experience_21946