Presentation
Governance
The CURA S.I.A. project supports activities and strengthens collaborations through concerted action. This factor is the key to the project’s governance structure. The scientific activities undertaken by members of participating university research centres and units, as well as the activities of the Avataq Cultural Institute, will be coordinated by the CURA director and an Advisory Committee composed of equal numbers of community and university representatives (two each), plus one student member. The committee is chaired by Charlie Arngak, President of the Institute, or his designated replacement. This operating structure is designed to ensure the ongoing participation of Inuit beneficiaries and partners. Coordination of other partners’ scientific activities is also, when those partners are asked to intervene, handled by the Director and the Advisory Committee. A coordinator assists the Director and the Committee by performing CURA S.I.A. administrative duties. The person who holds this position must also facilitate effective communications among the different research modules. The Advisory Committee is also responsible for reviewing project proposals submitted by the various communities, and deciding which ones will be given priority. These community proposals must comply with general CURA objectives. This same governance mechanism is the basis of the annual evaluation of research, intended to harmonize research efforts with community expectations. The project also benefits from annual meetings with representatives of local cultural committees, which serves as Avataq annual meeting. Whenever possible, these meetings with the cultural committees are complemented with workshops for local committee members on specific research topics. The workshops help give short- and medium-term direction to some of the projects advanced by CURA S.I.A.
CURA S.I.A. has also benefited from two Nunavik Elders’ conferences (2007 and 2009) held in order to present the progress of the research projects. These conferences were accompanied by workshops on specific topics, and meetings of working groups that explored new research projects. A third conference is planned for summer 2011. This conference will mark the 30th anniversary of the Avataq Cultural Institute and will be accompanied by special events related to the CURA S.I.A. project.
