Karen Mackenzie
Northern News Services
Published Monday, November 12, 2007

IQALUIT - More murals and fewer bar fights: these are two of the things a group of local youth would like to see changed about Nunavut's capital city.

Participants in the Youth Visioning and Engagement Workshop create illustrations of themselves at the Iqaluit youth centre on Nov. 2. They wrote their goals and dreams within their images. - Karen Mackenzie/NNSL photo

Also topping their list of wishes for a sustainable community is a bus system to carry them around town - or at least up to the youth centre - and less litter.

With the help of pipe cleaners, macaroni and cameras, about a dozen teens-turned-city planners sketched their dreams during a Youth Visioning and Engagement Workshop on Nov. 2 and 3.

Now they hope city hall will listen up.

"We really think that when you're looking at planning for community development, it's all about planning for a brighter future, and kids are our future," said Isabel Budke, Iqaluit's temporary consultant for long-term sustainable planning, who helped facilitate the project.

Penny Qitsualik, a YOUCAN member and student, said she also relished the idea of learning a bit more about photography. Two local shutterbugs were on hand to give a crash course in cameras and supervise the group as they toured the town, snapping pictures of what works, and what doesn't.

A couple of lucky participants even won digital cameras in a draw.

"It's something really good to do, and a great way to meet people," Qitsualik said of the event.

Budke hopes to now compile some of their photography into a small show, in order to get the group's message out to the public.

Prior to the youth activity, the city hosted a workshop called Engaging Youth in Sustainable Community Development. Thirteen educators, youth workers, parents and interested citizens discussed Nov. 1 how to engage youth in creating a healthy, sustainable community.

Participants co-operated on a number of activities, including the creation of an "asset map" of services for youth in Iqaluit, and pinpointed what resources are needed.

The workshops are part of the City of Iqaluit's first long-term planning exercise. They were funded also by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, Kakivak Association, Embrace Life Council and the International Centre for Sustainable Cities.