Grant: CCI Mobilize Grants

As the public college of the Northwest Territories (NWT), Aurora College provides education, training, and research services that are rooted in northern land, traditions, communities, and people. Currently, both Aurora College and the NWT are in transition; the College is in the process of transforming into a polytechnic university that will increasingly prioritize applied research with territorial partners to meet shared goals. At the same time, the NWT economy, which historically has been driven by resource extraction, is changing and diversifying. Sectors such as mine reclamation and the public service are growing, and the Government of the NWT has committed to enhancing the territory’s knowledge economy, which will create knowledge, information, and innovation to foster economic opportunities and investment. Most recently, in 2023, the Government of the NWT committed to collaborating with Indigenous governments and organizations (IGOs) to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to promote Indigenous self-determination in the territory. These intersecting changes have created an opportunity for Aurora College; by expanding its applied research activity to meet the changing needs of the institution, its partners, and the NWT, resources can be leveraged to support growth at the College, labour market preparedness for residents and students, and Indigenous leadership in research. To this end, Aurora College will use Mobilize funding to pursue three objectives. First, to expand the applied research capacity at Aurora College by adding strategic research positions, enhancing its Faculty Release program, and providing applied research training to faculty and staff, many of whom will be expanding or starting applied research programs during the polytechnic transformation. Second, to enhance applied research partnerships with NWT communities and IGOs by implementing internal funding programs that will provide targeted funds for partnership development and knowledge mobilization, allowing faculty and staff to do research in more collaborative and reciprocal ways that respect the need for relationship building and promote Indigenous self-determination and leadership in research. And third, to provide meaningful applied research training opportunities - both in and out of the classroom - that prepare Aurora College students for further studies or to enter in-demand sectors of the changing NWT labour market.