Press release about the Siunissaq project

Since 2014, project Siunissaq has developed in a unique collaboration between Ilisimatusarfik, the Children's Rights Office of Greenland (MIO), Sermersooq municipality, Qeqqata municipality, Kujalleq municipality, local companies and foundations in Greenland and Denmark, as well as other countries - all of which have provided both financial and moral support to the project. It has been and is a great pleasure to be part of this good cooperation.

Ilisimatusarfik has made a major contribution to prioritizing the best interests of the child by supporting Siunissaq. This has been done through teaching and research time, conferences in Greenland, the Arctic and internationally, facilities (including premises, technical equipment, etc.), publishing support for books and dissemination in Greenlandic and English, art exhibitions with music, and seminars and learning with students on the Siunissaq method.

Through Ilisimatusarfik, Siunissaq has become a project that is known and appreciated by many here in Greenland - and indeed internationally through the UArctic Thematic Network, publications in English and through national and international conferences, where we have been invited to speak about it. The project is described, discussed and / or mentioned in several research publications, because the synergy between action in practice and locally anchored research is important to make our society sustainable.

Throughout the years, the support of Ilisimatusarfik and the partners mentioned above has made it possible to carry out many workshops for children and young people and community events, i.e., meetings and exhibitions in the local communities with the participation of young people and local artists in a good collaboration. It has also made it possible to organize exhibitions, publish books of young people's artistic expression and build research networks around methods that support young people to create good communities with access to rights and to participate as active, creative and constructive co-creators of our democratic society.

In dialogue with young people and with local communities, many workshops have been held, which have been innovative in form and have led to the Siunissaq method, which consists of learning through a combination of psychosocial and artistic activities. This builds a supportive social network between young people and creates a basis for both joint and individual competence - even in difficult life situations.

For a short period from September 2021 to January this year, Siunissaq was located in the Siunissaq Association. It was a productive and instructive period with a good board - but at the end of January this year, a unanimous board and then a unanimous general assembly of the association decided that Siunissaq should be relocated to Ilisimatusarfik - to bring the project into a larger framework that is deeply rooted in our community here. In accordance with the association's statutes to transfer funds and resources to a general useful purpose for Greenlandic children and youth, the project was handed over to Ilisimatusarfik, which welcomed it into a good, stable, and permanent framework in Ilisimatusarfik's Centre for Children, Youth & Family Research. Siunissaq as part of Ilisimatusarfik looks forward to continuing our collaboration with our excellent network of deeply committed and people of all ages here in the country and in the Arctic.

The relocation of the Siunissaq project to Ilisimatusarfik means that the project will continue its development work on interventions that work to increase the social resilience, empowerment, educational and job readiness, and life courage of our children and youth in this community. This will be done through the following activities:

• The special Siunissaq method will be described and made available to professionals within the school and education system in Greenland. A practice-oriented manual with pedagogical / learning principles, values, and activities of Siunissaq will be produced - in Greenlandic and in English. We want an education system with room for everyone.

• Community training will be provided for young people who are dropping out of both the education system and the labor market. We want a country with no "leftovers" in education, democratic participation, and economic opportunities.

• Locally applicable evaluation and documentation methods will be developed for Siunissaq. We want to be measured and weighed on our own terms and with self-determination.

• In October, Ilisimatusarfik will host a conference on best practice in the field of children and young people in this country. We want to develop knowledge that benefits our society here.

The fact that Siunissaq is now located at Ilisimatusarfik means that Siunissaq will continue to be a living part of the efforts to strengthen the quality of life for Greenlandic children and young people - and will be an active player in the development of this important area both in practice and in follow-up research.