This past fall and winter of 2023-2024 were an exciting and enriching time for us, and we’re proud to look back on this journey and breakthroughs from those semesters. Thanks to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, student and youth efforts culminated in convening multiple presentations for Arctic Congress 2024.

Conversations held at the Scandic Bodø Hotel in May and June 2024 led to numerous broader discussions on supporting collaborative food security and innovation for northern supply chains. As we start to plan and look forward to next semester and winter, we’re eager to build on the valuable experiences we’ve gained so far.

Arts-based approaches encourage collaborative food systems innovation

Food security is a critical issue in most northern communities, where challenges like remoteness, limited access to fresh and affordable food, and the impacts of climate change create substantial hurdles. As a locally and regionally-focused pilot program, this initiative was designed to facilitate an innovative and experimental framework of business, non-profit, arts, academic and grassroots programs aimed at addressing food insecurity and promoting sustainable food systems with Arctic and northern regions.

So far, our participatory approaches are aiming to balance technology, community engagement, and traditional knowledge exchange. The program operates as a social program and a technology platform. It uses data-driven research, partnerships with local and regional communities, and collaborations with southern farmers, entrepreneurs, and food producers to tackle food insecurity. We emphasize capacity building for sectoral development, education, and raising awareness to help empower communities to enhance their self-sufficiency in food production and distribution.

Looking back, these are the key elements we plan to carry forward and build upon in our next iteration:

• Youth leadership and engagement were at the heart of discussions these past few months. Program success is driven by youth passion and energy as they develop digital and data literacy skills, life skills for food sector entrepreneurship, while communicating our activities and outcomes with increasing effectiveness. We plan to expand their roles even further in the next iteration.
• Artificial intelligence played a crucial role in advancing our learning. From introducing concepts like predictive modeling and optimizing supply chains, AI significantly enhanced our understanding and ability to apply innovative solutions. We aim to deepen our use and exploration of AI tools, especially since our team is well-equipped to leverage these technologies through the OpenAI Researcher Access Program.
• Using arts-based foundations for designing, delivering, and evaluating learning interventions proved highly effective. Creative approaches not only enhanced engagement but also facilitated more inclusive and innovative problem-solving. We will continue to refine and expand our arts-based framework in future projects.

Collaboration with local communities and exchanging traditional knowledge will be vital components of our framework moving forward. Working even more closely with community members and regional collaborators will allow us to create more relevant and impactful solutions. Strengthening these relationships remains a top priority as our initiatives continue to take shape and scale.

As we prepare for the upcoming semester, capacity building will remain a major component of all our program activities, tying into this summer’s digital literacy activities. Our key goal is to build on these foundations, continuing to innovate at the intersection of arts, technology, and community engagement. Addressing food security challenges and fostering resilient, sustainable food systems in northern communities remains our primary focus.

Check back next week as we embark on the next exciting chapter of our journey!

About our summer programming

This summer’s Youth, Arts and Media Team summer activities are supported with funding from Global Dignity Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. Manitoba Agriculture, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, the OpenAI Researcher Access Program, Agri-Food and Agriculture Canada and the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment Skills Program. We thank them for supporting our youth and programs.