The Arctic Inspiration Prize was launched last spring, and funded through an endowment by the S. and A. Inspiration Foundation. Arnold Witzig and his partner Sima Sharifi started the foundation. Witzig said the award is their way of giving back as new Canadians.
"We witnessed the challenges the very first Canadians, the Arctic peoples, were facing due to rapid changes in their environment, their culture and their economy," he said.
Several Northern projects have each won part of the first Arctic Inspiration Prize, worth a total of $1 million.
The awards were handed out Thursday night at the annual ArcticNet meeting in Vancouver. ArcticNet is a network of researchers focusing on the impacts of climate change and modernization in the Canadian Arctic. The prize is intended to support projects that use Arctic knowledge and research to benefit the Canadian Arctic and its people.
