Working Together to Achieve Healthier Lifestyles in Yukon & Northwest Territories’ Communities (2013-2018)

Background:

This initiative involves identifying ways to support, promote and facilitate healthier lifestyles in communities, through the strengthening of partnerships between organizations, governments, and communities. We are particularly interested in sustainability and are working with others to understand the factors that contribute to maintaining lasting long-term outcomes in our communities.  As lead and support for the project, AICBR is following a collective impact approach, working with those who share a common agenda, offer mutually reinforcing activities, and is facilitating continuous communication between partners.

Objectives:

The project goal is to create territorial and cross-territorial community-based research partnerships devoted to identifying, planning, implementing, and evaluating short and long-term initiatives that focus on healthy lifestyles for Yukon and Northwest Territories families and communities. The pillars of the project include healthy eating, active living, health literacy, and food security.

• Northerners in Yukon and Northwest Territories’ communities follow healthier lifestyles.

• Organizations, government departments and businesses in Yukon and NWT work in partnership together to foster healthy lifestyles in communities.

funder:

Public Health Agency of Canada's Innovation Strategy (2013-2017) 

some key successes:

• Read the story: https://arcg.is/vyqWH

• Creation of two baseline inventories of active living and healthy eating programs for Yukon and Northwest Territories that were developed into two online mapping tools: Healthy Living Inventory and Mapping Tool

  • The Inventory has been identified as a promising tool for policy and program development

• Building onto Healthy Living Inventory maps and increasing accessibility and use of the tool

  • Healthy Living in My Community Project - A community story mapping project for Yukon schools

• Conducted a pre-feasibility study for the development of a food hub in Yukon

• Support of numerous community-based initiatives focused on healthy eating and active living (as well as mental health and wellbeing):

  • For example, Yukon-based “Kids in the Kitchen”, “Walk the Peel”, Selkirk First Nation family cooking classes, and the E’Sah Summer Project, which have resulted in:

    • Support for youth leadership and mental wellbeing through BYTE workshops and trainings at Jackson Lake Healing Centre

    • Increased healthy eating and active living behaviours

• Facilitation of multiple workshops and meetings to bring people together from diverse sectors to work on issues identified as important to advancing healthy lifestyles in the North. These have been integral for facilitating communities to connect with each other and other sectors, share resources and best practices, learn from experts in the field of community gardening and food security, and have resulted in concrete actions and momentum towards addressing community food security.

  • This includes community gardener gatherings in both Yukon and Northwest Territories:

    • Working Together to Grow More 4: Growing a Food Secure Yukon (2017)

    • Working Together to Grow More 3: Community Gardener Gathering 2016 (2016)

    • Working Together to Grow More 2: Community Gardeners & Economic Development Gathering (2015)

    • Working Together to Grow More: Yukon Community Garden Gathering (2014)

    • Ecology North's Growing Garden Education: From Growing Together at Weledeh to Beyond (2017)

    • Ecology North Fall Harvest Fair (2015): Report and Video

  • Contributing to and facilitating national and northern discussions around addressing northern food security

    • What’s Your Recipe for a Better Food System? Yukon Community Engagement – Report 2017

      • Joint-submission to Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada on A Food Policy for Canada by AICBR and Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition (November 2017)

  • Yukon Food Security Events and other Pan-Northern Discussions about Northern Food Security (2016):

    • Yukon Food Security Roundtable, An Evening on Food Security and Open House

    • Northern Networking Gathering and Open Space on Northern Food Summit at

  • Regular webinars and networking:

    • Co-hosted bi-monthly Northern Food Network in partnership with Food Secure Canada

    • Supported monthly Food Network Yukon meetings in partnership with Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition

  • Working Together to Achieve Healthier Lifestyle in Yukon and Northwest Territories Communities: Workshop (2013)

  • Creation of an ongoing space for dialogue through hosting regular meetings with Core Teams (government, NGO representatives) in both YT and NWT to meet, share and learn from each other in order to advance work in the areas of healthy eating and active living; this has resulted in:

    • Increased connectivity and collaboration between multiple sectors in order to achieve healthier lifestyles in the North

• Strengthen cross-territorial collaboration between Yukon and NWT:

  • Support to the Yellowknife Food Charter development (video)

  • Scoping and supporting partners in development of a Food Security Network in NWT

• Increased understanding of factors of sustainability and scalability of successful health interventions through a community-based research lens and in a rural, remote, Northern context

  • Success Stories from Ndilo and Dettah