The IPinCH project is the first recipient of a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Award, one of five categories of the organizations’ new Impact Awards. George Nicholas, IPinCH Project Director, accepted the award on behalf of the team on October 15th at the World Social Science Forum in Montreal.
The Partnership Award is given to a SSHRC-funded partnership recognized for “its outstanding achievement in advancing research, research training or knowledge mobilization, or developing a new partnership approach to research...It is awarded to a partnership that, through mutual co-operation and shared intellectual leadership and resources, has demonstrated impact and influence within and/or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community.” This is the first year of this award program.
Formally launched in 2008, the seven-year IPinCH project has explored how, where, and why intellectual property concerns arise, and has worked from the position that descendent communities, whoever they are, should be the primary beneficiaries of their heritage. The national recognition of IPinCH’s innovative approach to partnerships signals that Canada’s largest research and funding organizations are paying attention.
IPinCH will use the $50,000 award to hold a national forum on research ethics, a key element of our CBI/Case Study work. This forum will draw attention to research ethics at the community, institutional and national policy levels, with a particular focus on the Canadian context. The event is tentatively scheduled for early 2015. The award will also contribute to a “Public Speaker Series on Intangible Cultural Heritage,” and to the development and dissemination of the project’s findings, resources, and recommendations.
We are thankful for the contributions of many of our IPinCH team members to our award submission, the support of Melanie Monk (Manager, Communications and Research Awards, Office of the Vice-President, Research, SFU), and the encouragement of the SFU research community.
But our greatest appreciation is to our many community and organizational partners — the Inuvialuit, the Center for Ainu and Indigenous Studies, the Avataq Cultural Institute, the Penobscot Nation, the Saginaw-Chippewa Indian Tribe, the Kyrgyz peoples, The Hokotehi Moriori Trust, the Secwepemc Nation, the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, the Stó:lo Research and Resource Management Centre, the Mannum Aboriginal Community, Inc., the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, the Carcross-Tagish First Nation, the Ta’an Kwach’än Council, the Inuit Heritage Trust, the Sealaska Heritage Institute, and others — who have been behind IPinCH from the start.
Check out Project Director George Nicholas accepting the SSHRC Partnership Award (starting at 5:30):
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