Émilie Ruffin

Émilie is a multidisciplinary cultural worker with training in Urban Planning and Cultural Geography, and is currently employed by the Avataq Cultural Institute. She is a member of the IPinCH-funded “Cultural Tourism in Nunavik” project, under the direction of Daniel Gendron, and has been conducting research in Kuujjuaq, Kangiqsualujjuaq, and Kangiqsujjuaq.

Since 2005, Émilie’s experience has included contracts for academic, non-profit and governmental organizations. She works mostly on cultural dynamics, land, governance and self-determination issues for the Inuit, as well as for Algonquian and Cree nations in Québec. She is working to complete a Ph.D. in Cultural Geography at Laval University on housing and urban planning in Indigenous communities in Québec. Her work examines the link between urban and residential planning processes with the local governance for Inuit and Algonquian communities (Salluit in Nunavik and Kitcisakik in Abitibi-Témiscamingue). She has completed a Master Degree in Urban Planning with a specialization for cultural practices and urban design. 

Émilie’s research interests are cultural geography and Indigenous in Québec and Canada, cultural tourism / cultural practices and IP; Indigenous land planning / housing / architecture; governance and self-determination; and research methodologies that involve with Indigenous partners/communities.