From travelling by dog team to standing before the United Nations, Inuk climate advocate Siila Watt-Cloutier’s path reflects a life’s work connecting the impacts of climate change to the rights, dignity, and well-being of her people—and all of humanity.
In Episode 2 of A Radical Act of Hope, we trace Siila’s childhood in the Arctic and explore the experiences that shaped her unique approach to leadership, from her earliest memories of traditional Inuit life, to her early career and important contribution to the Stockholm Convention, to meeting one of her heroes––Nelson Mandela.
We’ll also meet another Inuk leader who has inspired and strengthened Siila’s work––her long-time friend and fellow journeyist, Leena Evic. Leena is a visionary educator and the founder and president of the Pirurvik Centre in Iqaluit––an institute of Inuktut higher learning dedicated to the preservation and celebration of the Inuit culture and language.
About the Guests
Leena Evic
Leena Evic has been an advocate for the Inuktitut language and culture for as long as she can remember. As the founder, president and vision keeper of the Pirurvik Centre, she keeps the emphasis on building programs and productions of the highest quality that are grounded in Inuit authenticity.
In addition to creating and delivering its own full-time training programs, Pirurvik produces teaching and learning resources both in print and online. Some are geared towards enhancing the skills of Inuktut speakers, while others help Inuit who are not functional in their language to build their skills through Inuktut immersion. Pirurvik also produces phrasebooks, Inuktut learning materials and other resources for the general public. Pirurvik is proud to employ Elder professors who work with a passionate team of people with the trust and support of their community. Evic uses entrepreneurship to protect and reclaim Inuit language, culture and identity in Inuit Nunangat.
About the Hosts
Siila Watt-Cloutier
Siila Watt-Cloutier is a lifelong advocate for the rights of Inuit and a leading voice in climate action. Her groundbreaking work has connected human rights and climate change in the public and political consciousness, transforming international policy and creating a new area of scholarship and advocacy.
From 1995 to 2002, Watt-Cloutier was the Canadian President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC). From 2002 to 2006, she was the International Chair of the ICC, representing the 155,000 Inuit in Canada, Greenland, Alaska and Russia. She was an influential force behind the adoption of the Stockholm Convention to ban persistent organic pollutants, which accumulate in Arctic food chains.
She is the author of the memoir, The Right to Be Cold: One Woman’s Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet, which was nominated for multiple writing awards. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a recipient of the Aboriginal Achievement Award, the UN Champion of the Earth Award, the Norwegian Sophie Prize, the Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue and the Right Livelihood Award, which is widely considered the “Nobel Alternative.”
Janna Wale
Janna Wale is the Indigenous Research and Partnerships Lead at the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions. She is Gitxsan from Gitanmaax First Nation and is also Cree-Métis on her mother’s side. In her work, she uses a complex human-environmental systems approach and believes that this lens can be used when looking for ways to bridge western and Indigenous climate work.
In 2025, she received the Women of Influence Nanaimo (WIN) Award for STEM. She was selected as a Top 30 Under 30 Sustainable Youth Leader in Canada by Corporate Knights in 2024. She was also a finalist for the Community Advocate of the year award through Foresight Canada and was selected for a Community Award – Emerging Leader through the B.C. Achievement foundation. In 2023, she was the recipient of the Anitra Paris Memorial Award for female youth climate leadership through Clean Energy BC.
Janna has published two reports in collaboration with the Yellowhead Institute and was named as an Indigenous Trailblazer through Diversity in Sustainability. She holds a Bachelor of Natural Resource Sciences (B. Nrsc.) from Thompson Rivers University, and a MSc in Sustainability from UBC Okanagan, where her work focused on climate resilience in Indigenous communities, using a seasonal rounds model.
Dr. Ian Mauro
Dr. Ian Mauro is the Executive Director of the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions and professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. As a scientist and filmmaker, Mauro’s work explores climate change, sustainability, and the vital role of local and Indigenous knowledges. He is committed to community-based and Indigenous-led participatory approaches and has worked with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities across many territories.
Ian has developed numerous, award-winning climate-change initiatives, including: Qapirangajuq: Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change, co-directed with acclaimed Inuk filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk, and Beyond Climate, narrated by David Suzuki.
He holds a BSc in Environmental Science and a PhD in Geography. He is a former Canada Research Chair of Human Dimensions of Environmental Change at Mount Allison University, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, and an Apple Distinguished Educator.
About the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS)
Established in 2008 through an endowment from the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions at the University of Victoria is a research and engagement network across four collaborating universities – University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, Simon Fraser University, and University of Northern British Columbia. It supports the cogeneration of climate solutions research that can be used by decision-makers to develop effective mitigation and adaptation policies and actions in BC and beyond.
PIC...