L'Anse au Clair, May 18, 2006

Some of the participants at the Workshop

On Wednesday, May 18, seventy people gathered at the Northern Light Inn in L'Anse au Clair to discuss what Memorial University is currently doing in Southeast Labrador in the areas of teaching, research and outreach, and to identify what else the University could do to improve the quality of life of the area and to stimulate the economy.

The workshop began with a presentation by Dr. Michael Collins, Associate Vice-President (Academic), about Memorial University. The presentation identified the number of students currently at Memorial from Zones 4 and 5, and provided a forecast of student enrolment in the coming years. A copy of his presentation can be downloaded by clicking here.

During the morning session, the Harris Centre identified 48 activities in which Memorial University is currently engaged in the region. The list of these activities can be found by clicking here. And during the afternoon session, an additional 38 new opportunities were identified, in which Memorial could possibly participate: fisheries/aquaculture (9), business/manufacturing (13), tourism (9) and education (7).

The Harris Centre will help stakeholders from Southeastern Labrador flesh out these possible new opportunities and, when this is completed, will forward the opportunities to the University community. The intent is to encourage faculty, staff and students to follow up on these opportunities and to work with local stakeholders.

Click here to download a copy of the final report, which identifies the potential new activities, as well as the agenda for the day, the list of participants to the workshop, and the evaluation of the session.

On the previous evening, a "Memorial Presents" session was offered, on the subject of The Fishery: Can It Save Rural Newfoundland and Labrador?". The presentation can be downloaded by clicking here.

Dr. Steve Bruneau of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science took photographs of the Labrador Straits area during his visit, and his photo gallery can be seen here.