Let the Icefjord Centre come to you

If you can’t visit the Isfjord Centre in Ilulissat yourself, it can now come to you. With their new learning portal, children and youth across the country can learn about the ice and the life around it.

By Sara Kirstine Hald

It is far from all children and young people in Greenland who have the opportunity to visit Kangiata Illorsua – The Icefjord Centre in Ilulissat. Therefore, they have converted their exhibition into teaching material, now freely available on their website.

The exhibition in the Icefjord Centre is based on research that will reach a larger part of Greenland’s youth this way.

Materials the children can relate

According to Elisabeth Momme, head of the Icefjord Centre, many Greenlandic school books are developed in Denmark.

“This means there could be tasks about train rides from Roskilde to Korsør and Old MacDonald’s farm, which can be a bit difficult to relate to when you come from Northern Greenland,” she says.

The idea is that the teaching material from the Icefjord Centre is more relatable to schoolchildren because it is based on their own reality. At the same time, Elisabeth Momme hopes it can make school more enjoyable.

Based on research

The exhibition in the Icefjord Centre is called ‘The Story of Ice’. It is based on research but is communicated in a way that makes it interesting and understandable to the general public.

“It has been a really good starting point for creating teaching material for primary and secondary schools,” says Elisabeth Momme.

The exhibition includes cultural history and natural science. It also focuses on climate change, which is particularly noticeable in the area around the Icefjord Centre.

All teaching material is divided into grade levels and is available in Greenlandic, Danish, and English.