Canadian Rural Partnership
Rural Youth Dialogue

The following documents were for the third Awards. The nomination period closed on January 30, 2006. We would like to thank all those who submitted a nomination package.

Third
Young Leaders in Rural Canada Awards

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

THE AWARDS

The Rural Secretariat is seeking nominations of young rural Canadians (18 to 29 years old) who have demonstrated outstanding achievements and contributions to rural, remote and northern Canada, at the local, regional and/or national level, for the third Young Leaders in Rural Canada Awards. A commemorative Award will be presented in each of the following categories: INNOVATION, LEADERSHIP and PARTNERSHIP.

These annual awards are a Government of Canada initiative resulting from a commitment made at the 2003 National Rural Youth Conference held in May 2003 in Orillia/Ramara, Ontario. For information on past recipients, visit the rural Web site at: http://www.rural.gc.ca/dialogue/youth/index_e.phtml.

A person can only be nominated or self-nominate under one of the three categories. A group/organization cannot be nominated or self-nominate.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

The Young Leaders in Rural Canada Awards are open to young rural Canadians for their initiative at the local, regional and/or national level in rural, remote and northern Canada. Nominees or self-nominees must:

1. have been between 18 and 29 years old in 2004 or 2005;
2. have undertaken an initiative in 2004 and/or 2005 which demonstrated a commitment and contribution to the wellness of rural, remote and/or northern Canada; AND
3. currently be living in OR be from a "rural" community.

ALL the above mentioned eligibility criteria must be met for the nomination to be deemed eligible for consideration for the Awards. A self-nomination must also be endorsed by at least two people AND one group or organization. (Nominations not meeting the above criteria, will be screened out and will not be considered.)

EVALUATION CRITERIA: Basic and Category-specific

All submissions will be assessed against the basic and category-specific criteria outlined below.

BASIC criteria (applies to ALL categories)

A 1-2 page rationale/summary (on letter size paper only) must clearly demonstrate, describe and outline the following:

• the relevance of the nomination/self-nomination to one of the categories;
• the active involvement of the individual in the community as a leader, innovator or partner;
• the tangible benefits or impacts on a rural, remote and/or northern community at the local, regional and/or national level; AND
• the initiative(s)/project(s), actions taken and accomplishments of the individual, including the year(s) in which they were carried out (2004, 2005 or both).

INNOVATION category criteria only

Submissions should demonstrate how the individual has made an outstanding contribution to a rural, remote or northern community through an innovative and trend-setting initiative. Such initiatives may involve one or more of the following:

• the development of a new approach or dimension to projects at the local, regional and/or national level;
• the introduction of a novel approach to deal with a long-standing issue at the local, regional and/or national level;
• the development of a novel method of drawing on the assets of the community.

LEADERSHIP category criteria only

Submissions should demonstrate how the individual encompasses the spirit of leadership. This may involve one or more of the following:

• a demonstration of leadership through concrete outcomes or through a strong commitment and contribution at the local, regional and/or national level;
• the undertaking of activities which have inspired people to develop, show initiative and exercise their potential;
• the initiation or leading of activities which have had a local, regional and/or national impact;
• the spearheading of groups to take up projects which have had a significant impact on a community and/or group of communities;
• the effective use of personal/group qualities and community assets in achieving goals;
• the effective use of non-traditional leadership methods that have proven to be successful in achieving goals.

PARTNERSHIP category criteria only

Submissions should demonstrate how the individual has made an outstanding contribution to building, fostering or strengthening partnerships. This may involve one or more of the following:

• the creation of partnerships with or among community groups, the business community or other rural/urban stakeholders which have produced concrete outcomes;
• the building of cooperative relationships between people which have strengthened the notion that teamwork is valued;
• the fostering of cooperation between/among groups that had not previously worked together;
• the productive use of groups that were not normally recognized or seen as contributing to the community;
• the strengthening of social capital through promoting partnerships and new ways of working together;
• the creation of opportunities for groups to initiate collaboration;
• the development of creative uses of resources in a partnership to achieve a community goal;
• the initiation of novel ways to cooperate and collaborate, prompting involvement of citizens and groups in rural, remote and/or northern Canada.

ASSESSMENT

A Review Committee will assess eligible submissions based on the 1-2 page rationale/summary that justifies the nomination/self-nomination and fully supports how the individual meets the basic and category-specific criteria of the Awards.

SUBMISSION PACKAGE CHECKLIST

The submission package must include:

1. the completed nomination form [Self-nominators must obtain the endorsements of two people AND one group/organization. If this requirement is not met, the submission will be screened out and will not be considered.]
2. the 1-2 page rationale/summary (on letter size paper only) that justifies the nomination/self-nomination and fully supports how the individual meets the basic and category-specific criteria. [Refer to the Evaluation Criteria section for details on preparing the rationale/summary.]

The following is optional:

• A submission may include supporting documents (e.g. letters of support, products, news articles, etc.) not exceeding four pages on letter or legal size paper only.

Submission packages should be sent to Ms. Sylvie Chartrand (contact information below).

An acknowledgement, indicating the eligibility of the nomination/self-nomination will be sent to each nominator/self-nominee a few weeks following the deadline.

CONTACT INFORMATION

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