Guangzhou, PR China — Bringing together regional experts in marine biodiversity conservation and fisheries management, the Sustainable Ocean Initiative (SOI) Capacity-building Workshop for South, East and Southeast Asia was held last 9–13 December 2013.

 

 

Toyama, Japan — The 18th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting (IGM) was recently convened with delegates from NOWPAP member states, NOWPAP Regional Activity Centres, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Headquarters and partners participating in the event.

 

 

Qingdao, PR China — The NOWPAP Special Monitoring and Coastal Environmental Assessment Regional Activity Centre (CEARAC) recently organized a training workshop on remote sensing data analysis. Held on 21–25 October 2013, the training course was jointly sponsored by NOWPAP and the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES), in collaboration with the Ocean Remote Sensing Institute of the Ocean University of China and the Chinese National Environmental Monitoring Centre of the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

 

 

Tagaytay City, Philippines — PEMSEA and the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) have commenced the development of an ecosystem nutrient health report for Laguna de Bay through an orientation workshop held last 12–13 December 2013. The two-day workshop gathered participants from the Philippines representing government agencies involved in the management of the country's largest lake.

 

 

 

The Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management at Delft University of Technology has openings for two PhD candidates for interdisciplinary research projects in the area of water governance. The PhD candidates' work will be part of projects financed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), under its programme "Urbanising Deltas of the World". The positions are based in Delft, the Netherlands, but will require international travel for field work and workshops.

 

 

Quezon City, Philippines — PEMSEA welcomes Mr. Rodante Corpuz as the new Information Technology (IT) Specialist for the PEMSEA Resource Facility (PRF). Mr. Corpuz will be primarily responsible for ensuring the optimal operations of the PRF's IT services. He will also support the operation and continual improvement of the organization's online services, including the knowledge management (KM) platform and library system.

 

 

Manila, Philippines — With billions of dollars already invested in a variety of water resource programs in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in Southeast Asia, organizations involved in these projects now aim to build a resource of learnings that would allow successful water resource projects to be replicated in other locations across the region.

 

 

Hanoi, Vietnam — PEMSEA has commenced its initial preparations for next year's East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress, with the Government of Vietnam confirming its commitment to host the next triennial event.

 

 

NOWPAP convened its first Extraordinary Intergovernmental Meeting (IGM) on 9–10 April in Seoul, RO Korea, to discuss possible measures to address financial sustainability of the NOWPAP Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU) offices in Toyama and Busan. Representatives of member states (PR China, Japan, RO Korea and Russia), as well as United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Headquarters attended the two-day special meeting, which was requested by the chair of the 18th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting.