Batangas, Philippines — In an effort to establish and operationalize the Province's integrated information management system (IIMS), a decision-support system for coastal and marine and river basin management, the Province of Batangas through the Provincial Government-Environment and Natural Resources (PG-ENRO) entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with De La Salle Lipa and PEMSEA in March 2014, coinciding with the Batangas Environment Summit (BEST) 2014. The signing of the MOA was graced by Hon. Vilma Santos-Recto, Governor of the Province of Batangas, Bro.

Seoul, RO Korea —  The Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) and PEMSEA have successfully organized the International Training Program and the 2nd Workshop on Marine Ecosystem Valuation and Spatial Management Tools in Seoul, RO Korea on September 1-6 at the Seoul National University.

Chonburi, Thailand — A training workshop on Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) for the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) Project was co-organized by the BOBLME Project Office and the PEMSEA Resource Facility from October 20-24, 2014 in Chonburi, Thailand.  The training was aimed to upgrade ICM knowledge and understanding of 25 middle level and junior level personnel from BOBLME countries, namely: Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand.

The Master of Marine Affairs (MMA) and Ph.D. in Marine Affairs (PMA) under Coastal and Ocean Management Institute (COMI), Xiamen University are now open for application.
Marine Affairs is a secondary interdiscipline under five first-level disciplines, namely, Marine Science, Environmental Science and Engineering, Public Administration, Law and Applied Economics. Initiated from 2007 and 2014 respectively, COMI offers both master level and Ph.D. level marine affairs programs.
Ph.D. in Marine Affairs (PMA)

As a part of partnership building efforts, NOWPAP attended and introduced its activities at the international workshop organized by the Amur-Okhotsk Consortium on 17-18 December 2014 in Sapporo, Japan. In preparation for the 4th Amur-Okhotsk Consortium Meeting to be held in 2015, this workshop reviewed the recent progress in studies on environment and sustainable development in the Amur-Okhotsk region and shared information on future projects and activities related to the sustainable development of the region.

Governments of the Philippines and ASEAN Member States have increasingly recognized biodiversity's extreme importance to human survival. National and local governments are taking individual steps to preserve flora, fauna, and other biological resources. With biodiversity knowing no boundaries, ASEAN Member States acknowledge that working together is crucial to addressing common problems.

Quezon City, Philippines — Mr. Ryan Whisnant joins the PEMSEA Resource Facility as its Head of Professional Services, effective 24 November 2014.

Manila, Philippines — The East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress 2015 Secretariat launches the Call for Youth applicants for the Fourth EAS Youth Forum to be held in Danang, Vietnam, from November 15-21, 2015.

Qingdao, PR China – The China-PEMSEA Sustainable Coastal Management Cooperation Center was established in the First Institute of Oceanography (FIO) of the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) in Qingdao, Shandong Province of PR China last 9 December 2014. Mr. Chen Lianzeng, Vice Administrator of the SOA of China launched the Center after the agreement was signed by Mr. Stephen Adrian Ross, Executive Director of PEMSEA, and Dr. Zhang Haiwen, Director General of International Cooperation of State Oceanic Administration of China.

Quezon City, Philippines — Ms. Natalie Degger joins PEMSEA on a one-year fellowship beginning January 2015. The Fellowship Program for Ms. Degger is a collaborative undertaking between PEMSEA and the Centre for Marine Environmental Research and Innovative Technology (MERIT) in Hong Kong, which is a PEMSEA Regional Center of Excellence (RCoE) in Marine Pollution.