Workshop participants are directed to see the Logistics Note for all relevant logistical information for the workshop.

Attendees: GEF IW projects from the Asia and the Pacific region, GEF agencies, regional organizations and interested IW projects operating outside the region.

The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on 11 March 2011 caused nearly 20,000 people to lose their lives. Major damage and destruction occurred to buildings and infrastructure in the coastal zone that was flooded, with large societal impacts and social and economic consequences. Since the event many national and international post-tsunami field surveys have been carried out. Performance analyses of tsunami early warning systems in place at the time of this event have also been done.

The BIE-Cosmos Prize, EXPO 2012 Yeosu for The Living Ocean and Coast is the third edition of the BIE-Cosmos Prize series, born of an initiative between the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and the Expo '90 Foundation (the Commemorative Foundation for the International Garden and Greenery Exposition, Osaka, Japan, 1990) and carried out in collaboration with Expo organizers.

In line with the global celebration of World Wetlands Day, the Philippines has declared 02 February 2012 as National Wetlands Day, where all sectors of society are encouraged to conduct activities to promote the conservation of wetlands.

PEMSEA will play part to an international conference that will see scientific and policy experts from around the world discuss how land-based activities affect the marine and coastal environments.

The international conference, to be held at the EDSA Shangri-La Manila in Mandaluyong City, is being organized by the government with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as lead agency, together with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

A new R&D initiative, funded by the world’s shipowners and their P&I insurers, has been launched by ITOPF. The ITOPF R&D Award will provide some £50,000 each year to encourage innovative thinking and provide realistic solutions to some of the challenges faced when responding to accidental oil and chemical spills and undertaking environmental monitoring.

The Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) Train the Trainers course will provide participants with better understanding on how the ICM framework has become a useful methodology to promote sustainable development of coastal areas emphasizing on the basic concepts and principles of ICM, the framework and processes involved in developing and implementing ICM at the local and national levels; and tools to assess the social, economic, and environmental status, use and management of coastal areas.

The theme of the course on regional ocean governance draws upon the conduct of maritime affairs in line with the Lisbon Strategy, targeting the Millennium Development Goals and building upon a holistic and integrated maritime policy following the principles enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

World Ocean Week in Xiamen 2011 is scheduled to be held on November 4-10 with the theme "Land-Sea Use Integration for Sustainable Marine Economy: Planning for Sustainable Marine Economy Development." The week-long event will feature the International Ocean Forum in Xiamen (Main Forum), Seminar on Integrated Coastal Management and Urban Development for Developing Countries (Ministry-Level), and other events.

At the Tenth Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the engagement of and collaboration with key actors and stakeholders, including the private sector, as partners in the implementation of the CBD and integration of biodiversity concerns into their relevant sectoral and cross-sectoral plans, programmes, and policies was actively promoted.