The Workshop on Scaling up ICM: Innovations and Impacts at Local, National, and Regional Levels under Session 2, with presentations and discussions on national and local experiences from countries and various programs and projects in the region, served as a venue for taking stock of lessons learned, good practices, impacts and benefits of ICM implementation, challenges and gaps, and key actions to promote replication and scaling up of good practices and innovations.

The workshop consisted of presentations and panel discussions organized into four parts as follows:

• Part 1A: Good Practices, Innovation and Impacts in ICM Applications at the Local Level
• Part 1B: Good Practices, Innovation and Impacts in ICM Applications in Japan
• Part 2: Good Practices, Innovations and Impacts in ICM applications for MPA and MPA Networks
• Part 3: Transferring and Scaling up of ICM Good Practices and Innovations
   

The 2015 Annual Forum of PEMSEA Network of Local Governments for Sustainable Coastal Development (PNLG) was held at Pullman Hotel, Da Nang City, Viet Nam, on 20 November 2015. The People’s Committee of Da Nang City hosted the Forum.

The Forum was attended by representatives from 26 of the 40 PNLG Regular Members, namely: Cambodia (Sihanoukville); China (Beihai, Changyi, Dongying, Fangchenggang, Pingtan, Quanzhou, Wenzhou, and Xiamen); Indonesia (Bali Province, Buleleng Regency, and Sukabumi  regency); Japan (Shima), Malaysia (Northern Selangor, Port Klang, and Sepang); Philippines (Bataan, Batangas, Cavite and Guimaras); RO Korea (Ansan and Changwon); Thailand (Chonburi); and Viet Nam (Da Nang, Quang Nam, and Thua Thien Hue). Representatives from the two Associate Members, i.e., First Institute of Oceanography (FIO) of the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) and Coastal and Ocean Management Institute (COMI) of Xiamen University, China, also attended the event.

Representatives from various local governments and institutions participated as observers, including: Cambodia (Kampot, Kep, and Koh Kong); China (State Oceanic Administration); Japan (Obama City and Omura City); Lao PDR (Champasack Province, Saravanne Province, and Sekong Province); Philippines (Bataan Coastal Care Foundation, Inc.); and Timor‐Leste (Dili Municipality and Liquiça Municipality).

The concept of blue economy is evolving as the ocean space is changing dramatically, driven by innovations, new industries, shifting demands, and pressures from changing environment and climate.

The workshop aimed to:

a. create understanding of the blue economy through country presentations of ocean-based and ocean‐related economic activities, and their contribution to national economies;

b. examine the sustainability of such activities through valuation of ecosystem services and damages;

c. identify on‐going investments in innovative practices and technologies that contribute to blue economy development, address environmental and resource degradation and climate change impacts, and make economic activities more environmentally sound;

d. discuss the development of a road map and policy recommendations for institutionalizing ocean economy and environment accounting, promoting blue economy investments and innovations, formulating a blue economy approach to sustainable development of coasts and oceans, and monitoring and reporting progress and gaps.

The Global Partnership on Nutrient Management (GPNM) was launched in 2009 to address the global challenges faced by the mismanagement of nutrients and nutrient over‐enrichment. It is a global partnership of governments, scientists, policymakers, private sector, NGOs and international organizations. It responds to the ‘nutrient challenge’ — how to reduce the amount of excess nutrients in the global environment consistent with global development. The GPNM reflects a need for strategic, global advocacy to trigger governments and stakeholders in moving towards more efficient and effective nitrogen and phosphorous use and lower losses associated with human activities. It provides a platform for governments, UN agencies, scientists and the private sector to forge a common agenda, mainstreaming best practices and integrated assessments, so that policy and investment responses/options are effectively ‘nutrient proofed’. The GPNM also provides a space where countries and other stakeholders can forge more co‐operative work across the variety of international and regional fora and agencies dealing with nutrients, including the importance of impact assessment work. The work of the GPNM is advanced by a Steering Committee, a sub‐set of the Partnership members and is supported by the GPA Unit of the Marine and Coastal Ecosystems Branch of the Division of Environmental Policy Implementation of UNEP, which serves as the Secretariat to the Steering Committee.

The GPNM, in collaboration with the hosts of the 2015 East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress, the Government of Viet Nam through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) and Viet Nam Administration of Seas and Islands (VASI) and the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA) hosted a Technical and Policy Workshop on Sustainable Nutrient Management. This workshop, convened within the EAS Congress on 18th of November 2015, showcased the main technical deliverables of the GEF‐funded Global Nutrient Cycle Project, and focused on policy and mainstreaming of the nutrient management agenda within countries of the Asia subregion under the aegis of an Asian Regional Nutrient Management Platform of the GPNM. The technical session of the workshop presented the state‐of‐the‐art in the science and understanding of the global nutrient challenge and introduced management tools designed for technical (and policy) advisory personnel. The Policy session reviewed the relevance of the nutrient management challenge in relation to sustainable development, food security and environmental quality, presented the global agenda for nutrient management and its relationship to regional development agendas, and explored options for strengthening of the GPNM Asia Platform.

The Fifth Senior Government Officials’ Meeting (SGOM) was held at the Son Tra Hall of the Furama Resort in Da Nang, Viet Nam, on 20 November 2015. Senior government officials from 11 PEMSEA Partner Countries participated in the meeting, namely: Cambodia, PR China, DPR Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Philippines, RO Korea, Singapore, Timor‐Leste and Viet Nam.

The workshop aims to: (a) review the application and benefits derived from transference and effective use of good Knowledge Management (KM) practices and platforms in various projects; (b) identify the potential use of such innovations in other projects and by other sectors; (c) determine how a regional KM platform can serve to improve access to, and scale up investments in, good practices; (d) develop ‘Best Practice Guidelines’ for regional KM in a blue economy based on the collective input and group discussions; and (e) capture the discussed KM ideas, processes and products using a visual storytelling approach.

The EAS Youth Forum Toolkit served as a guide for the youth participants during the East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress 2015. It contains useful information on the activities for the youth, as well as details about the speakers and presentations at the 4th Youth Forum.

The oceans and coasts of the East Asian region are among the most biologically diverse and productive areas in the world. However, these areas have been threatened over the years by various problems and issues due to rapid socioeconomic activities, population growth and several other factors. The youth, as inheritors of the planet, have the most at stake. But they can also play a significant role in securing their future and that of generations to come, if their potential can be properly utilized. Existing efforts for the sustainable development of our oceans and coasts will only be sustained if the younger generation gets involved in environmental and resource management. Now on its third cycle, the East Asian Seas Youth Forum gathered young leaders to share their experiences in protecting the oceans and coasts of East Asia. The Third East Asian Seas Youth Forum (YF3) was one of the special events of the EAS Congress, which was held from 8-13 July 2012 in Changwon City, Republic of Korea. The YF3 included 91 participants, 48 of which were from 11 EAS countries including Cambodia, PR China, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam. Forty-three participants were representatives of various environmental youth groups in RO Korea. Carrying the theme, “Young Champions for the Ocean,” the YF3 was designed to enhance awareness and to develop the potential of the youth of East Asia as future practitioners in coastal and ocean management. This publication summarizes the outcome of the Forum.

This publication summarizes the results of the workshop on Using ICM as a Tool to Achieve Aichi Targets held during the East Asian Seas Congress 2012. The workshop explored good practices from country case studies on the use of marine protected areas (MPAs), integrated coastal management (ICM) and other approaches to address biodiversity loss, reduce pressures, improve the status and enhance benefits of coastal and marine biodiversity and ecosystem services to contribute to the achievement of the Aichi targets as embodied in the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity (2011–2020) of the Convention on Biological Diversity.