This issue of Tropical Coasts highlights how a gathering of local government executives bounded by the common mission of "serving as a network of local governments in East Asia, which, along with their stakeholders, shall promote the application of ICM as an effective management framework to achieve sustainable coastal development," can become an indispensable mechanism for knowledge validation, transfer and replication. The 2007 Forum of the PEMSEA Network of Local Governments for Sustainable Coastal Development (PNLG)* held in Danang, Vietnam, on 5–7 September 2007 focused on the theme "Addressing Coastal Security by Investing in Natural and Man-made Hazards Prevention and Management." The forum provided a venue for facilitating the exchange of information and experiences in DRR among local governments, national agencies, partner organizations, civil society groups and the private sector. It also provided a platform for the ICM sites to discuss how institutional strengthening in the context of DRR can be achieved and identify innovative solutions and opportunities to implement DRR options based on specific risk context and circumstances of the respective sites.

The Third Twinning Workshop on Ecosystem-based Management of Interrelated River Basins, Estuaries and Coastal Seas was held at the New World Astor Hotel, Tianjin, PR China, from 17 to 19 October 2007. The State Oceanic Administration of PR China hosted the Workshop. The theme of the Workshop was “Policy Reform, Sustainable Financing and Investment for Pollution Reduction in the East Asian Seas.” It aimed to help participants formulate and implement innovative policies and programs targeting sustainable financing and investment for pollution reduction. The Workshop included participants from Cambodia, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Japan, People’s Republic of China, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Vietnam and the USA.

PEMSEA and UNESCO-IOC conducted a survey in December 2006 to assess East Asia’s capacity building needs in ocean and coastal governance. The survey was undertaken in support of building strategies to strengthen capacity to implement the Sustainable Development Strategy for the Seas of East Asia (SDS-EAS). Part of the initial results of the survey and the discussion on problems as well as future actions were presented and discussed during the EAS Congress in Haikou, Hainan in China in December 2006. PEMSEA and UNESCO, together with the Global Forum for Oceans, Coasts and Small Islands co-organized this Discussion Group consisting of experts from universities, research institutions and governments to initiate discussion on how best the capacity in ocean and coastal affairs could be further developed and strengthened.

The Thematic Workshop on Local Government Financing for Water, Sewage and Sanitation was conducted as part of the International Conference on Coastal and Ocean Governance of the East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress 2006, which was held in Haikou City, Hainan Province, PR China, on 12-16 December 2006. The thematic workshop addressed the financing issues of a sector that traditionally is nonprofitable — it is severely under-funded in East Asia, with some countries achieving only one percent coverage in sewerage and sanitation. The presentations focused on the challenges facing the sector, the conditions required to overcome the challenges and successful case studies that can be replicated.

The ICM Dialogue was organized as part of the Inaugural Meeting of the PEMSEA Network of Local Governments for Sustainable Coastal Development (PNLG) during the East Asian Seas Congress 2006, hosted by the State Oceanic Administration of China, Hainan Provincial Government and Haikou City Government. The Dialogue was held 14 December 2006 at the People’s Assembly Hall in Haikou City, Hainan Province, PR China. The ICM Dialogue was conducted in seven language groups, namely: Bahasa, Chinese, Filipino, Khmer, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese. Each Dialogue was attended by the representatives of local governments in 26 integrated coastal management (ICM) sites. Dr. Jihyun Lee of PEMSEA presented the objectives, mechanics and expected outputs of the ICM Dialogue. Key objectives of the ICM Dialogue were: 1. to provide opportunities for ICM sites to share their experiences, successes, failures and challenges in implementing ICM programs at the local level, without being constrained by language barriers; and 2. to explore future long-term strategies for increasing information exchange and cross-project capacity development among ICM sites having a common language.