The International Pacific Marine Educators Network (IPMEN) is a developing collective of marine educators throughout the Pacific. The idea for this group began as one of the outcomes of a two-day meeting (One Ocean Marine Forum) on the Hawaiian island of Maui in July 2005.
The aim of the Forum was to create a global network of marine educators to share knowledge, expertise and resources to solve ocean related environmental issues. It was decided to further the Forum goal by first forming a network of Pacific marine educators as a pilot. The International Pacific Marine Educators Conference was held in 2007 in Honolulu, Hawaii, to create the Pacific network.
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IPMEC Hawaii |
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It brought together 100 educators from 18 Pacific nations and territories and resulted in the formation of IPMEN. The first formal IPMEN conference took place in Townsville, Australia, in October 2008. As with the earlier conference in Hawaii, IPMEN ’08 brought together 100 educators from a range of Pacific nations and territories and resulted in the continued development of this Pacific-wide network. IPMEN ’08 in Townsville was also held in parallel with the second International Youth Coastal Conference (IYCC).
With 300 young delegates attending the 2008 IYCC in Townsville and sharing key components of IPMEN ’08 we were able to the successfully address the IPMEN ’08 conference theme “Sustaining the Pacific: Learning from Elders, Listening to Youth”.
Because of the vast distances involved in networking across the Pacific, IPMEN remains a fairly informal network with two key components. Firstly, we aim to meet (both in person and virtually) for a biennial conference – following the great success of the 2007 conference in Honolulu and IPMEN ’08 in Townsville, plans for IPMEN 2010 in Fiji are progressing well and IPMEN 2012 is tentatively scheduled for Chile. The second component of IPMEN is the informal web-based networking that has developed as a result of the face-to-face (and virtual) meetings at these conferences. Those belonging to the network communicate both through the IPMEN Facebook site and the IPMEN Google group and the web-linked conference site at www.coexploration.org. |
IPMEN '08 conference delegates in Townsville |
Through this web-based networking, IPMEN is already beginning to achieve its aim of sharing knowledge, expertise and resources to solve ocean-related environmental and community issues.
The establishment and subsequent growth of IPMEN is one response to the pressures from a rapidly growing world population that is increasing at an exponential rate. The problems facing Pacific communities are unprecedented and will require innovative solutions. IPMEN also aims to facilitate real action in environmental education and highlight the need for ocean stewardship across the Pacific.
By piloting a cooperative network of Pacific marine educators, IPMEN is seen as a first step towards the goal of establishing a worldwide network of marine educators.
IPMEN'10 Conference Committee
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• Ron Vave – Institute of Applied Sciences University of South Pacific (USP), Fiji.
• Joeli Veitayaki – USP School of Islands and Oceans, Fiji.
• Semisi Meo – USP Institute of Applied Science, Fiji.
• Akisi Bolabola – World Wide Fund for Nature, Fiji.
• Monifa Fiu – World Wide Fund for Nature, Fiji.
• Seema Deo – SPREP, Fiji.
• Nacanieli Tuivavalagi – Fiji National University, Fiji.
• Tammy Tabe – USP student now at UH, Hawaii USA.
• Simione Koto – Live & Learn Fiji.
• Alfred Ralifo – Laje Rotuma, Fiji.
• Harry Breidahl – Nautilus Educational, Australia.
• Manoj Nair – Land Grant, College of the Marshall Islands, Marshall Islands.
• Luis Pinto – Centro AquaSendas-COPAS (University of Concepción), Chile.
• Sylvia Spalding – Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, USA.
• Craig Strang – Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
• Peter Tuddenham (Tina Bishop and Scott Carley) – College of Exploration, USA. |
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