Where, When & Why

Marine educators worldwide will gather in the tropical Australian city of Townsville to share resources and to continue ongoing efforts to build a network aimed at ensuring the health of the Pacific and the communities who depend upon it. The conference dates are October 16 to 21, 2008 and web conferencing will allow virtual participation for educators who are unable to travel to Australia.

 Background

The International Pacific Marine Educators Network (IPMEN) is a developing collective of marine educators throughout the Pacific. The creation of this group began with a two day meeting on the Hawaiian island of Maui in July 2005 and gained considerable momentum at a second international meeting, also in Hawaii, in January 2007. This second meeting, called IPMEC, brought together 100 educators from 18 Pacific nations and territories and resulted in the formation of IPMEN.

By piloting a cooperative network of Pacific marine educators, IPMEN is seen as a first step towards the goal of establishing a worldwide marine educators network. Such a worldwide network would aim to share knowledge, expertise and resources to solve ocean related environmental issues.

 Join Us

You are invited to be part of this growing international effort to change the public attitudes towards the ocean and to actively protect this ecosystem that keeps our world healthy. Marine educators – using the widest sense of the word – are encouraged to participate, either in person or virtually via the web, in this conference focused on the Pacific.

 Further Information

For more information or to provide suggestions to the IPMEN’08 conference committee, please contact Harry Breidahl (Australia) or Sylvia Spalding (Hawaii)

What's New - Update 3, May 2008

An IPMEN’08 conference brochure is now available for download as a pdf.

Please note that first round registration, call for papers and scholarship applications close on June 30, 2008. The first round call for papers, conference registration and scholarship application forms were posted on this web site in March 2008 as was a final draft conference program, the conference theme and strands plus updated details of travel to Townsville and conference accommodation.

Note 1: the IPMEN’08 conference committee can’t guarantee registration prices and accommodation costs will stay as low as they are after June 30, 2008. The cost of travel to Townsville may also increase soon so we strongly recommend that you register, book accommodation and travel to Townsville before June 30, 2008.

Note 2: It seems that the increasing cost of travel plus tight budgets is having an impact on a number of potential IPMEN’08 delegates and their plans to travel to Townsville. The IPMEN'08 conference committee has therefore created a new category of sponsorship for delegates seeking their own support in the form of travel funding. Go to Delegate Sponsors for details.

 IPMEN’08 Sponsors

Sponsorship is currently being sought for the IPMEN’08 conference in Townsville. The first two Silver Sponsors are the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council and Nautilus Educational plus the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has signed on as a function sponsor.

Full details of IPMEN’08 conference sponsorship packages are now available in the Sponsors section of this site. Potential IPMEN’08 sponsors should contact Billy Breidahl.

IPMEN'08 Supporters

The growing list of IPMEN’O8 supporters (in-kind) includes – BriTer Solutions (Australia), Centro AquaSendas-COPAS (Chile), the Conservation Society of Pohnpei, the College of Exploration (USA), COSEE California, Firestarter (Australia), the Lawrence Hall of Science (University of Berkeley, California), the Marine Education Society of Australasia, National Marine Educators Association (USA) and the Institute of Applied Sciences at the University of the South Pacific (Fiji).

Three IPMEN’08 sponsors, namely the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, Nautilus Educational and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, are also valuable in-kind supporters of the conference.

If you are interested in joining this growing list please go to the Sponsors section of this site.

Conference Theme, Strands and Keynotes

The call for papers is based on both the IPMEN’08 conference theme of “Sustaining the Pacific: Learning from Elders – Listening to Youth” and the four conference strands for keynote speakers and concurrent sessions are (go to Themes for further details):

• Strand 1: Education for ocean literacy – creating a generation of ocean scientists, educators, citizens and decision makers who will support sustainability of the ocean and its resources.
• Strand 2: Current action on sustainability education in the Pacific – hearing from actively engaged traditional elders, scientists, educators and youth.
• Strand 3: Linking the Pacific – from the coconut wireless (local networks) to broadband (global) webs.
• Strand 4: Capacity building – building/realising the network (making it real).

IPMEN’08 Keynote Speakers:

• Strand 1: Education for ocean literacy keynote: Craig Strang, Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence – California, USA.
• Strand 2: Current action on sustainability education in the Pacific keynote: Greg Manning, Department of Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts, Australia.
• Strand 3: Linking the Pacific keynote: John Sibert, Pelagic Fisheries Research Program, Hawaii.
• Strand 4: Capacity building keynote: Joeli Veitayaki, University of the South Pacific, Fiji.
• Formal IPMEN’08 dinner special guest speaker Dr. Charlie Veron, author of A Reef in Time: The Great Barrier Reef from Beginning to End, in celebration of the International Year of the Coral Reef.