COAST Card: Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning Workshop
Dr. Bill Dennison, Dr. Vanessa Vargas-Nguyen, and Kelly Dobroski participated in a five-day session on Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning hosted by the Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on November 7–11, 2021. COAST Card partners from the US and Philippines delivered lectures on ecosystem-based management, Manila Bay natural resources, and stakeholder engagement practices. After two days of presentations, IAN staff facilitated a three-day Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning Workshop. This workshop revealed the values and threats to Manila Bay, additional stakeholders to engage, and a shared vision. Four key areas of coastal planning were addressed: data availability, user compatibility, stakeholder engagement, and evaluation. Equipped with these tools, the Philippines DENR will host similar workshops to continue engaging additional stakeholders as they work to develop a spatial plan for Manila Bay. Interested in viewing the first two days of presentations? Watch the Day 1 session here, and Day 2 session here.