Held during the IOI Ocean Governance Training Programme for the Western Pacific Region
The National Marine Data and Information Service (NMDIS) of China held a workshop in Tianjin for the alumni of the IOI and the IOI China Regional Center for the Western Pacific Region (IOI China Regional Center) to celebrate the fifty-year anniversary of IOI as well as the twenty eighth anniversary of the IOI China Regional Centre.
More than 70 people attended the hybrid event, including IOI alumni, participants of the 2022 Ocean Governance Training Course and special guests including Dr Awni Behnam (Honorary President of IOI), Dr Shi Suixiang (Director-General of the NMDIS, and IOI Governing Board member) and Ms Chen Danhong, Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR).
IOI has been active in major global marine activities and ocean management talent training for a long time and has trained a large number of outstanding talents in various fields of global ocean governance. The workshop had the honour to invite outstanding Chinese representatives who had participated in the IOI trainings abroad or participated in the IOI China Regional Center trainings in China to share their stories with IOI and the impacts of IOI experiences on their careers. Mr Zhu Wenxi, head of UNESCO-IOC Sub-Commission for Western Pacific (WESTPAC), and an alumnus of the IOI Canada Training Programme in 1998, was invited to deliver a keynote presentation entitled "Intergovernmental Ocean Cooperation and the United Nations Ocean Decade". He introduced the background, goals and challenges of the UN Ocean Decade, and how to rationally participate in it, seize opportunities and make contributions. His presentation inspired the IOI alumni in the correct and comprehensive understanding of the Ocean Decade, and their participation in marine scientific research and marine management under a more macro framework.