UICN - Union internationale pour la conservation de la nature

Blue Ventures offers scholarships to participate in IUCN Congress

19 June 2012 | Article

At this year’s World Conservation Congress, the NGO Blue Ventures, the Pacific LMMA Network, and the NGO CORDIO will be hosting a special side event, showcasing the emerging Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA) movement on 10 September. In recent years, LMMAs have emerged as an innovative, cost-effective way to tackle some of the challenges of coastal and marine resource management commonly faced by fishing communities in developing countries.

Blue Ventures, thanks to a generous grant from the MacArthur Foundation, is pleased to announce the availability of a limited number of travel scholarships, which will allow representatives of LMMAs (and similar organisations) to participate in this side event. Representatives will be selected from the tropical developing countries.

Candidates must meet the following requirements for eligibility for the travel scholarship:

• Be a representative of a locally managed marine area/community managed marine area/indigenous marine protected area
• Be able to understand and speak English fluently OR will be accompanied at the conference by someone who can translate for you (scholarships not available for translators)
• Be able to speak comfortably in front of a group
• Be ready to share experiences about your community’s efforts with sustainable marine and coastal resource management

LMMA representatives receiving the travel scholarship will be expected to actively participate in the side event, as well as any other informal events that may be organized around the LMMA theme. They will also be expected to submit information regarding their LMMA prior to the event, as well as complete feedback surveys during and after the event.

Successful candidates will demonstrate a strong understanding, rooted in first-hand knowledge, of their community’s efforts at LMMA establishment, a willingness to share these experiences with others from around the world, and a desire to learn from others’ experiences and share with their community following the event.

The scholarship is designed to cover the successful candidates’ registration fees, travel expenses, and food/lodging.