Maritime Awards Society of Canada

A message from Dan Lane, Chair – Ocean Management Research Network

In March of 2010, the OMRN met with representatives of several oceans and coastal network organizations in Canada at the ‘Oceans and Coasts Networks Summit’ to form the Oceans and Coasts Network-Canada (OCN-Canada). The purpose of these meetings was to discuss opportunities for coordinating our mutual efforts around raising awareness of our oceans and coasts. The summit resulted in an OCN-Canada Vision Statement that conceived the idea of a series of ‘Policy Briefs’ on oceans and coasts open to all members of our respective networks as a means of disseminating the interest and expertise of our collective memberships.

The OMRN invites current OMRN members to participate in the OCN-Canada Policy Briefs program, as a contributor and a reviewer. Topics for consideration as a ‘Policy Brief’ are specifically referred to in the OMRN 2009 Post-Conference Synthesis Summary Report. The summary report captures salient aspects of the 2009 OMRN Conference presentations representing the diverse interests of researchers, managers, students, NGOs, industry, and consultants on topics of our oceans and coasts and following the three conference themes: (i) Ocean’s Governance; (ii) Ocean’s Accountability; and (iii) Canada’s Arctic. As an OMRN member, your expert contribution to this series – to be disseminated widely – will be a welcome addition to what promises to be a provoking and ongoing series of interest to politicians, communities, academics, and the general public on important issues around our oceans and coasts. More details about the OCN-Canada Policy Brief process are available in the OCN-Canada Vision Statement and on the OMRN website, www.omrn-rrgo.ca/smc/home.php.

On behalf of the OMRN membership, join us in participating in the policy briefs program as a contributor and reviewer. We ask that you acknowledge your affiliation, expertise, and interest in the OCN Canada Policy Briefs program by completing the OCN Canada Policy Brief Submission Intent Form, and forwarding it to the OMRN Network Secretariat. Please note the deadline for submitting your intent form is November 30^th, 2010.