The five-week IOI (International Ocean Institute) Regional Ocean Governance Course has kicked off, for the 15th successive year, earlier this week, through a ceremony presided over by IOI Honorary President Prof. Awni Behnam. The keynote speech was delivered by Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. A video message by UN Special Envoy for the Ocean Ambassador Peter Thomson and a briefing by University Pro-Rector Prof. Godfrey Baldacchino followed.
Other distinguished guests at the ceremony included the German Ambassador to Malta His Excellency Walter Haßmann, representatives from the Egyptian Embassy and Ms Francesca Gatt from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion (MFTP). The German government actively supports the IOI Malta Training Course through DAAD (the German Academic Exchange Service).
Over the previous 14 years, the IOI Malta Training Course has trained around 300 mid-career participants hailing from almost 40 countries bordering 4 different regional seas (Mediterranean, Black, Black and Caspian Seas) as well as from a number of observer countries, including China.
This year’s course alumni total 20, hailing from Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, France, Croatia, Spain, Georgia, Iran, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, China and Malta.
The training programme builds upon the more than 35 years' experience of the International Ocean Institute in conducting training and capacity building programmes on ocean governance (the first such course was held in 1983 by IOI Canada based in Halifax).
This year’s programme includes an ad hoc seminar so as to reflect contemporary developments in ocean governance – Area-Based Management Tools (ABMTs - a seminar support by the EU Commission representation in Malta). The Ocean Governance content in fact covers contemporary approaches to coastal and ocean management, with an emphasis on moral, ethical and legal values in Ocean Governance (equity and peaceful uses of the ocean) under the governance architecture of UNCLOS and related international instruments and agreements.
Two fieldtrips will be held during the course timeline, one within the Grand Harbour and Marsaxlokk and the other within Dwejra MPA in Gozo.
Some of the lectures forming part of the IOI Course, including the special session on Marine Spatial Planning, are offered to students following a number of other University courses, including the Master in Applied Oceanography.
As of last year, the IOI Malta Training Course is accredited by the University of Malta in the form of three stand-alone Study Units (GSC5101, GSC5102, GSC5103).
The Course Director is Prof. Awni Behnam, Honorary President of the IOI.
Prof. Alan Deidun, from the Department of Geosciences, who is also the Director of the IOI Malta Training Centre and Malta’s Ocean Ambassador is the Course Manager.
Ms Antonella Vassallo, Managing Director at the IOI HQ on campus, oversees the organisation of a number of similar training courses by IOI in other regions, including Canada, China, South Africa, Thailand, Turkmenistan and Brasil.
Further details about the course can be obtained from the course website.