Outputs
1) APEC Blue Citizen Communities Workshop
To facilitate communication between stakeholders and promote the sustainable development of APEC coastal communities, the APEC blue citizen communities workshop will be held in Xiamen, China on 6-8 June 2025. Approximately 50 representatives from governments, academia, enterprises, and non-governmental organizations will be invited. The workshop will focus on the key areas such as ocean literacy, coastal resilience, coastal city management, and community engagement.
The agenda will include discussions at community levels to exchange ideas. It will also involve sharing research progress on indicators for coastal city and community as well as practices and innovative experience from China and other economies in improving ocean literacy. The aim is to provide an exchange platform for sustainable development of coastal cities and communities to promote the transition towards an ocean literate society.
Furthermore, practice in blue citizen community will be included.
Day 1:
08:00-09:00: Registration
09:00-10:00 Opening ceremony, group photo and ice breaking Session 1: The role of cities in promoting the development of environmentally-minded communities (Moderator 1)
10:00-10:30 An overview on of blue citizen community concept and framework (Speaker 1)
10:30-11:00 Coastal cities and sustainable fisheries (Speaker 2) 11:00-11:30 Ocean initiatives related to clean cities (Speaker 3) 14:30-15:00 Promoting coastal urban development process for blue citizen communities (Speaker 4)
15:00-15:30 Conservation and restoration of marine ecosystem in the context of urban development (Speaker 5)
15:30-16:00 Building more resilient and equitable seafood systems (Speaker 6)
16:00-17:00 Brainstorming and discussions
Day 2:
Session 2: Strengthening community engagement in fostering Environmentally-minded communities (Moderator 2)
09:00-09:30 Case study of blue citizen community and capacity building (Speaker 7)
09:30-10:00 Developing blue citizen community to reduce coastal marine debris (Speaker 8)
10:00-10:30 The role of public ocean literacy Improvement in environmental protection of coastal communities (Speaker 9)
10:30-11:00 Biodiversity monitoring for the blue citizen communities and eco-tourism development (Speaker 10)
11:00-11:30 Improving ocean literacy of coastal communities and strengthening resilience of coastal areas (Speaker 11)
Session 3: Sharing and discussion (Moderator 3)
14:30-16:30 Practices sharing from APEC economies on coastal cities/communities for ocean literacy enhancement (invited participants) 16:30-17:30 Recommendations and discussions
Day 3:
Session 4: Practice in blue citizen community. Session 4 will take place at the Workshop venue (a hotel)
09:00-12:00 Good interaction of Family-School-Community for blue citizen development (Moderator 4 and 5)
Session 5: Discussion and conclusion (Moderator 6)
14:30-15:30 Female participation and best practices sharing (invited participants)
15:30-16:40 Recaps the key learning, conclusion and review of next steps 16:40-17:00 Ex-post Evaluation
17:00-17:10 Closure
3) Blue Citizen Community Indicators Research Report (herein referred to as "The Research Report")
Blue citizen community indicators research report will be complied for guiding the improvement of blue citizen communities. Economic, social and ecological indicators will be selected and surveyed among APEC economies through questionnaire. The questionnaire will be disseminated to all 21 member economies via OFWG secretariat. Experts from APEC economies will be invited to discuss these indicators together through several webinars.
The indicators will focus on four aspects: policy and management; infrastructure and ecology; marine awareness and behavior; marine economy and society. It will also include collecting and analyzing cases of coastal cities/communities improving ocean literacy.
The research report will cover six aspects: research background; research purpose and significance; relevant case experiences and inspirations from coastal cities/communities; principles and framework for blue citizen community indicators; indicators for blue citizen community; policy recommendations and conclusions. It is expected to be at least 30 pages’ Research Report excluding annexes and will be submitted to APEC Secretariat to share on the official website as public publication. The survey report will be included as an annex to the Research Report and will be disseminated before the Workshop. The survey report will be a minimum 10 pages excluding annexes, but including survey objectives, survey methodology, the questionnaire results, analyzations and cases.
Project Summary Report
After the completion of the workshop and research work, a project summary report will be prepared to summarize the practical experience and discussion outputs of the workshop, as well as the research progress of the blue citizen communities indicators, in order to serve as a reference for the capacity-building of the APEC in mobilizing society to improve ocean literacy. The overall framework of the project summary report includes background and overview, project implementation status, results and outputs, follow-up development plans, policy recommendations, etc. It is expected to be a minimum of 15 pages excluding annexes and will be submitted to the APEC Secretariat for the completion of the project and will be available in the APEC project database.
Outcomes
1) The project summary report will collect the experience and feedback of the participants and put forward policy recommendation to make APEC economies better understand the importance of community engagement in improving people’s ocean literacy and promote the gain effect at domestic and local levels.
Note: We ensure that there is no information that may serve to identify individuals in the output documents
2) As an APEC publication, dissemination of the blue citizen community indicators research report to broader APEC economic communities will strengthen the ability/capacity to implement policies to enhance people's ocean literacy, capacity building and empowerment of people, and the resilience of coastal communities. Policymakers and other stakeholders can use the indicators as references guide the formulation of new policies and other activities, as well as evaluate the effectiveness of existing efforts.
3) The workshop will raise awareness of participants of the concept and framework of the blue citizen community. The participants will understand the main considerations in setting indicators for blue citizen communities, and will have the opportunity to learn about the practices of other economies in this field. At the end of the project, the evaluation can be measured, for example, the number of economies that have taken steps to formulate and implement action plans or similar activities based on the suggestions and case studies provided; the number of communities or economies considering taking action may include requesting information, introductions or cooperative promotion.
Beneficiaries
The most direct beneficiaries of the project are workshop participants from APEC member economies, including government officials, urban policymakers, academia and researchers, industry professionals. These participants will engage in sharing best practices and discussions on overcoming social barriers on connection to the ocean, as well as developing policy recommendations for promoting coastal cities during discussions. Specifically, department-level government officials from the marine management department and the urban management department, who will share their experiences from the perspective of management and bring the learning and ideas into future decision-making; scholars and researchers from the fields of marine protection and marine education will support the development of ocean literacy and blue citizen community from the perspective of theory and technology; private sector managers who are concerned about corporate social responsibility may bring more social capital investment; practitioners from marine nature education will bring practical experience, and will more directly pass on their learning to the public. We particularly welcome officials and policymakers at strategic and management levels who can provide insights or experience on driving policies at the workshop and identifying collaboration opportunities that can be leveraged.
The secondary beneficiaries of the project will be the communities. The development of a significant number of individuals who have greater ocean literacy may contribute to enhancing ocean literacy within society, encouraging more individuals to take an interest in ocean conservation, and strengthening community connections. This may also promote public engagement in sustainable ocean management, facilitate decision-making regarding marine protection and restoration as well as enhance coastal resilience, and foster a more conducive environment for the growth of environmentally-minded citizens. The project will also benefit APEC economies as secondary beneficiaries. The exploration of blue citizen communities aims to enhance understanding and awareness of the blue economy as a driving force in the APEC region. This project seeks to bolster economies' contributions to marine culture, natural resources, and inclusiveness. Ultimately, it aims to bring about economic benefits to businesses and communities in the APEC region. The representatives of schools and local communities will be invited to participate in the workshop and share their practical experiences with pictures or videos.
