GOMINFOEX Participant in the Stockholm Challenge


 

OUT OF THE FOG II Workshop Agenda

 

 

 

Plotting a Course for Information Exchange
in the Gulf of Maine
  Delta Hotel
Saint John, New Brunswick.
November 2nd - 4th, 2000
Local Organiser ACAP Saint John
E-Mail: acapsj@fundy.net

 

Notes from the workshop:

Day 1 - Thursday, November 2nd - morning - travel to workshop

11:30-1:00 p.m. - Registration and check in. (Some rooms may not be available until 3:00 p.m. Storage space for luggage will be provided.)

12:00 noon - 1:00 p.m. - Lunch at the Delta for all registrants (Ballroom A)

1:00 - 5:00 p.m. - Workshop (Ballroom BC)

1:00-1:15 p.m. Opening

1:15-1:30 p.m. Welcoming remarks by Bill Ayer, Director of the Sustainable Planning Branch within the Environmental Quality Branch of the NB Department of the Environment and Local Government. The NB DOELG is a stakeholder in the Gulf of Maine Information Exchange (GOMINFOEX).

1:30-2:00 p.m. GOMINFOEX history by Paul Boudreau, GOMINFOEX. OOTF I was hosted by the New England Aquarium and the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment. It attempted to build on past efforts such as the Environmental Data and Information System (EDIMS), Research Environmental Data and Information System (REDIMS), Atlantic Coastal Zone Information Steering Committee (ACZISC) and others. OOTF I reviewed other existing systems and exposed the participants to some of the functionality provided by the web. A GOMINFOEX Action Committee of volunteers was established to test some options and pursue a regional information exchange. A GOMINFOEX vision was developed and the committee agreed to Terms of Reference (included in the registration packet).

Action Committee has meet quarterly since November 1998. Interested parties have undertaken a number of tests and experiments These include:
· Participants map to identify use groups;
· Common co-ordinates to identify linkages;
· E-Atlas to investigate distributed data access and provision;
· Silly-Word to test simple, easy, cheap methods of facilitating data searching;
· Fishers web site as a tool to get fishers input on their needs;
· Gulf of Maine Educators Association (GOMEA) User Needs Survey;
· Fundy ForumTimed discussion on information exchange; and,
· Organisation of this workshop.

Some success has been achieved as is evident in a general increase in awareness of resources, opportunities and needs. There is much more to be done.

2:00 - 2:30 p.m. OOTF II Workshop Overview - Bill Crossman, facilitator - Bill will offer a short presentation of the goals, overview objectives and desired meeting outcomes. The primary objective is to reach agreement on a plan to further effective environmental information exchange in the Gulf of Maine region. Breakout sessions will be used to look at our experiences and various potential models for the exchange. The status quo will be included as one of the options. The other extreme is to put together a plan for a large centrally funded and controlled exchange following the model of the Great Lakes Information Network.

2:30 - 3:00 p.m. Participants Input to Agenda - Open session with Participants questions and input on the agenda, objectives and issues to be included in the workshop.

3:00 - 3:30 p.m. Coffee break (Foyer)

3:30 - 5:00 p.m.- Who are we and what do we want/need: a facilitated open plenary discussion. Through previous requests for submissions and the work of the Action Committee, five themes will be presented and discussed. These primary themes will form the core of the breakout groups. They are:
- Salt Marsh restoration data requirements;
- Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and historic data capture;
- Water quality monitoring;
- aquaculture siting and development;
- community-based management requirements.
More information on themes can be found at the slection page.

The purpose of these themes is to provide a concrete basis for our look at our successes and failures in information exchange. Participatns are invited to bring to the workshop other themes that help in this task.

At the end of the session, the leaders of the breakout groups will have been identified and participants should have sufficient information to select the breakout group of greatest interest and will hopefully be starting the informal discussions in preparation for the following morning.

5:00 - 7:00 Dinner at the Delta for all registrants (Ballroom A)

5:00 - 6:00 p.m. - Cash bar set up outside ballroom
5:30 - 7:00 p.m. - Dinner

7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Open public session on environmental information exchange, "Fishing the Internet" (Ballroom BC). - The objective is to provide a general audience with a brief overview of the geographic range, client groups and capabilities. This session will have a number of short presentations on information resources/tools/approaches. The objective is to provide a general audience with a brief overview of the geographic range under discussion (Gulf of Maine watershed), the client groups active in this region and their capabilities. This session will have a number of short presentations on information resources/tools/approaches. Suggested talks include:Suggested talks include: 

Following the presentations there will be time to look at the posters and interact with the speaker. All participants are invited to prepare and display a poster.

Day 2 - Friday, November 3rd

7:00 - 8:30 a.m. - Breakfast at the Delta for all registrants (Ballroom A)

8:30 - 10:00 3-4 Five theme-based breakout groups will focus their discussions on identifying the existing capabilities, barriers and possible actions that might be taken to remove barriers for each of the issues:

  • Salt marsh restoration data requirements - Ballroom B; 
  • Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and historic data capture - Ballroom C; 
  • Water quality monitoring - Manchester Room; 
  • Aquaculture siting and development - Robertson Room; and 
  • Community-based management requirements - McAvity Room.

10:00-10:30 Coffee break (Foyer)

10:30-12:00 Plenary to report breakout group results (Ballroom BC). The focus will be on attempting to apply lessons learned from one theme to others.

12:00-1:00 p.m. Lunch at the Delta for all registrants (Ballroom A)

1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Breakout groups will focus on exchange of information across geographic and thematic boundaries (e.g, between teachers and researchers). Participants will be encouraged to participate in groups outside their own boundaries and share information between agencies and organisations. Each group will pick one top issue from the morning session and consider ways to reduce existing boundaries (Ballroom B, Ballroom C, Manchester, Robertson, McAvity).

3:00 -3:30 p.m. Coffee break (Foyer)

3:30 - 5:00 p.m. Plenary to report breakout group results (Ballroom BC). The session will end with a request that all participants consider the issues and possible solutions identified and think about who/what agencies are or might be able to carry these forward in the next 12-24 months.

5:30 - 6:30 p.m. - Historical environmental tour of uptown Saint John by local historian Bill Thompson ($5.00 per person). Why were ships one hundred years ago fined for dumping ballast water in Saint John Harbour - an issue we are still addressing today? Please sign up at the registration desk.

6:30 - 9:00 p.m. Informal gathering in local Saint John's "watering holes."

DAY 3 - Saturday, November 4th

7:00 - 8:30 a.m. - Breakfast at the Delta for all registrants (Ballroom BC)

8:30 - 9:30 Plenary presentations of national initiatives. Two 30-minute talks from representatives of the US GeoData Alliance Alliance and the Canadian GeoConnections on the establishment of links between the regional activities of GOMINFOEX and national efforts. The two presenters will be participating in the full OOTF II workshop so that they are fully aware of the discussions and will be able to highlight possible links that will support the regional effort.

9:30-10:00 Plenary to refine functional requirements, actions, and responsibilities. Issues dealt with on Friday will be reviewed and participants will be asked for input on how the functional requirements can be achieved and who can achieve them. This session will be for people who want to get something done and/or have something to offer. It is critical that this session identify names and organisations that can act on the request for actions. Areas of possible duplication should be identified and minimised. Potential partnerships and co-operation should be highlighted. If appropriate persons/agencies are not present, the Action Committee should be prepared to accept the role of communicating the resulting requests for action to the agencies. Functions that cannot be achieved by existing methods/ organisations will be identified and highlighted for discussion in the final plenary.

10:00 - 10:30 - Coffee break (Foyer)

10:30-11:30 Plenary to refine functional requirements, actions, and responsibilities (continued). This final session will discus organisational and technical options for addressing the functions identified in the last session that are not readily addressed by existing structures. Opportunities for action will be identified.

11:30-12:00 Closing, thanks and safe journey home. (Room check-out time, 12:30 p.m.)