A new training initiative in bay and estuary management  <B>A new training initiative in bay and estuary management</B><P>B. Needham</B><I><P> Coastal Resources Center University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, USA</I><P> Abstract<P> Integrated coastal management is stressed in Agenda 21, the strategy document produced by the 1992 U.N. Conference on Environment and Development. Although a nonbinding agreement, efforts continue to be made to maintain the momentum and many coastal states and island nations are striving to introduce integrated coastal management (ICM). An outcome of this activity has been an increased demand for technical assistance and training to develop national policies and programs, and countries with a history of ICM are being looked to for assistance. The United States, with the introduction of the Coastal Zone Management Act in 1972, has a longer history of coastal, estuary and bay management than most, and is attempting to respond to this need, particularly in the field of training.<P> In 1985, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) initiated the Coastal Resources Management Project (CRMP) with an intention to make this experience available to developing countries. Through its CRMP, USAID became a global leader in advancing ICM and associated training in developing countries. Crucial to this process was USAID's unique knowledge of the socioeconomic and political context of its partnerships.<P> As the CRMP got underway, the United States began a new experiment in governance of coastal ecosystems, the National Estuary Program (NEP). Administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the NEP structure and process offered an alternate management model. The NEP approach complemented that employed by AID's CRMP since it was designed to make more effective use of existing laws, regulations and programs, a need which also exists in coastal developing nations, and included consensus building, public outreach and a phased approach to planning that integrates science and policy in public decision making.<P> In 1994, the USAID and the USEPA, recognized that by combining the experience gained through the NEP and CRMP, they were well placed to provide some of the experience needed to satisfy the growing demand for training in ICM, particularly as relating to bay and estuary management. As a consequence, the two agencies signed an Interagency Agreement in an initiative to assist developing countries by providing training activities for practitioners to help advance and accelerate the sound management and sustainable development of coastal and estuarine environments worldwide.<P> This paper will briefly describe the National Estuary Program and the Coastal Resources Management Project, which provides the background for this initiative. It will then describe the process leading up to the design of an international training workshop based on the experience gained and lessons learned from these projects. In conclusion, the results of that process will be described in a detailed overview of the first International Training Workshop on Bay and Estuary Management to be held in April 1996.<P>