CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, at the International Centre, Dona Paula, Goa, organised the third BELMONT Forum COAST Card (Coastal Ocean Assessment for Sustainability and Transformation) workshop/meeting in Goa on 5 and 6 February 2024. The workshop had deliberations and invited talks by officials from different departments of the Goa Government, Goa Medical College, Goa Waste Management Corporation, Biodiversity Management Committees, Schools and Colleges.

The workshop was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Minister for Water Resources, Goa, Shri Subhash Shirodkar, in the presence of Director CSIR-NIO, Dr Dattesh Desai, Project Leader for COAST Card, Goa, and Dr Lidita Khandeparker, Co-Project Leader.

The workshop participants deliberated on the coastal ocean assessment for sustainability and transformation and brought out report cards. This is an international effort under BELMONT FORUM and is a collaborative effort between Japan, Norway, the Philippines, the USA, and India. The participants included different stakeholders from Goa. In the inaugural address, the Hon’ble Minister stated that we must encourage wide and intense engagement of all stakeholders to achieve the needed actions for sustainable development and conservation. He added that a two-way dialogue between the researchers and the society at large will pave the way for the development of policies.

The participants deliberated on the mechanisms to evolve report cards in the context of waters around Goa. Participants from the USA, Japan, the Philippines, and Norway provided in-depth information on their case studies and methods for developing report cards. The workshop elaborated on the case scenarios on the water budget of Mahadayi, climate change impact in Goa, Estuarine ecosystem functioning, Relevance of changing environment on community health, State Fisheries policies of Goa, Climate change and wildlife. The workshop had active participation from students from schools and colleges as well as research students from CSIR-NIO. The workshop facilitated the participation of students and other stakeholders in an open house discussion through a novel approach to identifying values and threats important to different stakeholders in promulgating different sustainable practices.