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Alumni Workshops

Fellows, LAFF alumni, program advisors and regional experts, as well as a select group of fisheries management practitioners and decision-makers conveine every year in a Latin American location to share new ideas and critical lessons from the field. Workshop participants engage as a network to conceive of and strategically advance solutions to marine resource management challenges facing practitioners.

  • Group photo of workshop participants
    Estación Costera de Investigaciones Marinas

    Photo credit: Latin American Fisheries Fellowship

    New Fisheries Frontiers: A Course in Spatial Fisheries Management and Applications in Latin America

    1st LAFF Workshop

    Estación Costera de Investigaciones Marinas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile 

    Las Cruces, Chile

    The Latin American Fisheries Fellowship program held its first international workshop, “New Fisheries Frontiers: A Course in Spatial Fisheries Management and Applications in Latin America,” in July 2012. Developed in partnership with the Estacion Costera de Investigaciones Marinas of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile (PUC), the workshop featured professors from Latin America and the United States presenting on the latest research topics, including governance, spatial management tools for fisheries, and policy. The 25 participants represented managers, students, and scientists from more than a dozen Latin American and U.S. government agencies, non-profits, and universities. 

    Workshop Agenda (English)
    Workshop Agenda (Spanish)

  • Strengthening the LAFF Network and Accelerating Impact

    El Mangle Community Campus

    La Paz, Mexico

    In mid December 2015, the Latin American Fisheries Fellowship hosted its third annual workshop, held at the El Mangle Campus (elmangle.org) in La Paz, Mexico.  The workshop was focused on building and strengthening a network of fellows and alumni from the specialized program at Bren, and identifying ways to accelerate their collective impact. More tha twenty-five LAFF fellows participated in the 4-day workshop (including alumni and current masters or PhD students), as well as a handful of guest experts in Latin American fisheries management and network building. Guests included Nakul Saran (VP of Fish Forever, Rare), Laura Rodriguez (Director of Oceans, EDF Mexico), Hoyt Peckam (Founder, Smartfish), James Honey (Executive Director, El Mangle), and Madeliene Taylor (Principal, Impact Network). Keynote speakers presented on capacity and leadership needs in Latin American fisheries, the strategic value of the network approach to tackling complex problems, and on network design characteristics to enhance collective effectiveness. Together, through facilitate breakout sessions, the group discussed how to best position the LAFF network for greater impact, and envision how they will both contribute to and benefit from network. Fellows and alumni, along with expert insight from leaders in the field, identified a shared belief that the network will have the most impact through prioritizing activities around the following pillars within the Latin American countries represented: fostering cross sector collaboration, aligning economic incentives, forging cooperation amongst countries, increasing equity in fisheries management decision-making processes, and elevating the value of fisheries to policy makers.

    PDF icon 2015 Workshop Agenda

  • Creating Effective Theories of Change & Stories that Influence

    Mexican Carribbean

    Quintana Roo, Mexico

    As environmental professionals tackling ocean and fisheries sustainability challenges from different platforms, success with ambitious initiatives can hinge on devising an effective theory of change, but also on telling a compelling story to key audiences about the change we seek to create - whether decision makers, community leaders or stakeholders, funders, a wider public, or even key people within our respective organizations. So how can we more effectively design transformational theories of change with our individual and organizational initiatives? And further yet, how do we tell compelling stories to increase influence, build excitement, and win buy-in to the challenges that LAFF are tackling as alumni? The 2018 Fellows & Alumni Workshop brought together our Alumni Network with a goal of elevating individual and collective capacity for designing effective theories of change and leveraging the power of story to build influence. Working with transformation experts, our approach centered on creating prototypes around clusters of expertise represented within our network that have potential to advance impactful fisheries sustainability in Latin America.

     

    PDF icon Workshop Agenda
  • Workshop participants watching a presentation
    Workshop participants engaging in applied problem solving

    Emerging Fisheries Research & Management Tools for Latin America

    2nd LAFF Workshop

    El Mangle Community Campus

    La Paz, Mexico

    The 2014 Workshop took place January 15th - 21st at the El Mangle campus located in La Paz, Mexico. The 45 attendees included LAFF Fellows, alumni, faculty advisors, select prospective applicants, managers and heads of organizations working towards achieving sustainable marine resource management in Latin America. Alumni and current fellows took a lead role in facilitating the workshop, centered on multiple topics of interest to fellows—ranging from data-poor stock assessments tools to themes of aquaculture, ecological restoration, finance and seafood contribution to food security.

    PDF icon Workshop Agenda