Introduction

The WA State Coastal Conference is an important opportunity to review changing coastal planning and management issues in the context of the major challenges of sustainability and maintaining the quality of our coastal environments at regional and statewide levels.
 
The objectives of the State Coastal Conference are to:

• Provide a forum to communicate important and urgent coastal issues from around the State.
• Provide a forum for the discussion of new advances in technology, ideas and research.
• Bring together all key stakeholders from government, industry and community to promote new partnerships and enhance cooperation in the field.
• Share and learn from one anothers' experiences in coastal planning and management.

The WA State Coastal Conference also incorporates the WA Coastal Awards for Excellence ceremony. This ceremony provides an important opportunity to recognise local communities, coastal managers and individuals for their commitment and hard work to the protection and management of WA’s special coastal and marine environment.

The WA State Coastal Conference is a biennial event. The conference has been staged on four occasions since 2001 with great success. The previous conferences have been hosted by:

2007 - Shire of Denmark
2005 - joint partnership between the Shire of Busselton, City of Mandurah, City of Bunbury and the South West and Peel Coastal Management Group (CoastSWap)
2003 - City of Geraldton
2001 - South Coast Management Group

Call for expressions of interest - now closed

The WAPC Chairman, Mr Jeremy Dawkins, announced the opening of the expression of interest period in early March 2008. Corresponding advertisements were displayed in The West Australian and various coastal local newspapers.The expression of interest period is now closed. Thank you to the people and groups who took the time to submit an expression of interest.

The Coastal Planning and Coordination Council is pleased to be facilitating the process of selecting the host for the 5th WA State Coastal Conference which will be held in 2009. The host will be selected on the basis of the information provided in the expression of interest proposal.

Expressions of interest needed to include specific information, such as

• an outline case for the proposed host town/city
• title and outline of aims, theme/s and key issues for the conference
• identification of all relevant parties proposed to be involved and/or represented
• a funding strategy including financial estimates, together with an unequivocal guarantee from the host town/city to accept full financial responsibility for the event
• management process
• proposed venue
• preliminary program outline
• preliminary outline of promotional material and sponsorship
• conference tours and field trips
• target groups
• letters of support.

Information about the expression of interest process is outlined in Background Information; Expression of Interest Guidelines; and Evaluation Criteria and Process document that is downloaded at the end of the page. A copy can also be obtained by contacting the Department for Planning and Infrastructure on (08) 9264 7914.

Evaluation process

Information provided in the submitted expressions of interest is currently being evaluated against criteria such as project management, financial estimates, draft program, capacity to engage target groups, and creativity.

A selection committee is evaluating all expressions of interest and comprises of a representative from the following groups:

• Coastal Planning and Coordination Council
• Department for Planning and Infrastructure
• Western Australian Local Government Association
• Immediate past host (in this instance the Shire of Denmark).

Proposals will be evaluated against criteria including:

• project management
• financial estimates
• draft program
• capacity to engage target groups
• creativity

The selection committee will make a recommendation to the Coastal Planning and Coordination Council for endorsement in June 2008. The successful host will be announced shortly after and all nominees will be informed of the outcome in writing.

Comments from previous WA state coastal conference host (2007)

Hosting the WA State Coastal Conference has potential to bring many positive benefits to the local community.

The WA State Coastal Conference has been staged every second year since 2001, with great success and attracting a diverse range of people.

The Shire of Denmark hosted the 4th conference, held in November 2007. The Shire heralded the conference as a great success, bringing many financial benefits to the Denmark community. 

“The conference inspired, informed and connected people. As the hosts of the conference, we had the opportunity to showcase the south coast region and highlight the plenitude of work being done to protect fragile coastal environmental landscapes.”
                                                             2007 Conference Coordinator, Melinda Lyons.

“The Coastal Conference not only bought financial gains to the Denmark community, but also unquantifiable benefits to the larger community, highlighting the range of excellent accommodation and activities that exist in the region for visitors. The 4th Western Australian State Coastal Conference 2007 was an enormous success”
                                        
                                                              2007 Conference Coordinator, Melinda Lyons.

Conference Convenor (also a Denmark Shire Councillor and commercial fisherman) Mr George Ebbett said that the conference ‘exceeded expectations’.

“There was a willingness to communicate by people of all sectors, in and outside of coastal management. The conference highlighted the important role the community has to play in better understanding the threat of climate change and finding solutions.”

 2007 Conference Convenor, Mr George Ebbott.

Further information

Further information can be found here Expressions of interest to host conference ( 642 Kb) 

For enquires please contact Sharon Haseldine at the Department for Planning and Infrastructure on (08) 9264 7914 or email Sharon.Haseldine@dpi.wa.gov.au