Kava Bowl Ocean Summit
An unusual conference
Kava Bowl Ocean Summit
How much is the Ocean worth to you?
From Thursday, June 30, 2011 to Sunday, July 3, 2011 Okeanos held the first summit of its kind in Honolulu, Hawaii. People from all over the world met at East-West-Center’s Imin International Conference Center in Honolulu to discuss and develop new approaches and strategies to stop the ongoing destruction of our oceans. The mission was to gather people of different cultures, backgrounds and expertises in one place, seated “Pacific style” around a kava bowl, drinking kava and discussing these issues at eye level. People like “Her Deepness” Sylvia Earle, Nainoa Thompson, President of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, Noe Noe Wong-Wilson, Hawaiian cultural researcher and teacher, scientists like Barbara Block, Charlie Veron, and Chris Clark, filmmaker Louie Psihoyos, NGO fellows, lawyers, social scientists, authors, journalists, businesspeople as well as representatives from the Pacific Voyagers were all participants in the Kava Bowl Talks.
Kava Bowl Talk © Rui Camilo
After having listened to different presentations about the threats facing our oceans, the fellows sat together in five groups to develop strategies. At the end of three days full of vivid discussions the participants presented their ideas. Inspired by the brave, strong people who sailed the Pacific, making a stand for the ocean and showing up at the conference as one unified Pacific family, all Kava groups agreed on one thing:
We are all in the same canoe called the blue planet.
We need to get every bit of knowledge and wisdom to make it work, to sail this canoe into a healthy and safe future. Putting all our different experiences and skills together, participants found that diversity unifies us instead of separating us, exactly as the ocean can be a bridge between the islands instead of a barrier separating us. Unified we are stronger in protecting our oceans for our children.
A simple thought, but indeed sometimes a challenging one, overcoming skepticism, learning from each other and uniting, is one of the most important outcomes of this conference. From here, we can start to work together as one.
Carl Safina at the Kava Bowl Talk © Rui Camilo
One outcome we are proud to present is a series of tutorials written by well-known author and marine conservationist, Dr. Carl Safina. This series addresses different scientific topics raised at the Kava Bowl Ocean Summit, written in the typical Safina style--clear, comprehensive, and eloquent. You can find the series in the blog section of our Okeanos website.
To learn more about the voyage and its goal, visit the Pacific Voyagers website or their facebook page.