The two-day long International Conference on Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) for Advancing Sustainable Blue Growth of the Department of Oceanography has been finished at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet.

The concluding session of this conference was held at the Central Auditorium of SUST at 4 PM on Wednesday. 

Over 200 participants from 8 countries presented their research papers on different themes. A total of 123 papers have been presented at the conference in 7 technical sessions and one side event. The German Federal Ministry provided overall support for the implementation of the program under the project, the Integrated Management of the Sundarbans Mangroves and the Marine Protected Area of Swatch of No Ground in Bangladesh (SoNG).

Earlier, at 9 a.m. on Tuesday,the conference was inaugurated. In that session, SUST Treasurer Professor Dr. Ismail Hossain, Deputy Head of Development Cooperation at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Ulrich Kleppmann, Deputy Chief Conservator of Forests at the Bangladesh Forest Department Jahidul Islam, and Commission Manager of the Biodiversity Sector at GIZ Dr. Stefan Alfred Groenewold were present as special guests. The program was chaired by Associate Professor Dr. Subrata Sarker, who also served as the Convenor of the conference. Assistant Professor Md. Mizanur Rahman was the Member Secretary of the conference.

Prof Dr. A.M. Sarwaruddin Chowdhury, Vice-Chancellor of SUST, thanked the organizers including the Department of Oceanography, SUST, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and GIZ Bangladesh for organizing the conference. He remarked that the oceans are under unprecedented pressure from climate change, overexploitation, and pollution.

 

 Marine Spatial Planning offers an effective approach to managing marine resources by balancing ecological, economic, and social priorities. This conference is both timely and crucial in supporting the shared global vision of a sustainable blue economy.