About NWWWS

The National Working Waterfronts & Waterways Symposium is the crown jewel of the National Working Waterfront Network. People from across the United States attend the symposium to connect with one another and showcase (and initiate) innovative solutions to their waterfront issues. The ultimate goal of the symposium, and the Network, is to increase the capacity of saltwater- and freshwater-based coastal communities and for stakeholders to make informed decisions, balance diverse uses, ensure access, and plan for the future of their working waterfronts. Working waterfronts include waterfront lands, waterfront infrastructure, and waterways that are used for water-dependent activities, such as ports, marinas, small recreational boat harbors, fishing docks and hundreds of other places across the country where people use and access the water.

 

By design, the triennial symposium moves around the country to highlight the diversity of our nation’s working waterfronts, to foster a cross-fertilization of ideas, knowledge and solutions, and to generate strategic partnerships. The 1^st symposium was held in Virginia, the 2^nd in Maine, and the 3^rd in Washington State. The 4^th symposium will shine a light on Gulf Coast communities and their waterfronts. The Gulf region comprises five (1/6^th) of the thirty U.S. coastal (and Great Lakes) states, yet accounts for about 24% of ocean-related jobs, 29% of ocean-related wages, and 35% of the nation’s ocean-related Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

 

Florida Sea Grant, the National Sea Grant Law Center, and the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium are sponsoring the 4^th National Symposium. We are pleased to announce that the symposium will also incorporate the third edition of Florida’s reoccurring state conference: Stem to Stern: Boating and Waterway Management in Florida.

 

We hope that you will add your voice to those of your working waterfront colleagues by attending the 4th National Working Waterfronts & Waterways Symposium scheduled for November 16-19, 2015 in Tampa, Florida.

 

Purpose of the Symposium

• To connect and unite stakeholders from across the U.S., and to showcase (and initiate) innovative, successful, and timely solutions to waterfront and waterway issues
• To provide attendees an opportunity to network with others who are involved in the same types of professional issues and, together, develop strategies, timelines, funding sources, and regional alliances to address them.

 

The 2015 NWWW Symposium will utilize several presentation formats to create an educational and interactive forum where emerging ideas, best practices, and information may be shared.

 

Program Structure

The symposium will be comprised of:

• Plenary Sessions, which will feature leaders and keynote presenters from the working waterfronts and waterways community.
• Traditional Concurrent Sessions, which will be comprised of 15-20 minute speaker talks accompanied by PowerPoint Presentations. Concurrent sessions will be arranged from individual abstracts submitted on similar topics.
• Formal Poster Session, which will feature all NWWW Symposium poster presentations.
• Strategic Planning Meeting, which will take advantage of our time together to collaborate and develop strategic plans for the working waterfronts and waterways community moving forward.

 

About NWWWN

The National Working Waterfront Network (NWWN) is a nationwide network of businesses, industry associations, nonprofits, local governments and communities, state and federal agencies, universities, Sea Grant programs, and individuals dedicated to supporting, preserving, and enhancing our nation’s working waterfronts and waterways. Participation in the NWWN is open to all individuals and organizations involved in working waterfront issues at the federal, state, and local level. Our mission is to increase the capacity of coastal communities and stakeholders to make informed decisions, balance diverse uses, ensure access, and plan for the future of their working waterfronts and waterways.

 

About Stem to Stern

From Stem to Stern is a statewide conference that is organized every two to three years in the state of Florida. Its primary goal is to provide an opportunity for planners, resource managers, waterway users, marina operators, industry representatives, harbor masters, city managers, elected officials, law enforcement, policy makers, attorneys, consultants, educators, and researches to learn and discuss boating and waterways issues, and to network with colleagues in the area.