« Go Back

About Coastal Resources Center

The Coastal Resources Center (CRC) at the University of Rhode Island, founded in 1971, is dedicated to advancing coastal management worldwide. In addition to assisting in the development and implementation of coastal management programs in Rhode Island and the United States, the Center is active in developing countries throughout the world in promoting the sustainable use of coastal resources for the benefit of all. Implementing coastal management projects in the field, building capacity through education and training, and sharing lessons learned and information throughout the coastal community is the foundation of the Coastal Resources Center’s work.

Our Vision: Continuously improving opportunities and conditions for coastal people

We imagine coastal people living in a world where choices are shaped by a concern for quality of life, poverty reduction, economic opportunity and the environment. It is a world where people draw upon a wellspring of optimism and hope as they face social and environmental change along the paths to just and sustainable futures.

Our Mission: Advancing Sound Coastal Governance Worldwide

The Coastal Resources Center mobilizes governments, business and communities around the world to work together as stewards of coastal ecosystems. With our partners we strive to define and achieve the health, equitable allocation of wealth, and sustainable intensities of human activity at the transition between the land and the sea.

International Voluntary Service Activities

During the first year of the Coastal Resources Center’s (CRC) International volunteer program, two professional volunteers were dispatched to Tanzania in June/July, 2005. One, a tenured professor and the other a specialist in aquaculture with over a decade of experience managing milkfish farms. Both had a two-week assignment that included delivering training sessions on mariculture at the SUCCESS training program in East Africa and working post-training with participants to redesign a pilot milkfish pond site and to train fishpond operators at the site(s). In Thailand two volunteers are assigned to work with CRC from Crisis Corp to assist in the Tsunami relief program.

In the upcoming year, CRC expects to assign at least two to four volunteers to our sites in Nicaragua and Ecuador. We expect as well to send other volunteers to our field sites in Tanzania and Thailand.

Volunteer for Prosperity Opportunities
Number of Opportunities	Multiple
Geographic Regions	Latin America
Health & Prosperity Sectors	Capacity Building; Education; HIV/AIDS; Water; Information & Communication Technology; Natural Resources Management; Women & Youth Empowerment; Tsunami Relief
Types of Opportunities
Average Duration of Projects	2-4 weeks
Volunteer Profile Summary
Coastal Resources Center volunteers may have quiet different educational backgrounds and experience, yet all share a common interest in sharing their time, knowledge, and skills with other individuals and organizations in developing countries. Most are working professionals who are college graduates with five or more years of experience and who are looking to volunteer their time and share their knowledge with others. Others are recent graduates wanting to share their new ideas and energy while at the same time gaining field experience. Others are retired professionals who want to share their years of experience through a short-term commitment. During their tour, a CRC volunteer may stay in a hotel, a university dorm, with a local family, or may share a house with several other volunteers. Volunteers may have access to modern conveniences such as the Internet or may be stationed in remote rural coastal areas where living is more rustic and challenging. International volunteers are expected to adapt to the environment, culture and lifestyle of the country in which their assignment takes place. Above all, they give one hundred percent to the tasks at hand showing initiative, acting as a member of a team, demonstrating self sufficiency and complementing the work being carried out by the CRC staff and its partners. The average assignment is two to four weeks - though longer assignments are possible. Currently, volunteers are assigned to Tanzania, Ecuador, Thailand and Nicaragua. In 2006, CRC anticipates doubling the number of volunteers it can place and expanding the countries to which volunteers can be assigned. CRC is always interested in securing extended funding in order to help support the volunteer program and place more individuals on assignment. Currently the Coastal Resources Center (CRC) is working on a program in Thailand, which will help coastal communities to "build back better" and re-establish equitable and sustainable livelihoods. The villages will serve as a demonstration of best practices in hazard prevention and mitigation; how to rebuild sustainable and diversified coastal livelihoods following natural disasters; and how integrated coastal management (ICM) processes can guide community planning and the establishment of community-based fisheries co-management regimes. The Program also promotes equity objectives and reconciliation since the villages are predominantly Muslim and economically disadvantaged. Other areas of southern Thailand have witnessed the growth of a terrorist movement caused in part by inequities across religious groups. CRC plans on using professional volunteers in all aspects of the Tsunami relief project. Currently CRC has two volunteers from the Crisis Corp working in Thailand and plans on expanding this to include other professionals in the next year or two.