The Nippon Foundation and the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans are starting to create a network of former scholars of their joint programmes on capacity building. The global network is called the NF-POGO Alumni Network for Oceans (NANO) and is organised into Regional Coalitions.

The aims of the network are to:

- Maximize the benefits to the alumni from the training they have received;

- Facilitate active contacts among the alumni and with the training faculty;

- Promote joint research activities that will build on the training.

The first steps in building the Alumni Network were:

- Construction of a database of NF-POGO former scholars, i.e. scholars from the Centre of Excellence in Bermuda, the Centre of Excellence Regional Training Programme in Brazil, and the Visiting Professorship Training Programmes in India, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Brazil, Tunisia and Vietnam. This is well underway, with 108 entries as of Sept 2011.

- Creation of a new website for the network that acts as a repository for the alumni database and facilitates the exchange of information and ideas between alumni. This can be found at http://www.nf-pogo-alumni.org.

- Network Meeting that took place in Abingdon from 26 to 28 September 2011.

To get in touch with POGO regarding this Network, please e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (POGO Secretariat), This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  (Regional Coordinator for Latin America) or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (Regional Coordinator for Europe/Africa).