With the theme, Facing the challenges of the 21st century, for the second time this year, the Aurora Marine Research and Development Institute held its Strategic Planning at AMCO Beach Resort, Baler, Aurora last July 31 to August 2, 2013.

As a part of the program of activities, on the first day, AMRDI Executive Director Dr. Miguel Fortes along with the consultants from different components went to Governor Gerardo Noveras, Vice Governor Rommel Angara and Baler Mayor Nelianto Bihasa for a courtesy call.

Dr. Fortes also laid forth the plans of AMRDI for the province and the officials were delighted and promised to support these projects.

The next day served as the opening ceremony for the Strategic Planning Workshop. After the ceremony, the participants were separated in to groups according to their respective components. The teams were tasked to come up with a long term aspiration and mission for the AMRDI which focus on the utopian or ideal outcome. They were also asked to list down the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the institution in a SWOT analysis.

A plenary discussion was held the next day. It focuses on the specific actions on critical issues such as Staff development, integration of research components and outcome, Public engagement programs, increasing productivity, improving visibility and autonomy of the institute.

After the discussion, the participants were again separated to finalize their line item budget for later half of the year. The program ended with the presentation of the highlights of the event and a closing remarks.