In March 2012, K&W Senior Director/Senior Mediator Eric Poncelet was invited to participate in a workshop in the Cook Islands to help initiate planning for a one million square kilometer marine park. The workshop involved Cook Islands officials and resource managers as well as marine spatial planning experts from the Europe, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, and the United States. Eric presented on the stakeholder engagement component of marine spatial planning and provided lessons learned from other projects, including California’s recently completed marine protected area planning process.