An early decision of the original partners of ICRI was to sponsor an international workshop focused on coral reefs. In anticipation of the workshop, the ICRI partners work to produce a "Call to Action". The purpose was to provide broad principles wich could be used to unify the participants in a partnership and set the direction for the workshop. Participants in the Dumaguete workshop provided additional insights leading to consensus approval of the "Call to Action" at the workshop.
The international ICRI workshop was held at Dumaguete City, the Philippines from May 29 through June 2, 1995. The intent of the workshop was to enable nations, donors and funding agencies, development organizations, NGOs, the research community and the private sector to work together in order to develop a "Framework for Action" for coral reefs which responds to the "Call to Action".
The Dumaguete Workshop recommended that all regions of the world meet to prepare specific action agendas based on specific circumstances in each region. So, between June 1995 and September 1997, seven regional workshops were held throughout the world: