Question: An Underwater Meeting
On Saturday October 17, 2009, forty-two year old, democratically elected President Mohammad Nasheed of the Maldives invited his 13 officials to a cabinet meeting: the world's first underwater governmental meeting. The meeting "room" was in a lagoon off Girifushi, in the North Male atoll, and the ministers dove 20 feet (6 meters) to meet around a horseshoe-shaped table on the sea floor. The Maldives, located southwest of Sri Lanka, is an Indian Ocean archipelago, whose 1,192 islands stretch for 850 kilometers (530 miles). The Maldivian islands are on average only 2 meters (7 feet) above sea level, and they comprise the lowest-lying nation on the planet. The meeting agenda highlighted how global warming was threatening the disappearance of the Maldives within a century.
In 2007, data about this threat were confirmed by the United Nation (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, warning that a rise in sea levels of 18 to 59 centimeters (7 to 23 inches) by 2100 would be enough to make the Maldives virtually uninhabitable. The decision made at the meeting was to sign off on an agreement for carbon emission cuts: "We must unite in a global effort to halt further temperature rises." The meeting took place prior to the United Nations climate change conference in December, in anticipation of the renegotiation of the Kyoto Protocol. The safety of the ministers was well considered; they held a dress rehearsal the day before; coral on the reef was checked for harmful creatures; participants communicated via hand signals to indicate they were okay. Instead of dressing in business suits, though, the 14 government ministers donned scuba diving gear and also wore name tags. Just as in every meeting, discussion took place, but here it was through writing on a special white board.
The meeting was broadcast live on television. Inhabitants on Kuda Huvadhoo island built a sealed box, put their television in it, and, following their governments' lead, dove to the depths to view the underwater meeting-underwater. Back on dry land, the cabinet ministers were to sign their wet suits for auctioning on the www.protectthemaldives.com Web site in a bid to raise money for protecting coral reefs. President Nasheed used the meeting venue as a publicity exercise to push for action so that his people can continue to live in the Maldives well into the future.
1. Identify the main function of the meeting.
2. Describe the communication process and distinguish between its formality and informality.
3. Identify barriers to effective communication in this meeting.