Logo Baltic MSP Forum_abgeschnittene Ränder2Workshop: MSP cases 1

Moderator: Talis Linkaits, VASAB secretariat

Presentations

  • Dutch MSP case: Lodewijk Abspoel, Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment of Netherlands – download
  • Lithuanian MSP case: Nerijus Blažauskas, Coastal Research and Planning Institute, Klaipeda University – download
  • Gulf of Bothnia/Quark area pilot case: Johnny Berglund, County Administrative Board of Västerbotten – download
  • Adriatic-Ionian Region/ADRIPLAN project: Francesco Musco, Associate Professor, Department of Design and Planning in Complex Environments, Iuav University of Venice – download

Workshop summary

The working session included presentations of several national MSP cases (Netherlands and Lithuania) as well as pilot cases of the Quark area in the Gulf of Bothnia and the EU DG MARE funded maritime spatial planning action ADRIPLAN for the Adriatic-Ionian Region. All cases underline the importance of stakeholder involvement and a thorough stocktaking of their needs.

_MG_0299The presentation on MSP process for 2050 in the Netherlands underlined the importance of communication during the preparation of the maritime spatial plan and the involvement of stakeholders. For the preparation of the North Sea 2050 vision a range of different actions and tools were prepared, starting from consultations with all relevant stakeholders, writing up a “North Sea story”, drawing maps, producing newspapers and finally producing a commercial-style movie on MSP. The stakeholder process should be politically guided. Visualisation of the issues as well as separation of facts from fiction is important.

_MG_0313In Lithuania, the official process of the extension of General Plan with marine solutions involved stocktaking, mapping, preparation of the concept for spatial distribution of maritime activities, reservation of areas for strategic national needs and prioritising uses in sea areas. Two alternatives of the concept were developed for discussion and SEA consultation. PartiSEApate contributed to the Lithuanian process through the element of cross-border consultations. The planning process was based on existing available data.

Pilot case in the Quark area was carried out by the SeaGIS project. The aim of the project was to increase the knowledge for MSP and create a common planning platform. A transregional GIS-based platform was created, which was also used for communication with stakeholders. The interest for MSP on local level was analysed in Finland and Sweden. Information about MSP was distributed to the general public. Thematic discussions were organized. However, their success was moderate, due to limited planning capacities in small municipalities.

The ADRIPLAN project is at the beginning stage only. It is an experiment/test on transnational MSP in the region, in particular because there is no legislation for MSP in place yet. The intention of the project is to identify stakeholder needs and priorities, elaborate transboundary planning options and finally prepare a planning proposal. This proposal could be developed further by official authorities after the end of the project. At the beginning, boundaries of transboundary planning areas were discussed. The region involves also non-EU countries without defined approach to MSP. Two specific pilot areas were selected for more detailed study. In the communication between planners and different stakeholders (for example marine biologists) finding a common language turned out to be difficult.

Video recording