The main outcome of this kick-off meeting is that the project partners are confident that the aims of the project can be achieved. They expect that Baltic SCOPE will result in common solutions, i.e. plans that match each other, not necessarily in the same solutions. Relations to neighbouring countries will be strengthened through the cross-border consultation processes. Furthermore, national consultations processes will be improved as cooperation with national (governmental) stakeholders is a core part of Baltic SCOPE.

The partners identified also a number of challenges. First of all, the timeframe of the Baltic SCOPE project (24 months) is rather short. Therefore, it must be ensured that the project activities stay focused and are in line with the application. Secondly, the fact that national planning processes differ (with regard to implementation stage, planning culture, legislation, etc.) may make cross-border cooperation difficult. Finally, Baltic SCOPE focuses on facilitating cross-border cooperation between the countries and sectors involved and seeks for coherence between national MSPs.

Although BSR countries are at different stages with regard to MSP implementation, this can also be viewed as a plus, since countries may benefit from each other’s’ different experiences. As planners are not mandated to make final decisions on actual plans, planners within the project should see themselves as a group of planning experts that take national interests into account, but not as country representatives. The outcomes of Baltic SCOPE will feed into the work of the HELCOM-VASAB MSP working group and into national MSP processes.

FILE DOWNLOAD

PRESENTATIONS

Introduction – Baltic SCOPE

Southwest Baltic Case

Introduction – Central Baltic Case

Maritime Spatial Plan in Latvia

Introduction – Monitoring and evaluation framework

PHOTO GALLERY