Moderator:
Alda Nikodemusa, Deputy Head of VASAB Secretariat

Due to more intensive usage of the sea space there is a growing demand to know resources of ecosystems as well as social, cultural and economy aspects we are dealing with. All these topics are crucial for sustainable MSP. The working session will focus on forward looking adaptive planning of marine space, transnational MSP, bottom up marine management, marine protected areas, coastal planning and MSP geography, process and governance from the researchers perspective.

Presentations and speakers:

• Geography, Process, and Governance: future needs for MSP by Helena Colado, University of the Azores Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources
• Towards adaptive planning of marine space – from theory to practice by Robert Aps, University of Tartu
• Setting the scene for transnational MSP – Conceptions in the Baltic Sea and North Sea Region by Malena Ripken, Centre for Environment and Sustainability Research University of Oldenburg
• Findings of Baltic Coast project! by Gerald Schernewski, Head of Coastal and Marine Management group, Leibniz-Institute for Baltic Sea Research
• Genetic biodiversity in Baltic Sea Marine Protected Areas: a study of policy, implementation and platforms for knowledge transfer by Annica Sandström and Carina Lundmark, Luleå University of Technology
• Supporting marine management from the bottom up by Jacqueline F Tweddle, MarCRF Research Fellow in Marine Spatial Management at the University of Aberdeen and Marine Scotland Scienc

Moderator: Talis Linkaits, Head of VASAB Secretariat

Two working sessions were dedicated to very practical examples of how maritime spatial planning is applied in practice in the Baltic Sea region countries and in other European sea basins. High level practitioners shared their experience from cases all around the Europe covering various topics – e.g. imbedding MSP in the national planning system, strategic approaches, transboundary challenges, stakeholder involvement, achievements and failures so far.

Presentations and speakers for the 1st session:

• Social network analysis and possibilities for transboundary MSP. Case of Adriatic Sea by Marija Lazić, Maritime Spatial Planner, MSc, Waterway Transportation Organisation and Infrastructure Planner, B/MSc
• MSP activities in Black sea area and achievements of MARSPLAN-BS project by Laurenta Alexandrov and Alina-Daiana Spinu, MSP experts, National Institute of Marine Research and Development “G.Antipa”, Constanta
• Belgium case by Steven Vandenborre, Attaché senior Jurist Marien Milieu
• The past two years of MSP in Estonia: the good, the bad, the ugly by Anni Konsap, Adviser of Spatial Planning Department at Ministry of Finance, Estonia

Moderator: Johanna Egerup, Senior Adviser at Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management

Maritime Spatial Planning sets a new order for how planning issues are dealt with. Instead of only single-sector planning, a holistic perspective and an open process of dealing with all interests at sea are introduced. Defence is an established use of the sea claiming vast areas that are well known, but also classified areas, and defence requirements can be difficult to handle within the long-term time horizon of MSP.

In this working session the pros and cons of MSP in a defence perspective were discussed:

• The open process of MSP versus the secrecy need of national defence.
• From separate planning issues at sea to the holistic perspective of MSP – how does it affect the interest of national defence?

Presentations and speakers:

• From separate planning issues at sea to the holistic perspective of MSP – how does it affect the interest of national defence? by Camilla Bramer, Urban planner, team leader of spatial planning at Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters, Infrastructure department
• Defence interests in MSP context by Ilona Ekmane, Deputy Head of Civil-military Cooperation Section at Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia and by Vera Solovjova, Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia
• Issues arising in ongoing MSP processes by Eva Rosenhall, Senior Adviser at Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management and by planner from another country´s MSP process – e.g. DE
• “The open process of MSP versus the secrecy need of national defence” and how national defence has been handled in a MSP process by Nerijus Blažauskas, Senior researcher, Coastal Research and Planning Institute, Klaipeda University

Moderator: Johanna Egerup, Senior Adviser at Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management

This session discussed obstacles and enablers for planning across national borders as identified in the first project bringing together authorities in charge of MSP working in the Baltic Sea – Baltic SCOPE.

Participants got acquainted with planners’ experiences from concrete transboundary collaboration. Also, what researchers and planners in the project have learned about how to monitor and evaluate transboundary planning collaboration, in order to follow and improve transboundary processes.

Presentation.

Speakers:

• Michael Kull and Andrea Morf, Baltic SCOPE lessons learned, Senior Research Fellows at Nordregio (Nordic Centre for Spatial Development)
• Riku Varjopuro, Baltic SCOPE monitoring & evaluation framework, Head of unit at the Finnish Environment Institute, Environmental Policy Centre, Interactive Governance Unit
• Hannah Thomas,Senior Programme Officer of the Marine Programme, United Nations Environment Programme – World Conservation Monitoring Centre
• Anni Konsap,Advisor of the Planning Department at the Estonian Ministry of Finance
• Jan Schmidtbauer Crona, Senior Analyst at Swedish Agency of Marine and Water Management
• Wesley Flannery, Lecturer in the School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering (SPACE) and Institute of Environmental and Spatial Planning (ISEP) at Queen’s University, Belfast

Moderators: Kira Gee and Andreas Kannen, Helmholtz Zentrum Geesthacht, ICES Working Group for Marine Planning and Coastal Zone Management

Understanding what is valued by people in a marine context is important to mitigate potential conflicts between uses. The ICES Working Group for Marine Planning and Coastal Zone Management has developed a method for identifying places of cultural importance on the coast and in the sea. Termed the “culturally significant areas (CSA) concept”, this approach establishes what is valued by people, where these values are located, when in time they are relevant and to whom. Once identified, CSAs can be subjected to a risk management approach, based on establishing the key qualities that are needed to sustain each CSA and the risks that various developments might pose to these qualities.

This workshop presented the concept of CSAs as well as some pilot applications, with the intention of discussing whether and how the approach might be incorporated into actual MSP processes and decision-making.

The aim was to discuss the opportunities and constraints of the CSA approach as perceived by practitioners, helping to develop the concept further and move it towards an operational phase. The works session will have short initial presentations followed by guided group discussions and a summary plenary discussion.

Presentation.

Work session structure:

• The CSA concept – origins and key principles
• Applying the CSA concept in practice – a case study from the UK
• Mapping Cultural Ecosystem Services and CSA – a case study from Sweden
• Group discussion round 1: Practical opportunities and constraints of the CSA concept from the perspective of planners
• Group discussion round 2: How would the application of the CSA concept work in MSP practice?
• Presentation to the plenary and summary discussion.

Presenters and facilitators:
Kira Gee, Andreas Kannen, Christian Fischer

Moderator: Talis Linkaits, Head of VASAB Secretariat

Two working sessions were dedicated to very practical examples of how maritime spatial planning is applied in practice in the Baltic Sea region countries and in other European sea basins. High level practitioners will share their experience from cases all around the Europe covering various topics – e.g. imbedding MSP in the national planning system, strategic approaches, transboundary challenges, stakeholder involvement, achievements and failures so far.

Presentations and speakers for the 2nd session:

• MSP approaches in the Basque Country (Bay of Biscay, NE Atlantic) by Kemal Pinarbasi, Marine Spatial Planner, PhD Scholar in AZTI, Spain
• Cross-border cooperation in the Celtic Sea area and intended activities of the SIMCelt project by Joseph Ansong Onwona and Celia Le Lievre, Marine and Renewable Energy Ireland Centre, University College Cork
• Croatian spatial planning system and strategic approach to MSP by Vesna Marohnić-Kuzmanović, Head of Department at Croatian Institute for Spatial Development
• Latvian case by Ingūna Urtāne, Director of Spatial Planning Department of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development

Moderator: Angela Schultz-Zehden, Contract lead manager

Funded by DG MARE, the EU MSP Platform is a service for Member States to share relevant knowledge and experiences on MSP. It acts as the central exchange forum for MSP processes and projects.

The working session presented opportunities provided on the EU MSP Platform website and the additional services that the Platform offers. The website features extensive searchable databases on MSP practices, projects, and funding programmes, as well as training opportunities and a continuously updated events page.

You will also find comprehensive information on the status and content of MSP in the Member States and a description of MSP in the European sea basins. The Platform is based on a personal approach and operated via a dedicated team of experts with offices in all European sea-basins.

Platform experts from the various sea-basins presented the status MSP in their sea basins with focus on what those can offer as ‘good practice’ to the MSP processes in the Baltic Sea Region as well as vice versa would be interested to ‘gain’ from the Baltic Sea Region.

Presentations and speakers:

• Introduction into the MSP Platform and the related service offer by Angela Schultz-Zehden, Contract lead manager
• Resources on MSP from the Baltic Sea by Susanne Altvater, s.Pro – sustainable projects GmbH
• MSP in the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean by Stephen Jay, University of Liverpool and Lucy Greenhill, Scottish Association for Marine Science
• MSP in the Black Sea by Laura Alexandrov, NIMRD
• MSP in the Mediterranean Sea by Emiliano Ramieri, Thetis and by Javier Fernandez, Ecorys Madrid

Moderator: Didzis Ustups, Head of Laboratory at Marine Division, Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment

Fishing constitutes a traditional activity at sea and is likely to be affected by other new or expanded uses of the sea demanding space. Fishery in the Baltic Sea is transboundary while most of the fish stocks are located in Pan-Baltic level. In the session fishery biologists, marine planning experts and stakeholders discussed national and Pan-Baltic level planning experience and challenges to illustrate fishery interest in MSP. Different approaches (logbook, Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data) were presented from previous studies and recommendations for the Baltic Sea MSP were discussed.

Presentations and speakers:

• Latvian, Estonian and Swedish approach to catch fish and fishery in national MSP by Didzis Ustups, Roberts Aps, Terje Selnes, BalticSCOPE project
• VMS – a tool to illustrate a fishing activities by Maksims Kovšars, Member of ICES WG on Spatial Fisheries Data (WGSFD)
• Fisheries as integral part of MSP – first steps by Jochen Lamp, WWF-Germany

Moderator: Jan Schmidtbauer Crona, Senior Analyst at Swedish Agency of Marine and Water Management

The session gave an inspiration, methods and examples of how you can implement the ecosystem approach (aka ecosystem based approach) in maritime spatial planning. After a brief background on the roots of the approach the tools developed in the Baltic SCOPE project were presented. Concrete examples were given from the national level including presentations from Latvian and Swedish MSP. Input to the discussion on the application of the ecosystem approach were provided from a German research project.

The aim was to develop a deeper understanding and prepare for action.

Presentations and speakers:

• Introduction and background to the Ecosystem Approach in MSP by Jan Schmidtbauer Crona, Senior Analyst Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management
• The Ecosystem Approach made simple – Ecosystem Approach-checklists from the Baltic SCOPE project by Jan Schmidtbauer Crona, Senior Analyst Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management
• The Ecosystem Approach in Latvian MSP by Anda Ruskule, Senior MSP Practitioner at Baltic Environmental Forum (BEF)
• Symphony- a cumulative assessment tool for MSP by Linus Hammar, Senior Analyst Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management
• The Ecosystem Approach in MSP: options and challenges by Kerstin Schiele, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde Biological Oceanography

Moderator: Michael Gilek, Professor at Södertörn University

MSP implementation in the Baltic Sea is diverse! One sea – nine countries – different geo-physical conditions, planning cultures, time-horizons, sea use situations, national interests, extents of power decentralisation and institutional arrangements. Within this diverse sea basin wide context a key ambition of MSP is to work towards greater cooperation to support more coherency of sea use in pursuit of sustainable marine use. This is harder said than done and will require different types of collaboration among a wide range of actors to ensure a cohesive approach. In BONUS BALTSPACE project we call these integration challenges.

The following types of integration challenges have been identified: Transboundary / cross-border integration, sector & policy integration, stakeholder integration and knowledge integration.

Project partners explore in five case studies in what way integration manifests itself in MSP processes as well as what are the enablers and constraints for integration. When thinking about these particular cases also reflect on the relationships between the integration challenges and how they affect prospects for sustainable development (ecological, social and economic) of the sea:

• MSP cooperation at a pan-Baltic sea-basin level
• Lithuanian-Latvian cross-border MSP interactions
• Federalism and MSP in Germany
• Transboundary and cross-sector MSP interactions in the Sound, Sweden and Denmark
• Fisheries stakeholders and conflicts linked to MSP in Poland

Presenation.

Speakers:

• Anne Luttmann, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW)
• Nerijus Blažauskas, Coastal Research and Planning Institute (CORPI)
• Kira Gee, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht
• Andrea Morf, Swedish Institute for the Marine Environment
• Jacek Zaucha, Chairman of VASAB Committee on Spatial Planning and Development of the Baltic Sea Region
• Jakub Turski, Maritime Institute in Gdansk

Moderator: Angela Schultz-Zehden, SUBMARINER & EU MSP Platform

Maritime cultural heritage (MCH) is often seen as an obstacle for regional or sectorial development instead of perceiving it as a common resource for Blue Growth. The Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) processes create a new opportunity for facilitating a joint understanding among stakeholders. At the same time this requires MCH experts to learn how to express their needs in ‘spatial’ terms and to find adequate planning criteria. Within this session, the EUBSR flagship project ‘MCH-MSP’ is presented, which is in the 2nd stage of the BSR Interreg Programme application. The project shall lead to the provision of quality information and planning evidence on MCH assets and areas for MSP processes.

Presentations and speakers:

• Welcome and introduction by Angela Schultz-Zehden, SUBMARINER & EU MSP Platform
• Update on MCH and MSP – what is going on in the European sea basins? by Susanne Altvater, s.Pro – sustainable projects GmbH
• Underwater cultural heritage – opportunities to use synergies and current political framework by Sallamaria Tikkanen, National Board of Antiquities, Finland
• Case Study in Finland by Frank Hering, Regional Council of Kymenlaakso
• The MCH-MSP INTERREG project: Project objectives, related activities and expected outputs by Matthias Maluck, State Archaeological Department of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Moderator: Anda Ruskule, Environmental expert, Spatial Planning Department, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (MoEPRD)

Marine protected areas (MPA) network is the core mechanism for protection of marine biodiversity through designating suitable areas for protection of nature values and by managing human activities within those areas. The coherence of MPA network is characterised by its connectivity (i.e. functional interconnection between the sites and conditions for spreading of species) as well as the representativeness of species and habitat coverage. MSP can serve as important tool for improving the connectivity through regulation of the sea uses activities as well as identification of areas of high ecological value to be included in the network.

The topics for discussion:

• The role of MSP in development of a coherent MPA network
• Potentials for pan-Baltic co-operation on building common evidence base for extending of the MPA network and ensuring environmental interests within MSP
• Co-ordination of the management requirements between MPAs and MSP

Presentations and speakers:

• Introduction to session and key findings from the Baltic Scope project on preconditions for building coherent MPA network in the Baltic Sea by Anda Ruskule, MoEPRD, Latvia
• HELCOM work on development of Baltic MPA network by Markku Viitasalo, Research Professor at SYKE, Finland
• Development of MPA network in Latvia – role of MSP and plans for further investigations by Ingrīda Puriņa, Senior researcher, Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology
• Swedish interlinks between MPA development and MSP by Jan Schmidtbauer Crona, Senior Analyst Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management
• Planning for implementation – roles of MSP and sectoral management of MPAs in a planning process by Jochen Lamp, WWF, Germany

Moderators: Áslaug Ásgeirsdóttir, associate professor, Bates College, Politics
Michael Gilek, Professor at Södertörn University, School of Natural Science, Technology and Environmental Studies Centre for Baltic and East European Studies
Riku Varjopuro, Head of Interactive Governance Unit, Finnish Environment Institute, Environmental Policy Centre

Maritime spatial planning process aims at coordinating human activities at sea with objectives to foster growth of marine economies, prevent conflicts and protect the health of marine ecosystems. A maritime spatial plan that is an output of the process expresses in spatial terms the decisions reached in the process. Research on spatial planning on land has shown that effectiveness of spatial planning, especially of the more general and strategic types of planning, is prone to several uncertainties. To reach the objectives MSP process and its outputs should steer decision-making of public and private actors in various sectors of economy and administration. In other words, the effectiveness of spatial planning comes from the ability of the participants to coordinate activities through the interaction of different bureaucracies, while there seldom is one actor with direct means to ensure implementation. There are also limitations on what sort of decisions can be expressed in spatial terms.

This working session explored how MSP can influence decision making procedures to facilitate coordination of marine activities.

Presentations and speakers:

• MSP as part of broader marine governance by Dr.Katrine Soma, University of Wageningen, LEI Wageningen
• Joint findings on institutional integration from the Baltic Sea MSP cases, by Riku Varjopuro, Head of Interactive Governance Unit, Finnish Environment Institute, Environmental Policy Centre and by Michael Gilek, Professor at Södertörn University, School of Natural Science, Technology and Environmental Studies Centre for Baltic and East European Studies

Moderator: Elina Veidemane, VASAB Secretariat, project manager

Successful implementation of MSP depends on good quality data and information, as this has already widely acknowledged at the EU and Baltic Sea Region policy and project level. Data quality, accessibility and availability are crucial when considering transboundary context where consistent use of data is an important prerequisite for creating a coherent network of maritime spatial plans.

Data workshop presented to wider audience the findings of MSP Data Study within the EU MSP Platform framework, as well as the first outcomes of BSR MSP Data group. The workshop concluded by examples of current practice and discussions about what would be the relevant solution for data harmonisation in the Baltic Sea region.

Presentations and speakers:

• European sea basin perspectives on MSP data issues by Bronwyn Cahill, s.Pro – sustainable projects GmbH
• Towards Improved Data Availability in the Baltic Sea Region by Katarzyna Krzywda, Chair of BSR MSP Data Expert group
• National Approach in Data Exchange – Danish Maritime Spatial Data Infrastructure by Jens Peter W.Hartmann, Danish Geodata Agency
• We have a dream: a common MSP Data Infrastructure – Baltic LINes project by Manuel Frias Vega, HELCOM Secretariat

Moderator: Lodewijk Abspoel, Senior policy advisor MSP and EU IMP, Netherlands ministry for Infrastructure and the Environment, DG spatial development and water affairs

Activities at sea are 10 times more expensive than on land. Below the water surface: a 100 times. Time to take this into consideration when using maritime spatial planning (MSP) for tapping into blue growth potentials. In particular when looking at the energy transition. Maritime spatial development is of course sustainable and looks at the business side of the use of our seas. Best way to get a feel is to get your feet wet and hands out of the pockets. This working session therefore features a MSP challenge game to help you discover more about maritime spatial development and its’ potential for sustainable blue growth.