News Archive

On 4 September 2025, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries held the MSPglobal Online Conference: 2.0 Closing & 3.0 Kick-off. The event report is now available for download.

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The conference reviewed the...

Following the Netherlands' request on cumulative impact assessment (CIA) on behalf of the Greater North Sea Basin Initiative (GNSBI), the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) published a special request advice report providing a review of selected CIA methods and applications

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This report examines how EU Member States involved stakeholders in Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) during the first implementation phase of the MSP Directive.

The study was commissioned to understand differences in stakeholder consultation approaches between Member States and identify good practices going forward. It surveyed...

The Northern European Sea Basins project (NESBp) is running two important surveys, and invites all MSP experts, practitioners, and stakeholders to share their opinions. The results of these surveys will help to develop and shape future project deliverables within the Northern European Sea Basins project.

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The Coastal & Marine Union (EUCC) has published Volume 30, No. 1 of its Coastal & Marine magazine, focusing on the energy transition in the North Sea region. This publication, funded by the European Union's NextGenerationEU programme, brings together insights from researchers, policymakers, and industry...

The Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership (under Horizon Europe) has launched its third joint transnational call, titled “Digitalisation and Innovation for Resilient Marine Ecosystems, Businesses, and Communities to Strengthen the EU Blue Economy’s Competitiveness.”

The call funds 36-month transnational R&I projects addressing one of the following...

The EMFAF-funded project presents its results to nearly 100 attendees who participated in interactive workshops developed by ReMAP as part of MSP Data Week 2025 in Helsinki, Finland.

The ReMAP project, dedicated to developing digital tools to strengthen the monitoring and evaluation of...

After two decades of negociations, the High Seas Treaty, formally known as the "Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction" (BBNJ), has reached the milestone of 60 ratifications, triggering its entry into force. The treaty aims to protect marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, which...

MSPglobal 2.0 marked its completion and MSPglobal 3.0 was launched during an online conference on 4 September 2025. 322 participants from 123 countries (x continents) joined to reflect on the new publications delivered under MSPglobal 2.0 and to get a sneak peek into the...

The official Dutch energy infrastructure plan for the North Sea, the Wind and Infrastructure Plan North Sea (Windenergie Infrastructuurplan Noordzee - WIN), has been published by the Dutch Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth.

More information is available here (in Dutch)

The workshop on Climate-Smart Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) for Future Uses&Needs of the Seas, held on March 27 and organised by the European Commission (DG MARE) and the EU MSP Assistance Mechanism, gathered experts to discuss making MSP more climate-resilient.

Access the workshop report here...

The North Sea Energy programm recently published a white paper "Towards a Synergistic Multi-Use in the North Sea" that explores the concept of offshore multi-use of space in the North Sea, focusing on how various human activities and MPAs can coexist synergistically.

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MarinePlan is an EU-Horizon funded project that aims to assess how to foster Ecosystem-Based Marine Spatial Planning in multiple European study sites. The project is interested examining how Marine Spatial Planning and Marine Protected Area processes are managed in existing governance regimes, what governance challenges...

This report published by the GROW consortium aims to promote multifunctional use of offshore wind farms in the Netherlands. It outlines a vision for integrating multiple marine uses within offshore wind farms in the Netherlands. The roadmap aims to support the development of a sustainable...