The Offshore Coalition for Energy and Nature (OCEaN) has published its new report "Shared Seas, Shared Decisions: Stakeholder Engagement in Offshore Wind and Grid Planning", providing a comprehensive overview of stakeholder engagement approaches across Europe's Northern and Baltic Seas.
The report addresses a critical and timely question: as offshore wind and grid infrastructure expands rapidly in increasingly crowded and ecologically sensitive marine spaces, how can planning processes meaningfully involve coastal communities, fishers, conservationists, and other sea users? It is particularly relevant in light of the ongoing revision of the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive expected under the future European Ocean Act.
It examines stakeholder engagement both at the MSP level and at the project level, where concrete decisions on design, routing, and community benefits are made. The report highlights that these two levels are connected but not interchangeable, and that better alignment between them is essential for transparent, inclusive, and effective planning.
The report draws on desk research and interviews conducted in 2025 and 2026 with OCEaN members and stakeholders from across Europe, and presents a rich selection of inspiring national practices from Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Finland, Ireland, Germany, Scotland, and the UK. It concludes with ten principles to guide public authorities, project developers, grid operators, and civil society in designing engagement processes that are timely, inclusive, transparent, and connected across planning levels.