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Analysis of national & regional strategies with relevance for the maritime space of a given country

Abstract:

Within the BaltSeaPlan project, an analysis has been undertaken for each Baltic Sea region country of all relevant policies and strategies which are currently in force in the given country that may have an influence on its sea space (Reports No 1-7). Report no 6 is dealing with the Russian maritime space. The assessments show how strong is their impact, whether policies are compatible and which staregies / policies miss a maritime space dimension. As a result recommendations are developed on how to strengthen the MSP relatd aspects within national maritime policies. Report No 8 "Implications of the international and national policy context for Baltic Sea space and MSP" provides an overview of policies, trends and strategies that will influence the use of the Baltic Sea space in the next years.

Application in MSP:
Type of Issue:
Type of practice:
Stage of MSP cycle:
Cross-border / trans-national aspect:
Yes
Coherence with other processes:
Key words:

Questions this practice may help answer

  • How can the compatibility of MSP and other relevant policies / strategies be assessed?
  • How compatible are relevant policies / strategies of Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden with MSP (as of 2012)?
  • How can national maritime policies in the respective countries be aligned?
  • What international policies / strategies influence MSP in the Baltic Sea Region?

Aspects / Objectives

In the scope of the BaltSeaPlan project, reports on relevant policies and strategies and their impact on sea space were made for Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden. Report No 8 "Implications of the international and national policy context for Baltic Sea space and MSP" provides an overview of policies, trends and strategies that will influence the use of the Baltic Sea space in the next years.

Method

For each country, national, sub-national as well as European documents with relevance for MSP were listed. The scope of documents includes sector, nature protection, development as well as cohesion and structural policies / strategies.  The impact on MSP of the policies / strategies was evaluated and their main objectives / priorities were identified and assessed against their impact (strong or weak as well as direct, medium or indirect) on sea space.

The findings for the individual policies / strategies were synthesised in compatibility assessments of national policies. In a first step, the existence of policies / strategies with a potential or de-facto impact on sea space was indicated for the different governance level, revealing which policies / strategies are not or only insufficiently tackling the spatial maritime dimension. In a second step, consequences for MSP were analysed for policies / strategies with a strong as well as direct or medium impact on sea space. Thirdly, potential spatial conflicts of the respective policies / strategies as well as possible responses of MSP were suggested.

In an overall synthesis, recommendations for national maritime policies were developed.

In addition to the national report, a study was made, which analysed the implications of sector and nature protection policies (national and transnational) for MSP at sea-basin level.

Main Outputs / Results

National reports for Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden.

The report on the implications of the international and national policy context for Baltic Sea space and MSP served as a background paper for the BaltSeaPlan Vision 2030.

Transferability

The analytical method of how to assess relevant national and regional strategies / policies and, thereby, make visibible gaps relevant for MSP can be transferred to other countries and repeated across time.

Contact Person

Jacek Zaucha

Maritime Institute in Gdansk

Email: jzauchaatim.gda.pl

 

Responsible Entities

German report: Federal Maritime and Hydrogrpahic Agency (BSH), Ministry of Energy, Infrastructure and Regional Development of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, WWF Germany

Latvian report: Baltic Environmental Forum, Latvia

Lithuanian report: Klaipeda University Coastal Research and Planning Institute

Polish report: Maritime Institute in Gdansk

Russian report: Russian State Hydrometeorological University, RF Minstry of Natural Resources, BaltTechMorDirectsiya, Centre for Transboundary Cooperation

Swedish report: Swedish Institute for the Marine Environment

Baltic Sea report: Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht

Funding Source

Funding source: Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013