OceanPlan - ​Marine Spatial Planning under a Changing Climate.

Funding Programme: 
Scientific Research and Technological Development (SR&TD) Project Grants – Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)
Funding Programme: 
National
Sea Basin(s): 
Atlantic
Countries: 
Portugal
Status: 
Completed
Completion Year: 
2022
Practices: 
Major challenges in developing marine spatial planning.
Governance prospects for Maritime Spatial Planning in the tropical Atlantic compared to EU case studies
Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PGIS): Alternative approaches to identify potential conflicts and positional accuracy in marine and coastal ecosystem services
Website/Source: 

https://www.oceanplan-project.com/

Contact Person(s): 

Project coordinator:

Catarina Frazão Santos

cfsantos@fc.ul.pt

 

Project Implementation Period: 
October 2018 - September 2022
Specific Funding Programme: 

FCT under grant agreement PTDC/CTA-AMB/30226/2017.

Budget: 

Amount funded: € 239,127.96

About the Project: 

The OceanPlan project is a 3-year research project that investigates how Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) can be affected by and adapt to global climate change. ​​The project is funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), and is led by an international team of scientists with expertise on both climate change and MSP.
MSP is being developed and implemented worldwide as a way to foster sustainability in ocean management and use. It deals with the spatial and temporal distribution of human uses in marine areas, striving to minimize conflicts and foster compatibilities among such uses, as well as between uses and the environment. ​On top of many challenges MSP already faces (i.e. political, socioeconomic, environmental), in the near-future, it will need to deal with a changing climate. Properly incorporating climate change into the MSP framework will allow better preparedness, improved response capacity and, ultimately, a reduced vulnerability of marine socio-ecological systems.

OceanPlan will address this important scientific and societal topic through six main work packages (WPs):

  •      WP1. Conceptual model on MSP vulnerability to climate change; ​
  • ​     WP2. Vulnerability assessment at selected case studies; 
  •      WP3. Operational approaches to adapt to a changing ocean;
  •      WP4. Integration of climate change dimension in MSP initiatives and policies;
  •      WP5. Guidelines for MSP under a changing climate;
  •      WP6. Dissemination and communication actions.

Partner institutions

  • Marine and Environmental Sciences Center (MARE), (PT);
  • FCiências.ID (University of Lisbon), (PT);
  • NOVA School of Business and Economics (New University of Lisbon), (PT);
  • Fundação Gaspar Frutuoso (University of the Azores), (PT);
  • Ocean Visions Consulting (FR);
  • IOC-UNESCO (FR);
  • Alfred Wegener Institute (DE);
  • University Iuav of Venice (IT);
  • ​Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment (USA);
  • Stanford University, Hopkins Marine Station (USA);
  • Sound Seas (USA).