eMSP NBSR Project Days September 6 & 7, 2022

September 2022 marks one year in eMSP NBSR project and after summer new energetic season was launched by partners in Åland during two Project Days.

It took partners the whole day of September 6 to update and discuss progress among all five Learning Strands and Scientific Advisory Board. In the morning warm up the method of Community of Practice was discussed in the express workshop – various hindering and enabling forces relevant for Maritime Spatial Planning were elaborated. Later essential in-depth discussions on climate & ecosystem smart as well as socially aware Maritime Spatial Planning took place as the project is aiming to get specific in the address of  climate change and climate-neutrality targets of EU Green Deal.

In the end of the day new project MSP4BIO  “Improved Science-Based Maritime Spatial Planning to Safeguard and Restore Biodiversity in A Coherent European MPA Network”  was presented. The project is led by s.Pro – sustainable projects/SUBMARINER Network (under Horizon Europe Framework Programme). Some preliminary connection points between both projects (eMSP and MSP4BIO) were sketched as the project MSP4BIO announces to develop and demonstrates the ways in which knowledge-based MSP can become a vehicle and a tool for the protection and recovery of marine ecosystems. The project takes the collaborative approach to address coherent implementation of the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, Convention on Biological Diversity post-2020 framework, and EU Green Deal.

September 7 continued eMSP NBSR Project Days with several site visits with focuses on researching marine and coastal environment & governance of local communities: project partners visited Government of Aland (Åland Landskapsregering) and joined the presentation about Sunnanvind offshore wind farm project as well as visited Husö Biological Station of Åbo Akademi University.

Save the date for Community of Practice on Sustainable Blue Economy – the 30th of November in Den Haag, Netherlands (for more info click here).

Next Project Day to be announced soon!

Prepared by Margarita Vološina (VASAB Secretariat) September, 2022