Marine Spatial Planning Practice Research Articles

Integrating the Human Dimension in Marine Spatial Planning: Lessons from Karimunjawa National Park, Indonesia

Abstract Integrating the human dimension in Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) has been a primary challenge for MSP practices worldwide. One of the main issues in MSP is meaningful participation. However, there is an empirical gap regarding how participation functions and its relationship to achieving social sustainability goals. This paper aims to answer this question by studying MSP in Karimunjawa National Park, Indonesia. A qualitative descriptive research approach was used for the data collection and analysis. The results highlight that participation in Karimunjawa provides captivating alternatives in terms of participation, specifically in the areas of planning and management. We conclude that participation in management can mitigate the negative effects resulting from the lack of participation in planning, which may be constrained by factors such as knowledge and power gaps, as well as time limitations. The case-study findings also indicate that community responsibility towards the environment is closely related to their authority in regulating the utilisation of resources. Abstract in Bahasa Indonesia: rb.gy/edsvb7

Benthic bacterial communities indicate anthropogenic activity footprints in coastal area under long-term marine spatial planning practice

Benthic bacterial communities indicate anthropogenic activity footprints in coastal area under long-term marine spatial planning practice

Mainstreaming coastally just and equitable marine spatial planning: Planner and stakeholder experiences and perspectives on participation in Latvia

Community participation and influence are vitally important for meeting the multidimensional sustainability aims of marine spatial planning (MSP) and more specifically for procedural and distributive justice. While participation has received substantial research interest, we identify a need to: 1) develop equity-based principles for coastal community participation that can be used to assess and reform MSP practices; 2) generate rich empirical accounts of coastal community participation and representation linked to real-world MSP practices. Here we present the results of a study that synthesizes critical MSP and blue justice scholarship to develop principles and indicators of coastally equitable and just planning. Drawing on interviews with planners and stakeholders and analysis of planning and legal documents, these principles are used to assess participatory processes linked to Latvian MSP practices in the period 2015 to 2019. Our analysis shows that equitable and just MSP needs to be based on participation that is timely, inclusive, supportive & localized, collaborative, methodical and impactful. When applied to the Latvian case these six principles provide a comprehensive and versatile heuristic approach to assess participation in MSP. In the context of Latvian MSP practices, we revealed a fundamental challenge of maintaining inclusive and localized participation throughout the full planning cycle. To counteract the successive narrowing/hardening of participatory space our results indicate a need for continuously promoting diversity of voices and perspectives, opportunities for collaborative sense making, visioning and critique. This will help to bridge diverse MSP divides (e.g., between land and sea, between local, national, and global values and priorities, between science and local knowledge, and between blue growth, conservation, and justice goals). If applied more generally in research and as part of MSP evaluation an equity-based approach can promote the mainstreaming of coastally just and equitable MSP practices. Finally, considering contextual factors (e.g., history, culture, power, legislation) that shape participation and representation is crucial when applying the equity principles to a particular MSP setting to acknowledge and accommodate its particular characteristics and challenges.

Exploring the potential of theory-based evaluation to strengthen marine spatial planning practice

Marine spatial planning (MSP) is an approach to ocean management with an increasingly global reach. However, existing evaluation strategies have yet to ascertain the extent to which MSP achieves social, ecological, and economic goals to benefit coastal environments and human communities. Here, we experiment with a theory-based approach as a means of overcoming long-standing obstacles to MSP evaluation. We developed and applied an eight-step evaluation protocol to five diverse cases of MSP, focusing on the evaluative feasibility of the protocol as we moved from identifying objectives to assessing the sustainability of outcomes. We found evidence that theory-based evaluation (operationalized via theories of change) can bridge quantitative outcome and qualitative process evaluations, two essential approaches that on their own produce incomplete pictures of MSP. Our work suggests that a theory-based approach can enhance opportunities to incorporate diverse knowledge sources and data types into outcome evaluations and thus better capture complex social, political, and historical dimensions that are difficult to quantify but critical to MSP success. We also uncovered likely challenges to implementing theory-based evaluation for MSP, including the apparent data- and time-intensive nature of the approach. We found that applying theory-based evaluation is difficult for plans lacking well-defined goals, objectives, and intended outcomes and that increased documentation of planning motivations and the planning process are needed to rigorously evaluate MSP. Ultimately, we join others in the marine conservation and management fields who are optimistic about theory-based evaluation. Our evaluation protocol provides a first step towards a practical guide to accelerate the use of this assessment approach.

Exploring agenda-setting of offshore energy innovations: Niche-regime interactions in Dutch Marine Spatial Planning processes

The foreseen large-scale growth of offshore wind energy towards 2050 in pursuit of an energy transition obliges scholars and policymakers to start considering its integration in the wider offshore energy system. Both technological innovations and advances in spatial policy are necessary to facilitate offshore system integration. This study draws from agenda-setting theory to explore barriers and opportunities affecting the prioritization processes surrounding three offshore energy storage and transport concepts in Dutch marine spatial planning practice. The findings demonstrate that although various arenas for agenda-setting exist, they are geared to the input of established stakeholders, including the oil and gas and offshore wind sectors. Also, prioritization is hindered by a short-term (2030) governmental fixation and long-term institutional ambiguity. Therefore, supportive institutions are needed, providing regulatory certainty and reliable incentive mechanisms, whilst remaining adaptive to address imminent uncertainties, in pursuit of system integration needed for an energy transition.

A two way process – Social capacity as a driver and outcome of equitable marine spatial planning

Although stakeholder engagement is one of the founding principles of marine spatial planning (MSP), meaningful representation of people and their connections to marine resources within marine governance is still lacking. A broad understanding of how concepts surrounding social capital and capacity is translated into MSP practice is missing. With this article, we describe detailed case studies in the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa to build a better understanding of the ways in which MSP and other ocean governance initiatives operationalise the concepts of social capital and capacity. Drawing on insights from the cases, we call for a rethinking of capacitation as a two-way process. In particular, trust-building, social learning and efforts to build social capacity should be elaborated without imposing a hierarchy between people ‘who know’ and people ‘who don’t’. Innovative approaches to relationship building, knowledge development, and collaboration highlighted in the case studies highlight ways to build social capacity both among stakeholders and planners, as is necessary for more equitable and sustainable MSP development and implementation.

Interpreting the Relevance between Marine Spatial Planning and Ecosystem Services in Busan, South Korea

Kim, C.W.; Park, J.Y.; Choi, H.-J., and Nam, J., 2021. Interpreting the relevance between marine spatial planning and ecosystem services in Busan, South Korea. In: Lee, J.L.; Suh, K.-S.; Lee, B.; Shin, S., and Lee, J. (eds.), Crisis and Integrated Management for Coastal and Marine Safety. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 114, pp. 355–359. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Marine spatial planning (MSP) and marine ecosystem services (MES) have been increasingly gaining attention among global, national, and local societies. Among challenging issues in MSP practices is the incorporation of MES into MSP process in terms of advancement of marine management system. In this regard, we explored and interpreted the relevance between the zoning scheme under MSP and marine ecosystem service distribution in Busan sea area and EEZ. The total area under MSP enforcement is 5526.44 km2, and the total value of ecosystem services accounted for 272.73 million US dollars. The averaged MES value per grid (0.93 × 0.93 km) is 264.74 thousand US dollars, with large difference among zones. The fisheries protected zone has the largest area, but its MES value accounted for only 28% of the total. Area and MES value of marine tourism zone were 2.30% and 13.98%, respectively. MES value was relatively high in the inshore and low in the offshore. The high cultural service value in this area reflects socioeconomic features of the Busan metropolitan city. In terms of the relation between area and MES value of each zone, fisheries protected zone and provisioning service, and environment-ecosystem management zone and regulating services were well matched. Meaningful relation in the tourism zone between area and the value was not identified. This study is expected to contribute to exploring and interpreting the relevance between MSP and MES, and applying MES to the planning process and marine management.

The Institutional Dimension of Integration in Marine Spatial Planning: The Case of the Dutch North Sea Dialogues and Agreement

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) literature identifies various dimensions of integration to deal with fragmented, sectoral, and ad hoc approaches to managing various uses offshore. However, the spatial dimension of MSP has receded into the background, the dimensions of integration remain ill-defined, and there is a lack of appreciation for the institutional changes that these integration efforts induce and require. Moreover, in light of the urgency of energy transition, offshore wind farms (OWF) are often prioritized over other interests in MSP practice. This paper uses the case of the Dutch North Sea Dialogues (NSD) to explore to what extent actors during the NSD pursued formal and informal institutional change to progress the various dimensions of integration in line with the normative principles of MSP to improve spatial integration between OWF and other interests at sea. The NSD provided an, initially temporary, platform that proved key for stakeholders to pursue subsequent formal and informal institutional changes that progressed integration in MSP. While formal institutional changes were achieved during the NSD, informal institutional changes also proved fundamental in progressing various dimensions of integration. The NSD shows that incremental institutional change can be effective in progressing integration, but also shows the limits to this approach. The place-based and temporal dimensions of integration require additional attention because this is where stakeholders most notably rely on existing institutional frameworks and conflicts are most prominent.

Natural tags identify nursery origin of a coastal elasmobranch Carcharhinus leucas

Abstract Traditional methods for evaluating the importance of elasmobranch nursery habitats have focused on estimating densities or abundances of juveniles within individual nurseries; however, rates of juvenile mortality may vary among nurseries. Thus, abundance may not reflect contribution to adult populations, and contribution estimates require methods to identify the nursery origin of adults. We evaluated the use of natural tags, vertebral chemistry (stable isotope analysis, elemental analysis) and genetic markers, to identify bull shark Carcharhinus leucas nursery origin along the Texas coast (northwestern Gulf of Mexico) at multiple spatial scales. Sharks were most accurately assigned (89% accuracy) to their regional origin (Northern vs. Southern Texas) using a combination of vertebral chemistry and genetic markers. Accuracy decreased when incorporating only one type of natural tag (vertebral chemistry: 58%–84%; genetics: 30%–58%), or when assigning sharks among nurseries grouped into three or four regions (30%–71%; ~100 km spatial scale). Synthesis and applications. We describe a novel method integrating multiple natural tags to identify the nursery origin of a highly migratory coastal elasmobranch, over smaller spatial scales than previously investigated. This framework provides a powerful tool to estimate the relative source (nursery) contributions to adult populations of highly mobile species, which represent production estimates sought in the designation of essential fish habitat and ultimately incorporated into marine spatial planning practices.

Examining the role of integration in marine spatial planning: Towards an analytical framework to understand challenges in diverse settings

Marine spatial planning (MSP) as a means of marine governance has been given more prominence recently in response to the problems of fragmentation of marine regulation, environmental protection from increasing pressures upon the seas and the emergence of new maritime industries (Douvere and Ehler, 2009). Therefore enhancing multiple aspects of the way that marine authorities, sectors and stakeholders interact and engage with each other is integral to MSP's role and function and seen as a key means to address fragmented and isolated decision-making in marine space (Portman, 2016). While the function and processes of enhancing integration should not be seen as ends in themselves, they aim to create institutionalised platforms that support multi-level and multi-sectoral governance interaction to achieve 'sustainable use' of marine space (Gilek et al., 2016; Ritchie and Ellis, 2010; Varjopuro et al., 2015). Here, integration mostly plays an instrumental role in realising multiple and divergent political ends (e.g. blue growth, sustainable use, legitimate decision-making) related to ‘integrated spatialized outcomes' that seek to reflect a balance of competing goals (Flannery et al., 2016; Flannery et al., 2018; Jones et al., 2016; Olsen et al., 2014a). Integration is also seen to be important to foster greater connectivity over borders, beneficial for conservation, shipping and fishing (Jay et al., 2016). While claims of the benefits of more integration are intuitively appealing, whether and how these are actually delivered through integration practices remains under-examined in MSP practice; as are empirical insights on the multiplicity of roles that integration plays in MSP. So, while integration has been universally adopted as a policy principle where it is believed that more integration is seen to be closely related to successful planning in numerous ways, there is confusion about what it means, how to do it and what it implies in different MSP contexts. In response, the key aim of this article is to develop an analytical framework useful for examining integration in MSP across a diversity of contexts and processes. Given the central role of integration in MSP, it is vitally important to better understand the linkages between ideas of integration and their practical application in MSP. To examine the role of integration across multiple MSP contexts, we first describe the approach taken in this study. This is followed by a review of relevant MSP and integration related literature to develop an analytical framework. We draw on this framework to illustrate important expressions of integration challenges and responses in our cases. The experiences from the multiple cases are then discussed to generate insights into the various roles that integration plays in MSP and how problems arise and have been addressed. In closing, we underline key findings and reflect on the usefulness and adaptability of the integration approach developed in this article.

Knowledge integration in Marine Spatial Planning: A practitioners' view on decision support tools with special focus on Marxan

Modern ecosystem-based forms of marine management such as Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) deal with various complex systems and often with huge amounts of data. Software-based simulative and analytical tools are therefore frequently mentioned in the scientific literature on marine management approaches. But in addition to the evolution of management approaches, the requirements for more integrated tools are also progressing. MSP, for instance, comes with different spatial resolutions, an increased need to consider multiple interdepencies, and increased requirements for validity than most of the previous marine management questions. We reviewed seven well-known Decision Support Tools (DSTs) by asking 59 MSP practitioners from at least 25 countries worldwide about their experience with these tools. The results revealed that, while respondents were mostly positive about the use of DSTs in MSP processes, DSTs are still mainly used in the academic realm and have not yet found their way into everyday MSP practice. There is a broad range of reasons for not using DSTs, including the complexity of these tools, the resources required to operate them, low stakeholder confidence in DST outcomes, and the lack of additional value in using DSTs.

Towards a framework for higher education for marine spatial planning

The implementation of marine spatial planning (MSP) is bringing together a new body of practitioners who are largely drawn from related professions but have relatively little specific education, training or qualifications in MSP. This is partly due to the newness of the field and the limited opportunities available for personal development. Educational capacity is developing, though MSP content is mostly being added on to existing marine-related programmes. Taking a learning-centred approach, this article seeks to contribute to the development of higher-education curricula that can support a newly-forming MSP practitioner and research community. The proposals presented here are based upon existing educational provision, the ongoing experience of an Erasmus+ partnership in MSP teaching and learning and the results of a related survey. This lays emphasis upon enabling students: to gain a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary body of knowledge and understanding; to develop a strong set of academic and professional skills to underpin MSP practice and research; and to benefit from a variety of methods of learning, teaching and assessment that are designed to facilitate autonomous learning and skills development. Educators should be encouraged to respond to current practice needs and work collaboratively with students in developing courses that respond to their concerns and ambitions.

Multi-scale multi-level marine spatial planning: A novel methodological approach applied in South Africa.

This study proposes and discusses a multi-scale spatial planning method implemented simultaneously at local and national level to prioritize ecosystem management actions across landscapes and seascapes. Mismatches in scale between the occurrence of biodiversity patterns and ecological processes, and the size and nature of the human footprint, and the different levels and scope of governance, are a significant challenge in conservation planning. These scale mismatches are further confounded by data resolution disparities across and amongst the different scales. To address this challenge, we developed a multi-resolution scale-linked marine spatial planning method. We tested this approach in the development of a Conservation Plan for a significant portion of South Africa’s exclusive economic zone, adjacent to the east coast province of KwaZulu-Natal (the SeaPlan project). The study’s dataset integrated the geographic distribution of 390 biodiversity elements (species, habitats, and oceanographic processes) and 38 human activities. A multi-resolution system of planning unit layers (PUL), with individual PUs ranging in resolution from 0.2 to 10 km, was designed to arrange and analyse these data. Spatial priorities for conservation were selected incrementally at different scales, contributing conservation targets from the fine-, medium- and large-scale analyses, and from the coast to the offshore. Compared to a basic single-resolution scale-unlinked plan, our multi-resolution scale-linked method selects 6% less conservation area to achieve the same targets. Compared to a multi-resolution scale-unlinked plan, our method requires only an additional 5% area. Overall, this method reflects the multi-scale nature of marine social-ecological systems more realistically, is relatively simple and replicable, and serves to better connect fine-scale and large-scale spatial management policies. We discuss the impacts of this study on protected area expansion planning processes in South Africa. This study showcases a methodological advance that has the potential to impact marine spatial planning practices and policies.

Extending the concept of institutional analysis to the marine spatial planning practice

Policy formation for the marine environment seems to be a central issue for the maritime nations in order to propose a strategic plan for marine spatial governance. The idea of forming a policy is about understanding the action principle among the institutions involved that guides towards an effective decision making process. The analysis that suits into the reformation of policies is the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework (IAD) that was proposed by Elinor Ostrom, the American political scientist focusing into the institutional behaviours. This paper strives to raise awareness of integrating the concept of Institutional Analysis and Development Framework into the effective practice of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) in Malaysia. The integration of social science knowledge into the Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) cycles seems to show a growing number in the past decade and the results obtained are reviewed to ensure the suitability of integrating the idea of Institutional Analysis & Development (IAD) into the Malaysian MSP practice to predict institutional behaviour and relationship for the outcomes.

Lessons learned in marine governance: Case studies of marine spatial planning practice in the U.S.

Marine spatial planning (MSP) is an approach to marine governance and the management of marine space requiring extensive stakeholder participation and interagency and inter-organizational cooperation. While a rich literature and set of practitioner guidance on MSP has developed, few studies include empirical research or identify lessons learned based on practitioner experience. The authors conducted three case studies of MSP in Washington, San Francisco Bay, and Rhode Island, U.S., including 50 practitioner and stakeholder interviews, to identify practitioners’ lessons learned regarding stakeholder participation and inter-organizational cooperation. Findings were then shared with 43 practitioners at an MSP workshop to ensure lessons resonated with a broader practitioner community. The authors found that practitioners had learned the importance of using both formal and informal stakeholder participation methods; leveraging pre-existing relationships as a foundation for MSP; and setting and managing the expectations of both stakeholders and agency partners. Results point to the effectiveness of using pre-existing stakeholder forums to build informal authentic dialogue between participants, rather than establishing new advisory bodies to support MSP. Further, pre-existing groups and other pre-existing relationships and communication networks are an important source of social capital for MSP. Last, clear communication and transparency are important in setting and managing stakeholders’ and agency partners’ expectations for MSP. This paper concludes with recommendations for further empirical research into practitioners’ MSP experience, particularly in the U.S., and for a new generation of practitioner guidance based on research and including practical strategies to help practitioners work within the real-world constraints of politics and budgets.

Shared values for the marine environment – developing a culture of practice for marine spatial planning

ABSTRACTThough still relatively new, the development of marine spatial planning has been based on the on the premise that as a rational planning process, it can be applied following universal principles and steps informed by land-based inspired theoretical underpinnings. However, within this process, differences between marine and terrestrial environments are being overlooked, potentially affecting the way in which the marine environment is understood and valued, and the development of a culture of practice for, and specific to, marine spatial planning. By framing planning as a cultural construct, this paper aims to explore the extent to which land-based rationales are affecting the development of a marine spatial planning culture of practice, with its own ethos and shared values. A culturalised planning model adapted from [Knieling, J. and Othengrafen, F. (2015). Planning culture—a concept to explain the evolution of planning policies and processes in Europe? European Planning Studies, 23(11), 2133–2147] is used as a framework. Whilst acknowledging the importance of the contributions from land-based planning and the ecological sciences, the findings suggest that those unconscious beliefs and perceptions affecting society’s understanding of the marine environment should contribute to informing shared values for marine spatial planning practice.

Exclusion and non-participation in Marine Spatial Planning

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) offers the possibility of democratising management of the seas. MSP is, however, increasingly implemented as a form of post-political planning, dominated by the logic of neoliberalism, and a belief in the capacity of managerial-technological apparatuses to address complex socio-political problems, with little attention paid to issues of power and inequality. There is growing concern that MSP is not facilitating a paradigm shift towards publicly engaged marine management, and that it may simply repackage power dynamics in the rhetoric of participation to legitimise the agendas of dominant actors. This raises questions about the legitimacy and inclusivity of participatory MSP. Research on stakeholder engagement within MSP has predominately focused on assessing experiences of active MSP participants and has not evaluated the democratic or inclusive nature of these processes. Adopting the Northeast Ocean Planning initiative in the US as a case study, this paper provides the first study of exclusion and non-participation of stakeholders in an MSP process. Three major issues are found to have had an impact on exclusion and non-participation: poor communication and a perception that the process was deliberately exclusionary; issues arising from fragmented governance, territorialisation and scale; and lack of specificity regarding benefits or losses that might accrue from the process. To be effective, participatory MSP practice must: develop mechanisms that recognise the complexity of socio-spatial relationships in the marine environment; facilitate participation in meaningful spatial decision-making, rather than in post-ideological, objective-setting processes; and create space for debate about the very purpose of MSP processes.

Taking power to sea: Towards a post-structuralist discourse theoretical critique of marine spatial planning

Responding to calls for a more theoretically driven, post-positivist and radical marine spatial planning research that approaches the policy as a political project, this paper develops a post-structuralist discourse theory approach to critical marine spatial planning. Elaborating radical contingency as an ontological condition of social life, which points to the ineradicability of power and conflict in marine spatial planning social relations, the paper problematizes marine spatial planning as constituting politics, or key practices that attempt to organize human coexistence and thus, conceal this radical contingency. These practices (e.g. ecosystem-based management, participation, planning regulation and the organization of socio-natural spaces), whose outcomes are far from adaptive, consensual or neutral are discussed as sites of ‘politics’ that effectively marginalize particular groups of people and ‘herd’ their participation and ways of knowing toward achieving limited policy outcomes. Drawing on the EU Marine Spatial Planning Directive, the paper further teases out how specific narratives and rhetorical signifiers around ‘integrating’ and ‘balancing’ potentially irreconcilable sustainable development objectives may interpellate particular stakeholders in ways that render them ideologically complicitous in sustaining, rather than challenging, neoliberal logics of managerialism and economic maximization of marine resources. But in tune with the ontological condition of the social as radically contingent, the paper discusses how and why participatory spaces may constitute a potential space of contestation for marginalized voices and thus, reveal the political moment of marine spatial planning. Calls are made for future empirically grounded research that explores how these marine spatial planning practices are lived in both planning and extra-planning settings, and with what implications for marine protection and extant social relations of power in different marine spatial planning contexts.

Integrating Climate Change Resilience Features into the Incremental Refinement of an Existing Marine Park.

Marine protected area (MPA) designs are likely to require iterative refinement as new knowledge is gained. In particular, there is an increasing need to consider the effects of climate change, especially the ability of ecosystems to resist and/or recover from climate-related disturbances, within the MPA planning process. However, there has been limited research addressing the incorporation of climate change resilience into MPA design. This study used Marxan conservation planning software with fine-scale shallow water (<20 m) bathymetry and habitat maps, models of major benthic communities for deeper water, and comprehensive human use information from Ningaloo Marine Park in Western Australia to identify climate change resilience features to integrate into the incremental refinement of the marine park. The study assessed the representation of benthic habitats within the current marine park zones, identified priority areas of high resilience for inclusion within no-take zones and examined if any iterative refinements to the current no-take zones are necessary. Of the 65 habitat classes, 16 did not meet representation targets within the current no-take zones, most of which were in deeper offshore waters. These deeper areas also demonstrated the highest resilience values and, as such, Marxan outputs suggested minor increases to the current no-take zones in the deeper offshore areas. This work demonstrates that inclusion of fine-scale climate change resilience features within the design process for MPAs is feasible, and can be applied to future marine spatial planning practices globally.

Coexistence dilemmas in European marine spatial planning practices. The case of marine renewables and marine protected areas

The question whether coexistence of marine renewable energy (MRE) projects and marine protected areas (MPAs) is a common spatial policy in Europe and how a number of factors can affect it, has been addressed by empirical research undertaken in eleven European marine areas. Policy drivers and objectives that are assumed to affect coexistence, such as the fulfillment of conservation objectives and the prioritization of other competing marine uses, were scored by experts and predictions were crosschecked with state practice. While in most areas MRE-MPA coexistence is not prohibited by law, practice indicates resistance towards it. Furthermore expert judgment demonstrated that a number of additional factors, such as the lack of suitable space for MRE projects and the uncertainty about the extent of damage by MRE to the MPA, might influence the intentions of the two major parties involved (i.e. the MRE developer and the MPA authority) to pursue or avoid coexistence. Based on these findings, the interactions of these two players are further interpreted, their policy implications are discussed, while the need towards efficient, fair and acceptable MRE-MPA coexistence is highlighted.