Supporting transboundary dialogue on Marine Spatial Planning towards a sustainable blue economy for the Western Mediterranean
Full Solution
Binational training course in France for French and Algerian experts.
MSPglobal, IOC-UNESCO
This solution is part of the MSPglobal Initiative, designed to support the “Joint Roadmap to accelerate Marine Spatial Planning processes worldwide (MSProadmap)”, adopted by IOC-UNESCO and the European Commission and in line with the SDG 14 of the 2030 Agenda.
More specifically, this solution aimed to assist its beneficiary countries in generating approaches, tools and actions at transboundary level to contribute to coherent MSP plans in the Western Mediterranean.
The Western Mediterranean is under intense pressures deriving from increasing coastal development and maritime activities. Therefore, MSP and sustainable blue economy are crucial policies to address these challenges. Institutional capacities were reinforced, technical tools were developed, and transboundary dialogue was coordinated, resulting in a regional roadmap for transboundary MSP and sustainable blue economy.
MSPglobal was co-financed by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund of the European Union.
Last update: 02 Nov 2021
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Context
Challenges addressed
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Increasing number of maritime uses and conflicts
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Increasing need and demand to improve coastal and marine conservation
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Lack of policies on MSP and/or sustainable blue economy in some of the beneficiary countries
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Lack of capacity on MSP among some governmental institutions and other stakeholders
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Lack of regional coordination between EU and non-EU Member States towards coherent MSP plans across maritime borders
Location
Spain
France
Italy
Malta
Tunisia
Algeria
Morocco
North Africa
West and South Europe
Process
Summary of the process
The key objectives of this solution were to “strengthen stakeholders’ capacities” (BB2) on MSP and sustainable blue economy in the four beneficiary countries, as well as to “support the development of institutional recommendations at regional scale” (BB6). In order to support the transboundary dialogue from a technical perspective, reports on “current conditions of the marine environment and maritime uses” (BB3) and “scenarios for MSP and sustainable blue economy” (BB4) were developed. Based on this, it was decided to “showcase the key results through a simplified and interactive storytelling tool” (BB5), easily accessible and understood by stakeholders. Everything was done based on engagement activities that required adequate “planning, reporting and monitoring stakeholder participation and communication” (BB1).
Building Blocks
Planning, reporting and monitoring stakeholder participation and communication
This BB aimed to structure the tasks related to stakeholder engagement and communication through the development of:
I) A Strategy for Public Participation based on:
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Three pillars: identification of stakeholders; engagement activities; and monitoring and evaluation of participation
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A two-way participatory approach: balance between top-down and bottom-up
II) A Communication and Dissemination Plan to set a unified tone and direction so that all activities, tools and materials work in harmony to create a shared vision to raise awareness of the initiative and its results. It also included monitoring of a number of metrics – through various channels and means – to evaluate the overall impact and success of communication and dissemination actions.
Standalone communication and dissemination plans, as well as engagement plans and reports were developed to guide and evaluate each activity implemented. The key messages from these reports were used as web news in order to communicate and report back to the stakeholders.
In the Western Mediterranean pilot, the following engagement activities were implemented:
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Institutional workshops at national and regional levels
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Training courses for governmental authorities and sectoral stakeholders
Enabling factors
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Partnership with other ongoing initiatives in the region
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Development of a multilingual website, social media accounts and products as the beneficiary countries do not use the same language
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Nomination of a governmental representative (National Focal Point) to support the identification of stakeholders and to officially invite them to participate
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Development of a Stakeholder Database to include all stakeholders who so wished, facilitating the contact and dissemination of information
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Development of a visual identity
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A member of the team fully dedicated to communication
Lesson learned
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Stakeholder Database: When dealing with hundreds of stakeholders, better to build a database with limited number of essential fields to maintain communication
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Engagement activities: Start organizing and publicizing well in advance, as well as send reminders frequently (for both face-to-face and online events)
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Communications and outreach: Adapt communication to the stakeholders involved; use different channels to reach larger audience; mix digital, audiovisual and print products
Strengthening stakeholders’ capacities
This BB aimed to develop activities to improve stakeholders’ capacities on MSP and sustainable blue economy by helping them understand the big picture of the MSP process, as well as the role that they can play in such policy.
I) Training course for governmental representatives included both theoretical and practical sessions. The theoretical ones covered topics such as the concepts of MSP and sustainable blue economy, stakeholder participation and data and information. Moreover, the competent authorities had the opportunity to discuss national initiatives on MSP. Putting theory into practice, participants were divided into groups to play the MSP Challenge Game, representing planners and stakeholders. They defined the vision, objectives, indicators, actions and stakeholders of fictitious countries to simulate an MSP process. After, they developed sectoral plans and used the tokens available to negotiate space and develop an integrated plan coherent with the national objectives. They also had to link aspects of the plan with the achievement of the 17 SDGs.
II) Seminars for sectoral stakeholders
Thematic seminars were organized to highlight the need for MSP in the Western Mediterranean: international cooperation, multi-use of the ocean space, and spatial dimension of aquaculture and port infrastructures.
Enabling factors
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Training material and course in the language of the stakeholders (whenever possible)
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Practical exercises to stimulate the learning process
Lesson learned
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Content: Beyond learning about concepts, participants are interested in real-life examples
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Gender balance: It is important to request that the list of participants invited to the training courses is gender-balanced
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Participation: Ensure that the National Focal Point responsible for co-organizing the activities is communicating with partner institutions to guarantee their involvement
Analyzing current conditions of the marine environment and maritime uses
This Building Block aimed to analyze the current conditions of the Western Mediterranean. Policies, data and information on the marine environmental and main maritime uses were analyzed to identify use-use and use-nature conflicts and compatibilities, resulting in the development of a technical report publicly available. Spatial data was compiled to develop the maps about the different uses.
Enabling factors
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Access to public data sources, especially European and international ones
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Data from previous projects developed in the region
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At least one member of the team with expertise in spatial data available during the whole initiative in case additional analysis is necessary
Lesson learned
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Data providers: If the data is not publicly available, care should be appointed when choosing the right contact person (committed and with interest in the project) to request it
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Lack of data: Some institutions might not be willing to share data, so it is important to be transparent and acknowledge data gaps
Building scenarios for MSP and sustainable blue economy
This Building Block aimed to analyze potential future conditions of the Western Mediterranean in order to build three scenarios by 2030: trend scenario; conservationist scenario; and integrated scenario. The developed scenarios DO NOT represent official proposals for the area; instead, they are a starting point for a multi-sectoral and cross-border dialogue about the desired future. A technical report was developed and made publicly available.
Enabling factors
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Existing regional publications on maritime sectors trends
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Existing regional policies about MSP or blue economy covering at least some of the beneficiary countries
Lesson learned
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Potential areas of development: Identify them based on literature to the extent possible, while using “real-life logic” when it does not exist.
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Transparency: Justify the goals and assumptions of each scenario, as well as how they were developed. If they are not official proposals, make it clear whenever presenting the scenarios in order to avoid any issue, such as a governmental stakeholder upset because it was not involved in the process
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How to use: Develop some guidelines with suggestions on how to use and adapt the scenarios during dialogue and negotiation with stakeholders at national and regional levels
Showcasing key results through a simplified and interactive storytelling tool
This Building Block aimed to develop a multilingual storytelling tool to showcase both existing conditions and scenarios for the pilot in the Western Mediterranean. The objective was to present the data and information in a simplified and interactive way, and as such to turn complex concepts into notions easily understood by all stakeholders.
Enabling factors
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Professionals with previous experience in developing an online storytelling tool with spatial data visualization
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Technical reports with the necessary data and information published in advance
Lesson learned
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Teamwork: Those involved in the development of the reports need to work in close collaboration with those responsible for developing the tool to ensure that the key results are properly selected and displayed
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Structure: Organize the story through different themes, titles, taglines and sections
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Be concise: Limit the size of the texts to the key messages. If the user is interested in learning more, reports with the full information should be available
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Technical terms: Whenever possible, avoid using difficult and/or technical language (including acronyms) that might be incomprehensible for a wider audience. If it cannot be avoided, better to add the meaning
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Responsive web tool: Depending on the type and format of the content, it might be difficult to ensure that the tool is sufficiently responsive across different internet browsers, resolutions and electronic devices
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Beta version: It is recommended to develop a beta version (pre-release) and then ask some users to play with it before the launch
Supporting the formulation of institutional recommendations at regional scale
This Building Block aimed to develop a regional roadmap on MSP and sustainable blue economy agreed by the seven beneficiary countries, as well as neighboring countries involved in another regional activity focused on blue economy (WestMED Initiative): Algeria, France, Italy, Malta, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, Libya, Portugal and Mauritania. National Focal Points were invited to provide recommendations according to their relevance to five specific themes; these recommendations were then compiled in a survey and prioritized by the National Focal Points and other National Experts. The most voted recommendations were selected and rephrased (when necessary) to compose the regional roadmap.
Enabling factors
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Increasing relevance of MSP and sustainable blue economy in the national, regional and international agendas
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Pre-existing collaboration between governmental institutions at national and regional levels
Lesson learned
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Building capacity: Before proposing regional meetings, it is important to provide capacity building at national level so that national representatives are better prepared for regional discussions
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Building cooperation: Before proposing an activity to develop regional recommendations, it is important to organize prior meetings at regional level so that national representatives can meet and get used to working with each other
Impacts
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Increased awareness among different stakeholders about the relevance of marine policies such as MSP and sustainable blue economy
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Increased stakeholders’ capacities to develop and implement MSP plans and sustainable blue economy strategies at national level
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Knowledge-based transboundary dialogue built on technical tools (reports and user-friendly storytelling tool)
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Agreed regional recommendations on MSP and sustainable blue economy
Beneficiaries
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Representatives of governmental institutions involved in institutional discussions about MSP from the 7 beneficiary countries
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Other stakeholders (e.g., maritime users and researchers) that had the opportunity to engage in capacity development activities
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 1 – No poverty
SDG 2 – Zero hunger
SDG 3 – Good health and well-being
SDG 4 – Quality education
SDG 5 – Gender equality
SDG 6 – Clean water and sanitation
SDG 7 – Affordable and clean energy
SDG 8 – Decent work and economic growth
SDG 9 – Industry, innovation and infrastructure
SDG 10 – Reduced inequalities
SDG 11 – Sustainable cities and communities
SDG 12 – Responsible consumption and production
SDG 13 – Climate action
SDG 14 – Life below water
SDG 15 – Life on land
SDG 16 – Peace, justice and strong institutions
SDG 17 – Partnerships for the goals
