Surfing Multiple Dimensions: An Integrated Approach in Maritime Spatial Planning

Until recently, in policy discourse, the maritime focus has tended to be on the promotion and protection of ecosystems integrity, whereas land has been seen as a focus for territorial cohesion. Today, the marine environment is increasingly seen as offering some potential for growth (blue growth) and consolidated experiences in Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), for managing the interfacing land and sea environments, provide a clear reference. This chapter deals with the emerging Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) as a policy tool that improves decision-making. In the context of EU policies for growth and development, MSP should provide a “framework for arbitrating between competing human activities and managing their impact on the marine environment”, and should be built on both ICZM experiences and SEA methodologies, by adopting a holistic ecosystem approach. Nevertheless, while ICZM extends over areas which are more clearly defined and delineated, and while it does not usually suffer in relation to transnational disputed jurisdictions, MSP can establish horizontal links with sectoral policies, for example, on development and environment, and with territorial policy and planning beyond borders both national and established by UN Conventions. In the governance process, this implies co-presence and intertwinement of many levels of stakeholders related in different ways with specific land-sea areas. Integrated approaches in land-sea planning are considered as the most valuable way to include all the dimensions of sustainability in development plans as well as to give a central role to the engagement of stakeholders, by including the mutual exchange of information and knowledge. The STeMA model provides a framework to build shared and informed decisions in land-sea development plans.