Land-Sea-Act

Impetus for strengthening blue economy development in coastal municipalities

The project helped strengthen cooperation between national, regional and local authorities, communities and businesses on land-sea interactions and development of blue economy businesses in coastal areas. The partners worked in six geographical locations in six countries around the Baltic Sea – Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Latvia and Estonia.

For example, at the Southwestern Kurzeme coast of Latvia, the partners analysed how to balance national interest in offshore wind park development with preserving the landscape and boosting coastal tourism and recreation. They did it together with coastal municipalities, national and regional environmental and nature conservation authorities, NGOs as well as local tourism business owners. Joint efforts resulted in scenarios and the identification of the most suitable areas for offshore wind parks in the maritime spatial planning (MSP) zoning proposal which would be considered during the MSP update in Latvia.

The case study in Estonia, focused on the middle section of the northern coast and involved coastal municipalities, community councils, and businesses. Together they concluded that small-craft harbours, an important driver of local development, were not properly acknowledged in the MSP as the planning regulations were missing. They would help reset the classification of harbours and elaborate the existing harbour network with the cultural services of surrounding settlements.

The Swedish municipalities in the Gothenburg region worked together with maritime businesses. They concluded that business stakeholders should be involved already in the planning process of the regional maritime strategy, that challenges and trade-offs should be explained early on, that sharing the space in the blue economy was an important development perspective, and that the importance of ports, quays and other access points to land should be further acknowledged.

The results of all cases fed into the compendium of methodologies on how to address land-sea interaction and development trade-offs in coastal areas across the Baltic Sea region.

Multilevel governance agenda for blue economy and spatial planning in the Baltic Sea region

Through the case studies, the partners studied the land-sea interactions that included a range of highly complex interdependencies of fragile ecosystems, valuable natural resources, economic interests, social aspects, and identities at various geographical levels. They concluded that handling these interdependencies – also in the interest of future generations – required policy integration and sound governance. The Multilevel governance agenda was a way forward to address persisting and complex cross-border and cross-sectoral issues. The Agenda advocates for filling governance gaps or replacing ineffective aspects of governance, using a place-based approach, respecting the heritage of the governable places and communities, engaging relevant stakeholders and making certain they are equipped to participate, and being cyclical and flexible. National authorities in the BSR countries responsible for maritime spatial planning as well as the pan-Baltic VASAB-HELCOM MSP working group have integrated this multilevel governance agenda in their work after the end of the project.