European Commission logo
Energy, Climate change, Environment

Map of the week – Marine spatial planning projects

News article |

MSPglobal is an initiative launched by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO & the European Commission DG MARE to develop new international guidelines on marine/maritime spatial planning (MSP). This week the MSPglobal Opening Conference took place in Paris to discuss regional visions for MSP, transboundary challenges and how to implement a joint Roadmap to accelerate MSP processes worldwide.

Marine spatial planning is an important activity as it concerns the management of human activities that take place in the ocean to ensure that these are as efficient and sustainable as possible. MSP works across borders and sectors and it involves the relevant stakeholders in the planning of maritime activities to support the blue economy whilst also helping to maintain healthy and productive seas and oceans.

MSP also needs diverse sets of high-quality marine data and information, such as those made accessible and free of charge by EMODnet, in order to make sound decisions based on facts. For example, integrated datasets of ocean physics, chemistry, biology, seafloor geology, and their derived products like seabed habitat maps, can help MSP planners decide where the most vulnerable ecosystems are that need protecting and where human activities such as wind farms and maritime shipping routes would be best located.

Our “Map of the week” shows the location of some MSP projects in Europe. Click on each project to learn more about their activities and results. 

ACCESS THE MAP

Data displayed in this map were provided by the European Commission.