Trade-offs between seascape and offshore wind farming values: An analysis of local opinions based on a cognitive belief framework

Offshore wind farming is gaining increasing momentum in Germany. Given the wide range of other sea uses in the North Sea, the potential for contention is high. This study traces attitudes to offshore wind farming among local residents on the West coast of Schleswig-Holstein. It is an explorative, qualitative study which evaluates expected impacts based on a non-representative questionnaire survey in selected municipalities. Since landscape aesthetics play a particular role in determining the acceptance of wind farming on land, the study particularly focuses on the role of seascape values in determining acceptance of offshore wind farming. In order to establish the range of values carried by the sea, a new definition of ‘seascape’ is developed encompassing physical properties (forms), visual-aesthetic elements as well as the ‘sea of the mind’. A cognitive belief framework is constructed to establish how opinions on offshore wind farming are formed. It includes basic human beliefs as the first order of cognition, followed by beliefs about nature, sea and West coast values and finally attitude to offshore wind farming. Qualitative links emerge between particular images of nature, nature ideologies and sea values; these in turn are linked to West coast values and with these offshore wind farming values. Results show the existence of four basic types indicative of trade-offs between offshore wind farming values and marine values at different stages of the cognitive belief framework: the ‘conservationist type’, the ‘aesthetic type’, the clean energy proponent’, and the ‘utilitarian type’. Strong existence value assigned to the marine environment, the belief that nature is fragile and the belief that offshore wind farming will damage the marine environment is likely to lead to a negative attitude to offshore wind farming. In contrast, strong moral convictions associated with offshore wind farming (such as strong beliefs in offshore wind farming) are likely to tip the balance in favour of offshore wind even if nature and sea values are also considered important. Ultimately, however, there is no simple yes or no to offshore wind farming as support or rejection is always the result of a complex internal process driven by subjective rationalities. Since circumstances change, the results described in this study must be interpreted as a snapshot in time. Nevertheless, the overall concept can readily be transferred to other settings and contexts. The benefit of the approach is that it leads to better understanding of the positions taken up by stakeholders, facilitating process of negotiation and debate

Governance as a framework to theorise and evaluate marine planning

Marine Planning seems to offer promise to integrate oceans governance with a prospective approach to sustainability, most distinctively through the process of creating a spatial strategy contained in a marine plan, hence ‘marine spatial planning’. This paper will show that in order to understand whether marine planning really is leading towards sustainability, recourse to governance theory will be required. Governance theory can provide principles or a theoretical framework for marine planning systems. It can also inform practicable planning, particularly in the phase of setting evaluatory criteria- a phase that many policy analysts consider should logically proceed the implementation of marine plans themselves- but also in broader questions of institutional design. Yet researchers and practitioners are faced with a situation in which there a multiple, competing approaches to governance from which to choose, some of which were developed in terrestrial contexts, raising questions about their applicability to the marine environment. This paper outlines five key major theoretical approaches for governance and reviews analytical debates and empirical findings about marine planning using those approaches. The core question of this study is which theoretical approaches offer the most traction for evaluating MSP and why?PostprintPeer reviewe

Pathways towards integrated cross-border marine spatial planning (MSP): insights from Germany, Poland and the island of Ireland

Marine Spatial Planning is labelled as ‘an idea whose time has come’ based on its applicability to address spatial conflicts and deliver sustainable use. Legislation such as the EU MSP Directive 2014/89/EU and the UK Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 requires that neighbouring marine spatial plans are coherent and coordinated to address cross-border issues. However, the implementation of MSP in cross-border areas is complex due to different administrative processes, fiscal and legislative procedures. This study argues that cross-border MSP is challenging in areas that are faced with historically contested borders which limit effective delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Two contested case study regions: Germany, Poland and the island of Ireland are compared. To help understand contemporary issues, a bespoke theoretical evaluative framework, the ‘Wheel of Integration and Adaptation’ is used to identify the challenges of cross-border MSP. An in-depth review of planning documents, policies, legislation was undertaken alongside interviews. This demonstrated that in contested areas, cross-border MSP must contend with the following challenges: ‘inter alia’ geographical peripheries syndrome, schema overload, limited transparency and blue justice, diplomatic consultation processes and differences in planning philosophies. This paper concludes by presenting five interventions as steps toward advancing cross-border MSP

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

Challenges and Enablers to Integrate Land-Sea-Interactions in Cross-Border Marine and Coastal Planning:Experiences from the Pan Baltic Scope Collaboration

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TPEA good practice guide: lessons for cross-border MSP from transboundary planning in the European Atlantic

This Good Practice Guide is the outcome of a project co-funded by the European Commission (DG Mare) called Transboundary Planning in the European Atlantic (TPEA), which ran from December 2012 to May 2014. The aim of the project was to demonstrate approaches to transboundary maritime spatial planning (MSP) in the European Atlantic region. This is one of a series of projects exploring the opportunities and challenges of carrying out cross-border MSP in Europe’s regional seas, making connections with integrated coastal management (ICM). TPEA focused on two pilot areas: one involving Portugal and Spain and the other Ireland and the United Kingdom. Despite distinct identities in the region relating to different traditions of planning and stages of MSP implementation, TPEA worked towards a commonly-agreed approach to transboundary MSP and developed principles of cross-border working which it is hoped will be of wider benefit. This guide presents these principles, illustrated with examples from the TPEA project

Multi-use of the sea as a sustainable development instrument in five eu sea basins

This paper examines the concept of maritime multi-use as a territorial/SPATIAL governance instrument for the enhancement of sustainable development in five EU sea basins. Multi-use (MU) is expected to enhance the productivity of blue economy sectors, as well as deliver additional socio-economic benefits related to the environmental and social dimensions of sustainable development. The paper provides a definition of maritime multi-use and identifies the multi-uses with the highest potential in EU sea basins. In each sea basin, multi-use plays a different role as concerns sustainable development. For the Eastern Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, the MU focus should remain on the environmental pillar of sustainable development. In the North Sea, North Atlantic and Western Baltic Sea, addressing social sustainability seems a key precondition for success of MU in enhancement of sustainable spatial development at sea. Moreover, it has been suggested to introduce MU key global strategies such as SDGs or Macroregional strategies and action plans and to supplement maritime spatial planning with sectoral incentives and educational efforts as key vehicles supporting MU. The paper concludes by identifying aspects which, in order to inform maritime spatial planning and maritime governance regarding a more conscious application of the aforementioned concept, require further investigation. Key tasks are related to: more profound evaluation of performance of policies supporting MUs, researching the impact of MU on societal goals and on the MU costs and benefits, including external ones, and finally identifying the impact of MU on the development of various sectors and regions on land