From April 28 to 29, the Blue Mission Banos project hosted the 4th Mission Arena in Sopot, Poland, bringing together over 200 stakeholders from across the South Baltic region. The event focused on key challenges within the blue economy, including shipping and ports, maritime security, and sustainable food production.

During the event, several sessions were dedicated to Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP). Among them, the MSP Foresight workshop explored the importance of MSP, especially as this year marks the 20th anniversary of the first European maritime spatial plan, developed and implemented in the Baltic Sea Region. This was an extension of the spatial plan of the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern into the sea.

The workshop also highlighted the importance of VASAB cooperation as it played a crucial role in shaping the first maritime spatial plans and strategic frameworks in the Baltic Sea Region more than 20 years ago. These early efforts laid the foundation for cross-border collaboration and established a coordinated, long-term approach to spatial development.

Today, MSP continues to evolve in response to emerging challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss, and secure important societal values like blue justice, security, and safety. Therefore, it is necessary to summarize the existing BSR experience on development of MSP (identifying strong and weak features and key lessons learned) to capitalize on it and improve MSP effectiveness and usability in the future for sustainable development of the region.

The workshop participants discussed and identified the most pressing future challenges in MSP and suggested actions towards addressing them. Key discussion topics included circularity, security, data availability, cultural heritage, nature restoration, an integrated planning approach and enhancement and development of spatial planners’ network.

More information about Blue Mission Banos project and 4th Mission Arena HERE.