On 13 October in Helsinki at the premises of the HELCOM Secretariat (Katajanokanlaituri 6 B, FI-00160, Helsinki) special joint session of MSP data experts from the North Sea and Baltic Sea regions will take place. This session is supported by the Northern European Sea Basins Project (NESBp) and Policy Area Spatial Planning of the EUSBSR, and is a part of the cross-sea basin MSP dialogue.

The North Sea and the Baltic Sea are two northern European sea basins which are geographically connected by the narrow Danish Straits. These sea basins are united by the fact that most of the countries located on their shores are members of the European Union and thus, are bound by common legal and policy frameworks for the marine management (e.g. MSFD, MSPD, European Green Deal, etc). The HELCOM-VASAB MSP WG and the Greater North Sea Basine Initiative (GNSBI) suggested MSP Data as one of the topics for practical cooperation between two regions and recommended utilizing the Baltic Sea Region Maritime Spatial Planning Data Expert Sub-group (MSP Data ESG) as a platform for such cooperation.

This session will be dedicated to the dialogue between experts from the North and Baltic Seas and opened for other regions. Experts involved in GNSBI, NESB project and ReMAP projects’ work are invited to attend this session with the aim of exploring perspectives of cooperation with the BSR MSP Data ESG.

Participants are kindly requested to register to the session via email to the HELCOM Secretariat (florent.nicolas@helcom.fi) not later than by 3 October 2025.

Please note that the ReMAP Final Conference will be held in Helsinki on 14-16 October in Helsinki. The 7th informal consultation session of the HELCOM-VASAB MSP WG will also be held in Helsinki, on 15-17 October (upon invitation).

The NESB project is funded under the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF).

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the project consortium only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.