After the project platform’s Capacity4MSP kick-off meeting in November 2019, project partners have defined the work plan to start off the tasks to support the MSP stakeholders and decision makers in their work.

Current project activities include development of the synthesis report that sums up ongoing activities in MSP and the results of MSP related projects in the Baltic Sea Region. This report will capitalize projects results and good practices to elaborate policy messages for the future MSP cooperation agenda after 2020, thus contributing to the update of the Baltic MSP Roadmap. 1st draft of the report will be ready this spring.

Tasks have been started also to accumulate knowledge on stakeholder involvement and engagement into MSP. In February 2020 the VASAB Secretariat will open a tender for a qualified expertise to conduct a research that will result in an integrated report on the stakeholder involvement, awareness-raising and involvement in MSP.

Furthermore, to ensure the planners’ dialogue and cross-sectoral dialogue several events will be organised. 1st Planners’ Forum will take place in Warsaw on 31 March. This Forum will gather together MSP practitioners from the BSR to discuss most pressing MSP issues and to ensure informal collaboration and information exchange between planners. In addition, first cross-sectoral workshop will address energy sector stakeholders and will be organised in Tallinn during the last week of May. More information about events will follow soon.

As the implementation of MSP is foreseen as one of the main focus post 2021, the report on identified support mechanisms for the implementation of the MSP is in progress. Short presentation of MSP implementation support will be held at HELCOM-VASAB MSP WG Meeting in Warsaw on 1-2 April. Following the progress of this report, HELCOM Secretariat has developed user guide and visualisation material of data portal BASEMAPS that will be presented at the BSR MSP Data Group Meeting on 11-12 February 2020 in Riga.

Russian partners have started the work to develop the MSP Roadmap for Russia with the analysis of the best MSP practices and stakeholder mapping. Discussion session with stakeholders and experts will be organised during the Baltic Sea Day 2020 in St.Petersburg on 19 March. The update will be presented during the Planners’ Forum in Warsaw on 31 March 2020.

Follow our work and latest news on the website www.capacity4msp.eu

Project platform Capacity4MSP aims to strengthen the capacity of maritime spatial planning stakeholders, policy- and decision-makers through intensified dialogue activities and amplifying gained knowledge in maritime spatial planning. Capacity4MSP builds on the results of the current and recently completed MSP projects and ongoing MSP processes in the Baltic Sea Region. The collaboration of Capacity4MSP consists of VASAB Secretariat, Aalborg University, Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, HELCOM, Ministry of Environment and Regional Development of Latvia, Scientific and Research Institute of Maritime Spatial Planning Ermak NorthWest, Submariner Network for Blue Growth, Russian State Hydrometeorological University and Gdynia Maritime University.