Who we are

CORILA. The Project Coordinator, is an Italian consortium of research centers and universities, born for the safeguarding of Venice and its lagoon. In the last years, it coordinated various interdisciplinary European projects on MSP and is presently supporting, together with CNR-ISMAR and IUAV, the Italian MSP Competent Authority (Ministry of Transports) in charge of the MSP implementation.

IUAV. The Iuav University of Venice is an Italian public university located in Venice, also specialized in MSP and Climate Change adaptation and Environmental planning. It coordinated the Erasmus Mundus Master Course on Maritime Spatial Planning and participated in numerous MSP reseach projects funded by the EMFAF.

CNR-ISMAR. Institute of marine Science of the National Research Council of Italy. (CNR-ISMAR) has been working on MSP since 2013, through several projects at transboundary, national and local scale, covering all steps and aspects of the MSP process and developing specific instruments and tools.

IEO (CSIC). The Spanish Institute of Oceanography  is a public organism devoted to research and development activities in the ocean, including multidisciplinary oceanography, marine geology, marine pollution, fisheries and aquaculture. It provides methodological and technical support to the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, which is the competent authority for MSP and MSFD in Spain.

CEREMA (Centre for Studies and Expertise on Risks, the Environment, Mobility and Urban Planning) is a multidisciplinary expertise centre, helping national and local public policies in France. In the sector of coastal and marine management, CEREMA is the main support agency for the preparation of the sea basin strategies, which include implementation of the MSP and the Marine Strategy directives. It brings to the project its global experience of sustainable development issues at sea as well as recent specific works in relation with ecological transition in blue economy sectors.

IFREMER (French Ocean Research Institute) is a “public industrial and commercial institution” (EPIC) under the joint supervision of the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, and Ministry of Environment, Energy and Sea. IFREMER develops research, studies and expert assessments on main current topics relating to marine ecosystems, coastal zones and maritime activities. IFREMER and the University of Brest will contribute to the project with their experiences for France and the maritime basins (North Sea, Atlantic, Mediterranean), particularly from a governance point of view.

The University of Brest (Université de Bretagne Occidentale -UBO) is a multidisciplinary university based in Brittany. The European Institute for Marine Studies (IUEM) is a multidisciplinary research, training and observation centre in natural and social sciences. MSP-GREEN will be implemented at the IUEM within the research unit AMURE (bringing together partners from UBO and IFREMER), a social sciences group specialized in the study of public policies related to maritime activities, sustainability of marine resources uses and ecosystem preservation.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia (MoEPRD) is the national MSP authority. MoEPRD has been a partner in other MSP related cooperation projects, including Pan Baltic Scope, Baltic LINes, Land-SeaAct, CapacityMSP. MoEPRD in cooperation with VASAB secretariat will support the engagement of the relevant MSP authorities and other stakeholders in the project, as well as a wide dissemination of the project results in the Baltic Sea Region and beyond. MoEPRD will integrate the project results in the interim report on the implementation process of the national MSP and also test the options for updating the MSP of Latvia to account for the EGD objectives.

The Regional Council of Southwest Finland (FI FI RCSW) has a coordination responsibility of the Finnish MSP cooperation and acts as a national contact point for cross-sectoral cooperation and transboundary MSP. FI FI RCSW has participated in international MSP projects, such as Plan4Blue and Pan Baltic Scope and is currently participating in eMSP NBSR -project that joins Baltic Sea and North Sea MSP authorities. FI RGSW utilised good practises of MSP collaboration and will contribute to the co-creation of shared knowledge of EGD opportunities and challenges in MSP.

The Centre for Coastal and Marine Studies (CCMS) is a research non-profit foundation based in Varna, Bulgaria. CCMS activities comprise a vast range of coastal and marine research, as well as support to implementation of the EU coastal and maritime strategies by developing scientific basis and providing research, expertise, knowledge transfer, networking and consultancy. CCMS is closely collaborating with the competent MSP authorities in Bulgaria and Romania, and directly supporting MSP process and national plan in the partnership under the EMFF MARSPLAN-BS II project (2019-2021).

Vision and Strategies around the Baltic Sea (VASAB), hosted by the State Regional Development Agency (Latvia) prepares policy options for the territorial development of the Baltic Sea Region and provides a forum for exchange of know-how on spatial planning and development between the Baltic Sea countries. It also acts as the Policy Area “Spatial Planning” coordinator within the EUSBSR for land-based spatial planning and co-coordinates MSP jointly with HELCOM (Helsinki Commission). VASAB will support the project with dissemination of activities and results within their established network.

The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) is the authority responsible for drawing up maritime spatial plans in the German EEZ, acting on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB). The second iteration of the MSP plan for the German EEZ came into force on 1 of September of 2021. The attention of the BSH is now shifting to evaluation and strategic consideration of future topics, with much discussion expected on blue energy, food security, sustainable shipping and protecting biodiversity. In MSP-GREEN, the BSH will act as “practitioner’s voice” for case studies, preliminary results and policy recommendations. It will also link MSP-GREEN to ongoing projects in the Baltic Sea and North Sea, and particularly with eMSP NBSR.