Workshop on Transboundary Issues in Marine Spatial Planning (WKTBIMP)

The Workshop on Transboundary issues in Marine Spatial Planning (WKTBIMP) was held as part of the terms of reference of the Working Group on Marine Planning and Coastal Zone Management (WGMPCZM). The aim of the workshop was to identify the key transboundary issues that can undermine collaboration and coordination efforts to address them through marine/maritime spatial planning initiatives.

Given the ongoing progress in marine planning international, transboundary issues between national marine planning initiatives are emerging as a significant challenge to sustainability within a regional sea context. As part of the terms of reference for the workshop, case studies were used to identify the key impediments in transboundary collaboration and coordination, to review the roles of national marine plans and sector technical measures in achieving common transboundary ecosystem, cultural, social and economic objectives, and to review the science needed for effective and timely advice for planners involved in finding solutions to address transboundary issues.

Based on lessons learned from the case studies, a myriad of transboundary issues in marine plan-ning were identified stemming from governance systems, public policy, national legislation and the different mandates of local, regional and national planning authorities including the stake-holders that are involves in these processes. Recommendations for possible next steps identified the need for: 1) the development of classification and taxonomy systems to highlight the differ-ences between environmental and maritime transboundary issues including land-sea interactions; 2) the development of assessment or evaluation techniques to identify the level of coher-ence between planning initiatives and the implemented plans for planners; 3) an analysis of the enablers and structures were used to find solutions to the impediments of transboundary issues; 4) an analysis of the coherence and linkages of the scientific knowledge regarding transboundary issues and their use in marine planning; 5) theme session proposal for the next ICES Annual Science Conference 2022 on this topic.