IOC-UNESCO and European Commission boost development of Marine Spatial Planning and Sustainable Blue Economy worldwide

In this context, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO and European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries adopted in March 2017 a Joint Roadmap to accelerate Maritime/Marine Spatial Planning processes worldwide (MSProadmap), which has two main objectives at regional level:

• Strengthen institutional capacities in relation to Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and the Sustainable Blue Economy;
• Strengthen institutional coordination for the adoption of a roadmap.

With the support of Sweden, as well as national and regional authorities and partners, a series of online and face-to-face events took place throughout the months of October and November 2020 to build collective capacities to respond to emerging ocean issues, facilitate exchanges among public and private stakeholders, and formulate recommendations for the development of MSP and the Sustainable Blue Economy in each country/region.

The activities involved officials, technicians and experts, representatives of maritime sectors, local stakeholders and civil society:

• Technical workshops on environmental pressures, cumulative impacts and tools to support decision-making in Africa: exchange good practices and lessons learned to tackle environmental challenges associated with the implementation of MSP in the region;
• Trainings on MSP and Sustainable Blue Economy: take stock of existing initiatives and processes at national scale and explore future opportunities and perspectives.

The presentations from these activities can be found below.