Towards a vision for sustainable sea-use at the first national MSP days

The first national MSP Days took place in Helsinki on 27-28 November 2024, launching the Vision phase of Finland’s second maritime spatial planning cycle. This year, the theme was the European Green Deal and its objectives for marine areas. The event was attended by a wide range of MSP stakeholders from industry to research and government. The MSP Days, which are open to all, are part of the MSP Interaction Plan and will continue to provide structured communication on topical issues, progress in the planning process and raise awareness of MSP among stakeholders.

The first ever National MSP Days in November brought together marine stakeholders from all over the coast. The Vision phase was launched at the event together with the sectors to discuss the needs of the different actors for marine areas in the coming years. The maritime environment has changed since the first plan was drawn up and many national and EU-level agreements and targets pose new challenges to the industries and the planning process. These include the 30% marine protected area target set by the Biodiversity Strategy, the growth targets for the fishing industry under the national Fish Promotion Programme, offshore wind developments, overall security issues and changes in maritime transport patterns.

This year, the European Green Deal and its targets for marine areas were given particular focus at the event. The Green Deal did not make it into the first planning round, but is now one of the key themes running through the MSP revision cycle. Both maritime spatial planning and the sectors have a role to play in moving towards the objectives set out in the programme. The objectives for marine areas can be divided between climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, sustainable marine food production, marine nature restoration and biodiversity protection, zero pollution, a blue circular economy and a just transition. Maritime spatial planning was called upon to support sectors through planning by building capacity to meet objectives at sea.

The motto “The sea is for everyone – Havet är för alla” guides the work on the Maritime Spatial Plan update. The first MSP days were opened by Mari Pohja-Mykrä, coordinator of the Maritime Spatial Planning Cooperation and Heikki Saarento, chair of the Maritime Spatial Planning Coordination Group.

The event was a prelude to work next spring to update the vision for sustainable use of marine areas in cooperation with stakeholders. Sectoral meetings will bring together key sectors regionally and nationally, while interaction forums in autumn 2025 will bring stakeholders together to discuss the first draft plan.

“We have done a lot of work to map the situational overview over the past few years through various projects and studies. It is now time to move forward with the process, building on the information gathered and involving stakeholders to create a shared vision for sustainable use of marine areas in the next Maritime Spatial Plan,” says Laura Pietilä, Project Planner.

Fisheries, tourism and recreation, water owners, aquaculture, blue biotechnology, maritime transport, the maritime cluster (including ports and maritime industries), energy, mining, nature conservation and management, and maritime heritage were represented in the Marine Vision panel discussion.

Annual MSP Days anchor stakeholder interaction 

The first ever MSP Days brought together nearly 100 participants over two days in Helsinki. The days’ programme was organised together with external partners, whose sessions addressed the challenges and needs of sectoral coordination, the intersection of maritime spatial planning and marine strategy framework directive and water framework directive in achieving the objectives of good marine status, and the knowledge gaps in the biodiversity impacts of offshore wind development. “We wanted to invite external session leaders to the event to highlighting the nature of marine spatial planning as a process bringing together and synthesising knowledge.” describes project planner Laura Pietilä. “Working with research, experts and industry to drive the plan forward is as essential to maritime spatial planning as the end result. The sessions were a good representation of the diversity of marine issues.” The event also called for a role for maritime spatial planning in coordinating key processes and maintaining a dialogue between parallel processes.

The sessions were chaired by Professor Antti Belinskij of the University of Eastern Finland and the Finnish Environment Institute, Associate Professor Anna Törnroos-Remes and PhD researcher Thaysa Portela de Carvalho from Åbo Akademi Centre for Sustainable Ocean Science (SOS) together with Sweco, Mika Halttu from Lännen Kalaleader, Mikko Malin from Kalataloudenkeskusliitto and Minna Mattila-Aalto from Työtehoseura.

The evaluation of the participation in the first round of maritime spatial planning highlighted the need for clearer communication on the different steps of the planning process and opportunities for engagement. The MSP Days contribute to this request. “The MSP Days will aim to provide stakeholders with a clear format for communicating the stages of the MSP process and current issues. We were very pleased that the first MSP Days reached stakeholders in such a comprehensive way,” said Pietilä.

The days will be held annually at the end of November and next year’s MSP Days can already be marked in the calendar. The event will take place in Helsinki on 25-26 November 2025, with the theme security of supply and safety. A National Interaction Forum for the second planning round will also be organised as part of the Days. Stay tuned!

Have a look below at the presentations held at the event: