Tag: North Sea

Ecosystem-based Maritime Spatial Planning: A Critique of existing Practice in Germany

This week saw the publication of an open-access article in the journal Town Planning Review, that built on and took further applied work conducted for BirdLife International, together with colleagues at NABU in Germany. The article examines the implementation of an ecosystem-based approach (EBA) in Germany’s current maritime spatial plan for its Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) in the Baltic and North Seas (published and adopted in 2021). The findings in the paper are based on an in-depth interpretive policy analysis of the final plan itself, earlier consultation drafts, submissions to the consultation process and the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) conducted in conjunction with the plan preparation process. Key findings include the following:

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Navigating in Turbulent Seas: Balancing Stability and Flexible Adaptation in Island Governance

Islands face specific sets of challenges with respect to the future development, whether in relation to infrastructure provision, circular economy, seasonality digitalisation, climate change adaption or the fostering of economic innovation. Although governance arrangements for small islands differ significantly, it is possible to identify, at a higher level of abstraction, two generalised models of governance. 

Our first governance model is that of a container ship and follows the teaching of Max Weber. The container ship is stable, resilient and durable. It will reliably reach its destination, no matter the weather. It is built to withstand turbulent seas. To ensure efficiency and smooth running, goods are transported in standardised containers, according to agreed international norms, and all crew members have clearly defined tasks and responsibilities. 

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Environmental Disaster Narrowly Averted: Learning from the Burning of the MV Fremantle Highway

On 25th July 2023, the car-carrying cargo ship MV Fremantle Highway caught fire off the coast of the Dutch island of Ameland. The ship was en route from Bremerhaven to Port Said (Egypt) with Singapore as its final destination. It was carrying approximately 3,000 vehicles, presumably destined for sale in Asia. As fuel, the ship was reportedly carrying 1,600 tons of heavy fuel oil and 200 tons of marine diesel oil. Should the ship have sunk or lost structural integrity, long-term environmental damage would have been caused to the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site. The heavy oil would have sunk to the bottom of the sea and would have taken decades to degrade. The marine diesel would have remained for longer on the surface and impacted severely on seabird populations, as well as harbour porpoises and seals (NABU). By way of comparison, the wrecking of the Pallas freight ship in October 1998 with 756 tonnes of oil on board, close to the island of Amrum at the Wadden Sea coast of Schleswig-Holstein, led to a 20-km long oil spill and the deaths of approximately 16,000 seabirds.

The damaged MV Freemantle Highway en route to the port of Eemshaven, photographed from the coast of Borkum, photo: S. Engler-Walsh.

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Better Governance for Small Islands: FREIIA project meeting: Koster islands, Sweden

Last week, the FREIIA (Facilitating Resilience Enhancing Islands Innovation Approaches) project team met on the Koster islands in Sweden for two days of intensive meetings and excursions. The Interreg North Sea Programme funded FREIIA project includes researchers and practitioners from a diverse range of organisations in Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Germany, with a common focus on the development of better governance for small offshore islands. The Koster islands and Koster National Park are located off the southwest coast of Sweden, close to the border with Norway. They cover an area of approximately 12 square kilometres with a resident population of c. 300 people.

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Beyond Single-Use Zoning?: MSPRN Webinar on Multi-Use in Marine Spatial Planning

What is the future of marine spatial planning? Will marine plans continue to rely on zoning as a primary means for coordinating the spatial distribution of human activities at sea? Will marine protected areas continue to work with fixed and static boundaries? Multiple-use and co-location are increasingly viewed as core principles for the efficient use of marine space and actively supported both at European level and through multiple funded research and pilot projects . To take one example, the long-term vision of the 2019 Belgian marine spatial plan states that “in the future, the principle of multiple-use of space will be the norm for all use of space within the Belgian North Sea”.

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