What is Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and how can it be used to help inform decisions about the sustainable utilisation of Irelands marine resources

Galway, 6 March

Ireland has developed an integrated plan known as Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth which establishes ambitious targets to double the value of its ocean wealth to 2.5% of GDP by 2030. Ireland’s ocean is a national asset, supporting a diverse economy, with the potential to tap into the global marine market for: • seafood, • tourism, • energy, and • new applications for health, medicine and technology. In parallel, its marine resource gives it many non-commercial benefits; for example, amenity, biodiversity and the mild climate. Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is a process that brings together multiple users of the ocean – including energy, industry, government, conservation and recreation – to make informed and coordinated decisions about how to use marine resources sustainably. The MSP process aims to balance different user demands for the sea including the need to protect the marine environment, and to plan when and where human activities take place at sea in an efficient and sustainable manner. galway_march2018
copyright: Public domain
What Responsible Research and Innovation actions are needed to make informed decisions on the identification of zones for the development of marine renewable energy devices? You want to use your creative mind to develop solutions that best serve individual citizens, your local community and the European society at large. You want to make sure that your needs and expectations are taken into account when local, national and European decisions and innovations are being developed. GET STARTED! FOLLOW OUR WORKSHOP AND SHARE YOUR IDEAS ONLINE! The workshop is organised according to the World Café method by Smartbay Ireland. It will involve citizens, scientists, business representatives, entrepreneurs, local authorities and policymakers in an open dialogue. Together, you will define a common vision and a roadmap of solutions and actions to face this challenge.  The results, together with the outcomes of the other MARINA workshops in Europe, will be freely accessible on the MARINA Web Knowledge Sharing Platform, used for identifying lessons learned and best practices and disseminated at European policy conferences. Location: Harbour Hotel, New Dock Road, Galway City - Ireland