Center for Coastal & Marine Studies
WELCOME TO THE #6 ISSUE OF THE BLUE HORIZONS MPA NEWSLETTER!
We’re thrilled to bring you a wave of exciting updates from across our marine conservation and MSP initiatives!
- The MPA Community Network is now live — your new hub for tools, case studies, and peer exchange to support effective MPA management!
- Don’t miss the launch of the MPA Design Card Game, co-developed by BLUE4ALL, BioProtect, Pharos, Marine Plan, MSP4BIO, and Blue CONNECT, and already successfully tested during European Ocean Days.
- Get ready for the MSP4BIO Final Event, where we’ll share key results, policy recommendations, and what’s next for biodiversity in marine spatial planning.
Read the full newsletter here!
Echoes of the MSP4BIO Webinar – Nature-Inclusive MSP: Insights from MSP4BIO Test Sites
The first webinar in the MSP4BIO final series aiming to promote project outcomes, took place on April 9, 2025, hosted by s.Pro and CCMS. This exclusive online event, conducted via Teams, attracted approximately 60 participants, including the Communities of Practice (CoPs) members established within the project.
The webinar delved into the latest advancements in science-driven Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) and their implications for biodiversity conservation, as well as the enhancement of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) integration. It highlighted and demonstrated results from the operationalization and real-world applications of the MSP4BIO Ecological and Socio-Economic (ESE) Framework tools, which facilitated the development of targeted spatial and strategic solutions across the six MSP4BIO test sites, to accelerate biodiversity protection and restoration within the MSP context.
BLUE CONNECT: A Wave of Systematic Solutions for Marine Conservation
The Mission-funded BLUE CONNECT project – with the participation of Center for Coastal and Marine Studies (CCMS) - brings together MPA managers, authorities, industries, and local communities to develop sustainable and systemic solutions for Europe’s marine environments. Anchored in the Mission Ocean and Waters, as both a Mission Charter and BPC, this newly launched project focuses on the strict protection, restoration, and co-management of MPAs to improve ecological connectivity.
BLUE CONNECT will make a splash with its Blueprint for Marine Conservation deliverable – a science-based, step-by-step guide for marine conservation planning, designed to support MPA managers, regional seas cooperation stakeholders, local communities, policymakers, business decision makers and marine planners’ efforts and actions. In this holistic modelling framework, the BLUE CONNECT team will integrate biodiversity, ecological functions, ecosystem services, and stakeholder input. Designed to be scalable, resilient, and adaptable across Europe, the Blueprint will evolve over time, considering the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems. This Blueprint will be based on learnings from demonstrator sites in Europe, conducted under the project:
“Our project will improve the understanding of co-management and co-ownership challenges, gaps, and opportunities at local, national, and European levels and offer solutions based on demonstrated good practices. To achieve this, we are running 12 demonstrators across four sea basins, exploring passive restoration, innovative monitoring, stakeholder engagement, ecological connectivity, and active restoration. For example, at the Macaronesia demo site, we have already established a local stakeholder working group (LSWG) with 15 organisations where we uncovered that most MPAs have outdated Management Plans and limited examples of effective co-management.” Dr. Margarita Stancheva, Director of Center for Coastal and Marine Studies and partner of the BLUE CONNECT project
MSP4BIO Delivers Innovative Solutions for Biodiversity-Centered Maritime Spatial Planning Across Europe
Authors:
Margarita Stancheva, Center for Coastal and Marine Studies – CCMS
Agnese Cosulich, Sustainable Projects GmbH – s.Pro
As European countries move forward with Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP), one challenge remains consistent: how to effectively protect and restore biodiversity while managing the many demands on our marine spaces. MSP4BIO is tackling this head-on with innovative solutions that bridge the gap between theory and practice — ensuring that biodiversity becomes a core element of MSP across Europe.
One Goal, Many Contexts
EU Member States are at different stages of MSP development. Plans vary in scope—national, regional, and transboundary—and address a broad mix of social, economic, and environmental priorities. Recognising this diversity, MSP4BIO is working in six real-world test sites across the Baltic Sea, North Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Black Sea. These sites reflect a wide range of planning, challenges and offer opportunities to develop and test solutions that are adaptable and scalable across Europe and beyond.
Read the full Blog Post on the MSP4BIO website!
Want to dive deeper into the solutions?
👉 Download the full report here!
👉 Stay tuned and follow us on LinkedIn for more updates from MSP4BIO as we shape the future of marine spatial planning — where biodiversity and human activity go hand in hand.
