Sustainable solutions: exploring trade-offs in marine protected areas from six European case sites

Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) is a crucial tool for the sustainable use of ocean resources, requiring the negotiation of trade-offs among ecological, economic, and social interests. This study validates a participatory four-block methodology—preparation, option setting, trade-off negotiation and implementation—applied across six European case sites within the MSP4BIO project. It produced practical guidance—especially for the ‘Trade-off Negotiation’ phase, in a participatory context. This process was operationalized across the sites through three core phases: (I) preparation, (II) collaborative engagement with stakeholders, and (III) post-meeting consolidation. Participatory mapping tools such as SeaSketch were used to visualize spatial conflicts and support stakeholder engagement. Findings show that trade-offs are highly context-specific, requiring flexible, data-driven, and inclusive decision-making processes. Common challenges include data limitations, varying technical capacities, and the need for stronger integration of MSP and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). A qualitative cross-case comparison emphasized the importance of harmonized and adaptive methods to support participatory governance, and ecological resilience in the face of climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressures on marine environments. This study is the first operational test in case sites, across six European sea basins, and present the comparative validation of the Calado et al1. Trade-offs method.

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Publication Details

Journal
npj Ocean Sustainability
Published
2025-12-05
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s44183-025-00167-w
Primary Topic
Coastal and Marine Management
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Sustainable solutions: exploring trade-offs in marine protected areas from six European case sites

Francisco R. Barboza, Mаrijа Mаrković, Jacek Zaucha, Hristo Stanchev et al.
npj Ocean Sustainability
Coastal and Marine Management
article

Sustainable solutions: exploring trade-offs in marine protected areas from six European case sites

Francisco R. Barboza, Mаrijа Mаrković, Jacek Zaucha, Hristo Stanchev, Javier García Sanabria, Kemal Pınarbaşı, Alice Newton, Magdalena Matczak, Ivana Stojanović, Roberta Sciascia, F. De Raedemaecker, Camila Pegorelli, Inne Withouck, Margarita Stancheva, Helena Calado, Débora Gutierrez, Joyce Dias Gois Rodrigues de Queiroz, Claire Boudy
article en

Abstract

Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) is a crucial tool for the sustainable use of ocean resources, requiring the negotiation of trade-offs among ecological, economic, and social interests. This study validates a participatory four-block methodology—preparation, option setting, trade-off negotiation and implementation—applied across six European case sites within the MSP4BIO project. It produced practical guidance—especially for the ‘Trade-off Negotiation’ phase, in a participatory context. This process was operationalized across the sites through three core phases: (I) preparation, (II) collaborative engagement with stakeholders, and (III) post-meeting consolidation. Participatory mapping tools such as SeaSketch were used to visualize spatial conflicts and support stakeholder engagement. Findings show that trade-offs are highly context-specific, requiring flexible, data-driven, and inclusive decision-making processes. Common challenges include data limitations, varying technical capacities, and the need for stronger integration of MSP and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). A qualitative cross-case comparison emphasized the importance of harmonized and adaptive methods to support participatory governance, and ecological resilience in the face of climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressures on marine environments. This study is the first operational test in case sites, across six European sea basins, and present the comparative validation of the Calado et al1. Trade-offs method.

npj Ocean SustainabilityVol. 4(1)
Universidade dos Açores (PT), Flanders Marine Institute (BE), Institute of the Estonian Language (EE), Center for the Study of Democracy (BG), University of Lisbon (PT), Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (FI), Universidad de Cádiz (ES), Istituto di Scienze Marine del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IT), Gdynia Maritime University (PL), Social Action (NG), Sustainable Business Institute (Germany) (DE), University of Tartu (EE), University of Algarve (PT)
Openalex Percentile: Top 51%
Coastal and Marine Management
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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