The Future of Marine Spatial Conservation: from Science to Policy

Conference programme:  

28 October

• Developing protected areas in European seas: This session will broadly discuss approaches, achievements and challenges related to the practical implementation of spatial marine biodiversity conservation measures to meet the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. It will address criteria for the establishment of protected areas, the application of different categories of protection zones and the assessment of the effectiveness of protection measures.
• Integration of the Marine Protected Areas (MPA) network into maritime spatial planning and integrated coastal management: The maritime spatial planning process in the EU is regulated by Directive 2014/89/EU – the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive. The Maritime Spatial Planning Directive sets out a flexible framework for identifying optimal solutions, taking into account the preferences, solutions and lessons learned at different scales and in different contexts.

29 October

• Coastal Fisheries Management in MPAs
• Stakeholder Engagement in the Development of MPA Networks: Sharing Best Practices and Lessons Learned: The organisation of spatial protection of marine biodiversity involves strong interests of several stakeholders. These include both historically established and socio-economically important sectors, such as shipping and fisheries, and rapidly developing "new" sectors such as marine renewable energy and marine and coastal recreation and tourism. This session will share best practices in this area.
• Closing Panel Discussion, Summary and Conference Conclusion

30 October

• Excursions