Discussing and Analyzing “Maritime Cohesion” in MSP, to Achieve Sustainability in the Marine Realm

Abstract

Whilst the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 promotes the conservation and sustainable use of the seas, oceans and marine resources for sustainable development, decisions in ecosystem-based Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) follow annoying and costly trade-offs and this may negatively impact its acceptance. To address conflicts and cumulative impacts and favor, as much as possible, interfering of marine activities, positive coordination and win-win options, it is necessary to develop integrated and cohesive planning approaches and new management tools. In this article, a conceptual framework of &ldquo

maritime cohesion&rdquo

is being developed mostly applicable to peopled and crowded seas and a set of relevant indicators to assess it, is proposed. It is based on the triple-model of interdependent components such as &ldquo

maritime spatial efficiency&rdquo

, &ldquo

maritime spatial quality&rdquo

and &ldquo

maritime spatial identity&rdquo

, taking into account the &ldquo

territorial cohesion&rdquo

equivalent, promoted by the Cohesion Policy. Then, in order to broadly analyze the &ldquo

spatial efficiency&rdquo

component, the &ldquo

multi-use&rdquo

concept and management tools, recently given particular emphasis by EU Blue Growth Strategy, are examined thoroughly, using the relevant literature. This article highlights constructive use of &ldquo

with the multi-use MSP paradigm as key part of &ldquo

narrative and posits that its huge and extensive potential can stimulate dynamic, collaborative, cohesive and assemblage thinking in the MSP process and be the &ldquo

spearhead&rdquo

to balance economic, social, environmental and cultural aspirations in maritime planning to achieve sustainability in the marine realm.

Document type: Article

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• http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11123444 under the license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by

• http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11123444 under the license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

• https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/12/3444/pdf under the license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

• https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/12/3444,

https://doaj.org/toc/2071-1050 under the license cc-by

• https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/12/3444/htm,

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/12/3444/pdf,

https://academic.microsoft.com/#/detail/2952796752

• https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/12/3444/pdf,

http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su11123444

under the license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/