The MSPglobal project, jointly launched by UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and the European Commission on 11 and 12 February at UNESCO headquarters, aims to prevent conflicts and promote the smooth running of human activities at sea (aquaculture, tourism, marine energy, exploitation of the seabed, etc.). Its objective is to promote better maritime spatial planning.
Ahe launch conference, which will bring together a large number of stakeholders (experts, political decision-makers, etc.), will provide an opportunity to take stock of existing experience in maritime spatial planning and also to discuss the challenges they raise, particularly with regard to cross-border cooperation.
The three-year MSPglobal project aims to develop international guidelines on maritime spatial planning to regulate an activity that has been steadily increasing over the last decades in coastal and marine waters.
Two pilot projects will be set up to create an inventory of data, knowledge, policies and decision support tools related to maritime spatial planning. Their objective is also to strengthen the technical capacities of local authorities in data management. The first project will take place in the Western Mediterranean (Algeria, Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Morocco and Tunisia), the second in the South-East Pacific with a specific cross-border exercise in the historic Bay of Guayaquil (Ecuador/Peru). Parallel training activities will also be organized with experts from Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Libya, Mauritania, Mauritania, Panama, Portugal and Peru.
The MSPglobal project, combined with the implementation of the of the nine actions of the Joint Roadmap published by the IOC and the European Commission's Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in 2017, aims to triple the area of territorial waters benefiting from a maritime spatial planning system by 2030.
The event will be broadcast live: http://webcast.unesco.org/live/room-04/fr
