An inter- and transdisciplinary group, WGMPCZM involves people from social and natural sciences and from administrations in ICES member countries.
Today, increasing intensity and establishment of new sea uses, such as offshore wind farming, can be observed in coastal and marine waters. This development increases the pressure on coastal and marine ecosystems. In order to deal with the resulting conflicts and cumulative impacts, new planning tools and integrated approaches to planning and management are being developed in Europe as well as in Canada and the US. Pushed in particular by the European Union, marine (or maritime) spatial planning (MSP) is currently evolving as one of the major tools for integration of different demands for marine space and resources.
Based on current developments in marine planning practice and research, WGMPCZM focuses on knowledge gaps in MSP and risk analysis. It also looks at quality assurance of both advice for MSP and of processes in coastal and marine planning, social-cultural dimensions of ecosystem services and the use of fisheries data in planning decision-making processes.
