A roadmap for marine spatial planning: A critical examination of the European Commission's guiding principles based on their application in the Clyde MSP Pilot Project

The European Commission has developed a set of common principles for marine spatial planning in the European Union. A critical examination of these principles in practice is undertaken through an evaluation of the Clyde Marine Spatial Planning Pilot Project. The principles are found to be lacking in specificity and somewhat inconsistent with the ecosystem based approach, which they advocate. Lessons for new marine spatial planning initiatives, relating particularly to stakeholder participation, governance, data requirements, objective setting, and skills and knowledge needs, are derived from the Clyde Pilot.

► The European Commission's guidelines relating to MSP need further refinement.
► Adopting an ecosystem approach requires an emphasis on place-based management.
► Effective participation needs to be facilitated throughout MSP processes.
► Existing governance structures may be counter-productive in implementing MSP.
► MSP requires a nested multi-level planning approach.