Constructing a ladder of transnational partnership working in support of marine spatial planning: Thoughts from the Irish Sea

This paper adds to the growing body of literature on partnerships and Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) by constructing a ladder of transnational partnership working which can act as an aid to partnership development. The first part draws upon partnership working and co-management literature and identifies 5 levels of transnational partnership working: Information Sharing; Administration Sharing; Agreed Joint Rules; Combined Organisation; and Combined Constitution and illustrates what these might entail with reference to established maritime partnerships. The second part of the paper then explores how these generic levels may be used to structure transnational partnership development in a particular marine setting. This draws upon the outputs of two Irish Sea Transnational Partnership Working events which were funded by the UK's Economic and Social Research Council, and in particular on the exploration of motivations for collaboration which was a key point of discussion. In conclusion the paper considers the strengths and weaknesses of the ladder and how it may be enhanced and used more widely to better understand and analyse existing transnational partnership activity and guide the development of new transnational partnerships in support of MSP.