5th Baltic MSP Forum "Navigate Planning Through Changes!"

The 5th Baltic MSP Forum "Navigate Planning Through Changes!" will take place on 11–12 November 2025 in Riga, Latvia. This year, the Forum is organized in close connection with the Baltic Sea2Land project, serving as its final conference, and broadens the scope to strengthen linkages between maritime spatial planning (MSP) and coastal zone planning.

Under the slogan Navigate Planning Through Changes, the Forum’s agenda features a wide array of timely and pressing topics, including enhancing resilience and liveability of coastal communities, integrating ecosystem services into MSP, improving coastal accessibility, addressing climate change challenges in coastal municipalities, promoting blue-green infrastructure, and advancing multi-use and implementation of sustainable blue economy. Special focus will also be given to sea-basin/macro-regional and multi-level governance, ecosystem-based approach, effective use of space, security and safety in the Baltic Sea Region, and the Sea2Land Navigator – innovative planning tool developed within the Baltic Sea2Land project.

Forum brings together MSP experts and practitioners to share their knowledge and experience on emerging topics, discuss current challenges in MSP as well as the management of an ecosystem-based approach. The extended agenda is now available, offering an overview at the sessions, discussions, and interactive formats that will shape the Forum. More about agenda HERE.

The Forum aims to gather the maritime spatial planning and coastal planning and development community from the Baltic Sea Region and beyond. It provides a platform for experts, policy makers, academia and research institutions, NGO’s and practitioners from national, sub-national, and local authorities to share experiences, exchange ideas, and develop new approaches for sustainable management of marine and coastal areas and strengthening the multi-level governance.

At the Forum Baltic PlaNet will be highlighted at the event's EXPO area, where project partner VASAB Secretariat will inform and promote the project platform. Also the central part of the Forum is the Baltic Sea2Land project result Sea2Land Navigator platform, which development is continued within the Baltic PlaNet.

The 5th Baltic MSP Forum will take place fully on-site in VEF Culture Palace, Riga, Latvia. Registration is upen by 27 October 2025 via website - www.BalticMSPForum.eu .

The 5th Baltic MSP Forum is organised by the VASAB Secretariat together with the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia, as the Lead Partner of the Interreg Baltic Sea Region project Baltic Sea2Land, and in cooperation with the partners of the project’s consortium. The 5th Baltic MSP Forum is supported by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme 2021-2027 – through the Subsidy contract for the project #C018 Baltic Sea2Land of Interreg Baltic Sea Region.

Read more about previous Baltic MSP Forums here.