SEABAS Receives Stakeholder Guidance at HELCOM-VASAB MSP WG Informal Consultation Session

The HELCOM-VASAB MSP Working Group serves as the regional cooperation platform for Baltic Sea countries, promoting coherent and ecosystem-based maritime spatial planning across national borders. Bringing together intergovernmental cooperation on marine protection through HELCOM (the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission) and spatial planning through VASAB (Vision and Strategies Around the Baltic Sea), the Working Group plays a central role in advancing sustainable governance in the Baltic Sea region.

Regional cooperation on MSP is guided by the Regional MSP Roadmap 2021-2030, which sets out a common vision and objectives for ecosystem-based maritime spatial planning in the Baltic Sea Region.

As operation of strategic importance (OSI) SEABAS project platform directly contributes to Objective 3 of the MSP Roadmap:

“Maritime Spatial Planning contributes to achieving progress towards good environmental status of the Baltic Sea set in the Baltic Sea Action Plan.”

In particular, the project supports the implementation of actions:
3.2: Develop a Baltic SEA framework including themes, common data, assessment methods for impact evaluation and cross-border consultations;
3.5: Promote the use of methods and tools in MSP for assessing cumulative environmental and other impacts of sea-based activities.

During the Session, SEABAS presented the current status of the project platform and introduced plans for the project’s flagship OSI event, which will take place on 5-6 April 2027 in Helsinki, Finland. The event will be organized back-to-back with the next Informal Consultation Session of the HELCOM-VASAB MSP Working Group.
Read more about the SEABAS OSI event in the link.

The project team also shared progress on two upcoming SEABAS products:
• Guidance for regionally harmonised Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) procedures in maritime spatial planning;
• A report on best practices for transboundary SEA consultations in the Baltic Sea Region.

The discussion provided valuable expert input and strategic guidance that will help ensure these products respond directly to the needs of MSP authorities, environmental authorities and other stakeholders across the Baltic Sea Region.

In addition to its MSP coordination role, the HELCOM-VASAB MSP Working Group serves as the Steering Committee for the Maritime Spatial Planning component of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) Policy Area Spatial Planning, strengthening the link between SEABAS activities and wider regional cooperation frameworks. Read more from the Steering Committee memo.

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