Lääne-Harju, Estonia — Who Plans the Coast? Two-Tier Governance and Coastal Climate Adaptation

Storm surge and coastal erosion do not stop at a municipal boundary. In Estonia, coastal planning does.

The state sets the frame — the Planning Act, the county plan, the national climate scenarios. Municipalities carry the impacts and hold the comprehensive plan. And between them sits a scale that no institution currently owns: since county governments were abolished in 2018 the county plan is prepared by the state, and municipal associations can convene but cannot bind.

This workshop brings the two governance tiers together — coastal municipalities, ministries and agencies, and the county associations and knowledge partners that work between them — for one working day in Lääne-Harju. Across four structured sessions participants will:

• map how coordination between the local and national level works today, and how coastal municipalities coordinate with each other;
• identify where it breaks down — across information sharing, legal mandate, capacity, informal cooperation, and the regional scale that no institution currently owns;
• draft the roles, responsibilities and communication channels a future intergovernmental cooperation framework would need;
• agree shared strategic priorities and make concrete institutional commitments.

The outputs feed directly into Baltic PlaNet Deliverable 2.1 — Guidance and Recommendations for Establishing an Intergovernmental Cooperation Action Plan.

Participation is by invitation. Registration closes on 15 September 2026.