The processes that take place managing and planning the land and coastal sea territories are becoming more complex, ranging from obstacles that concern environmental provisions but also of overlapping jurisdictions of various public authorities. Also, the tendency to inhabit coastal areas in Europe is increasing, and estimates show that more than 200 million Europeans live permanently within 50 km of the sea. Among them, there is a growing desire for aesthetic recreation and cultural experience, in which the scenic diversity of the coast is perceived as a resource for the development of tourism. In order to preserve the values ​​of the coast and to balance different interests and drivers in coastal areas that align with European Green Deal (EGD) goals and Sustainable Blue Economy (SBE), it is necessary to create a sustainable and integrated management of the coast, which would promote well-considered decision-making, as well as support the planning, implementation and preservation of balanced development solutions. How?

For an integrated approach, Multi Level Governance  (MLG) is needed to consider coastal communities, culture, environmental and economic interests. Public authorities together with SBE sectors can be compared to a sailing ship with many stakeholders acting as the ship crew - rowers operating oars, deck crew dealing with sails and helmsman steering - each with their own task. Somehow, they all need to work together to avoid crashing and to navigate to their intended destination. Thus, there should be a guiding system for our ship – a navigator.

As such, under the Interreg programme’s umbrella, it is our project’s "Baltic Sea2Land" mission to support the long-term development of a diverse and viable coastline in the Baltic Sea region by promoting cooperation between different levels of governance (from local to international), blue economy sectors, local communities and other stakeholders. Led by our crew composed of 7 Baltic Sea Region (BSR) country institutional representatives, a set of auxiliary tools under the title – Sea2Land Navigator - are being created for an inclusive assessment of sea and land connectivity challenges. As a tailored guidance and decision making-support platform for public authorities and SBE stakeholders, the Sea2Land Navigator aims to balance interests to aid viable coastal development and sustainable use of human and natural capital in the BSR and foster integrated governance via multi-dimensional collaborations.