Sustainable Management of UK Marine Resources (SMMR) Webinar: "Marine Planning Process in the United Kingdom"

This month Gina Yannitell Reinhardt and Pat Danahey Janin, from the University of Essex (Department of Government) will give an insight into:

Stakeholder perceptions of the Marine Planning Process in the United Kingdom: 4 Case Studies

Stakeholder engagement is presented as key to all stages of the marine planning process from setting priorities to evaluating and choosing plan options, to enforcement and finally to assessing overall effectiveness.1  Stakeholders who are involved in the elaboration of marine plans are more likely to support, engage with, or follow the rules established through this process.2 This research draws on 71 stakeholder interviews that accompanied a survey on marine values, preferences and trade-offs carried out within the framework of the multidisciplinary Marine Spatial Planning Addressing Climate Effects project (MSPACE). A qualitative thematic analysis of stakeholder perceptions of marine planning stakeholder engagement across the four UK nations (Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England) brings forth the lived stakeholder experience of the iterative and on-going engagement process.

Our research reveals the influence governance structures have on the stakeholder engagement process itself affecting the stakeholders’ perception of strategic coherence around marine management, bureaucratic processes, internal and external strains on the activity and funding levels for management and monitoring. While the UK stakeholders interviewed appreciate the opportunity to participate and acknowledge the evidence-based process and efforts, they do not think stakeholder engagement is working across the board for all actors. Key areas of concern lie within the process itself, the variable levels of engagement, the risk and arbitration of conflict, and limited resources. This study illustrates the importance of overall governance structures and the variability of stakeholder engagement across nations with particular contextual challenges in stakeholder engagement for each nation case.