Soft vs. Hard Sustainability Approach in Marine Spatial Planning: Challenges and Solutions

• Published in: Water (Basel) Vol. 16; no. 10; p. 1382
• Main Authors: Rezaei, Fatemeh, Contestabile, Pasquale, Vicinanza, Diego, Azzellino, Arianna, Weiss, Carlos V. C., Juanes, José
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-05-2024
• Subjects: Australia; Belgium; Biodiversity; Canada; Climate change; Cultural heritage; Decision-making; Economic growth; ecosystem-based approach; Ecosystems; Environmental economics; Environmental sustainability; Germany; hard sustainability; Land use planning; marine spatial planning; marine zoning; Natural resources; Netherlands; Norway; Objectives; soft sustainability; Sustainability; Tourism; Underwater resources; United Kingdom; Wind farms; Canada; Netherlands; Belgium; Norway; United Kingdom; Australia; Germany; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; China; North Sea
• ISSN: 2073-4441; 2073-4441
• DOI: 10.3390/w16101382

Hitherto, over 50% of countries with marine waters have established MSPs or launched related legal actions. However, there are still conceptual and practical challenges to be overcome in the development of MSP. In this study, we investigate two main approaches in MSP (hard vs. soft sustainability) through reports, published manuscripts and meeting proceedings in seven pioneering countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Germany, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada). We highlight the gaps, challenges, and solutions in each of these approaches. From our findings, there are four common challenges in both soft and hard sustainability approaches as follows: (i) the political framework and inconsistent support of MSP efforts, (ii) insufficient knowledge on social dimensions, (iii) insufficient stakeholder engagement in the diversity of stakeholder’s groups or in their contribution to the planning process from the initial steps, and (iv) finding a balance between environmental conservation and economic growth. We recommend that future studies should investigate how MSP can become more adaptive to long-term environmental and economic targets, how effective involving socioeconomic strata is in MSP, and how decision-making tools could help to cover the gaps in MSP. Furthermore, public forums are suggested to be developed to facilitate the systematic sharing of MSP experiences worldwide.