Marine spatial planning: Facilitating sustainability in an ocean of ambiguity

This dissertation explores the practice of Marine Spatial Planning and its role in facilitating sustainability at sea. Five papers have been developed for this purpose. They contribute to the discussion of how Marine Spatial Planning is facilitating sustainability by exploring central elements of the EU Directive on Marine Spatial Planning as well as how ambiguous formulations in policies affect the practice and outcome. The concept of an ‘ecosystem-based approach’ is evaluated and best practices are compared. In relation to this, the assessment of collective pressure by Member States is evaluated and the concept of sustainability in relation to Marine Spatial Planning is explored and debated. Marine Spatial Planning is found to have a larger potential in facilitating sustainability, than what is currently perceived by established frameworks. Current practices in the EU vary greatly due to the ambiguous and open formulations of the Directive. While some practices take shape of an experimental implementation with successful and innovative outcomes, other practices neglects key elements such as the assessment of the collective pressure.