WP6 Maritime Spatial Planning

With the increasing number of stakeholders and activities occurring on the high seas, managing and planning across such open spaces is more important than ever. Fully integrated spatial planning products on basin and regional scales allow stakeholders to explore, and respond to, various scenarios of ocean dynamics and cross-sectoral Blue Growth. The Monitoring and Evaluation of Spatially Managed Areas framework is being used to develop an adaptive Atlantic Marine Strategic Planning approach within ATLAS.

Key objectives

  • Case Studies are used to understand the impact of different governance regimes across the Atlantic basin
  • Harmonised approaches to mapping, habitat classification, ecosystem goods and services valuation, and impact assessment in support of the Atlantic Strategy
  • A framework for joint public/industry data collection to ensure industry EIS/EIA (Environmental Impact Statement/Assessment) compliance is achieved in a more cost-effective manner

Meet the Team

Anhtony GrehanLead: Dr Anthony Grehan (NUI Galway)

Dr Anthony Grehan is a senior research fellow in the School of Natural Sciences. He has over the past 15 years focused his research efforts on the mapping/characterisation, habitat suitability modelling, identification of impacts and conservation of cold-water coral reefs and the sustainable management of deep-sea resources in general. He has extensive experience of working in European funded marine projects and recently coordinated the 11-country, large integrating EU FP7 project: 'CoralFISH' - Ecosystem-based management of deep-sea corals, fish and fisheries (www.eu-fp7-coralfish.net). Dr Grehan is a member of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) working groups on Deep-Sea Ecosystems and Marine Habitat Mapping and has chaired an EC Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) working group evaluating the effectiveness of marine protected areas as tools in fisheries management.

ronan longDeputy: Professor Ronan Long (World Maritime University)

Professor Ronan Long holds the Nippon Foundation Professorial Chair of Ocean Governance and the Law of the Sea at the World Maritime University and lectures on a broad range of ocean governance subjects including the law of the sea, the law of climate change, as well as on multilateral diplomacy and dispute resolution. Previous appointments include a Personal Professorship and the Jean Monnet Chair of European Law at the National University of Ireland Galway, a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Oceans Law and Policy, University of Virginia School of Law and a Senior Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence, Law of the Sea Institute, Berkeley Law, University of California, faculty at the Rhodes Academy Oceans Law and Policy, as well as the United Nations - The Nippon Foundation of Japan Fellowship Programme. In the latter capacity, he has co-supervised mid-career legal professionals from Bangladesh, Mozambique, Myanmar, Guatemala, Sierra Leone, Costa Rica, Namibia and Nigeria. He has a longstanding working relationship with the Korean Maritime Institute including faculty membership of the Yeosu Academy of the Law of the Sea. Prior to his academic career, he was a permanent staff member at the European Commission (1993-2000) and undertook over 40 missions on behalf of the European Institutions to the Member States of the European Union, the United States of America, Canada, Central America as well as to African countries. He acts as an adviser/consultant on oceans law and policy issues and provides commissioned work to a number of government departments, state agencies, foreign governments, the European Commission, as well as to public and private bodies including the OSPAR Commission, the Office of Legal Affairs at the United Nations, the International Hydrographic Organisation, the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas, the North-Sea Regional Advisory Council, the Government of Scotland, and the Forum Fisheries Agency in the Pacific.