Dear Colleagues,

Marine and coastal areas generate several ecosystem services with high economic value and social relevance. The increasing use of the ocean space highlighted the need for a specific plan to regulate the human activities allowing to limit the impacts that maritime activities exert on the environment and at the same time, to foster the blue economies encouraging new investment and cross-border cooperation.

Marine spatial planning (MSP) represents a key tool helping to achieve a more integrated approach to marine uses across different sectors and spatial scales, enabling to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. MSP is seen as an effective way to ensure the future exploitation of ocean space thanks to the application of decision support tools, involving different stakeholders through a participatory process, and addressing resource demands in a sustainable way under a holistic ecosystem approach.

The goal of this Special Issue is therefore to promote holistic and multidisciplinary research on the MSP adaptation and mitigation strategies to new environmental challenges, through novel approaches, conceptual frameworks and the development of decision support tools for a sustainable MSP. This Special Issue will give priority to articles presenting innovative methodologies and approaches for the monitoring and evaluation of MSP plans, with a special emphasis on current and future environmental, social and economic sustainability. The synthesis of existing knowledge through exhaustive reviews of the literature will also be included.

As part of the aforementioned challenges, some of the potential Special Issue topics are connected, but not limited, to the following:

• Marine ecosystem service capacity and impact assessment;
• Use of remote sensing technologies for MSP;
• MSP adaptation and mitigation strategies to new environmental challenges (e.g., climate change);
• Decision support tools for a sustainable MSP;
• Monitoring and evaluation of the MSP (novel approaches, conceptual frameworks, etc.);
• Participatory processes for design of holistic MSP plans;
• Cross-border cooperation;
• Maritime activities optimisation

Dr. Andrea Barbanti
Dr. Stefano Menegon
Dr. Erika M.D. Porporato
Guest Editors

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• decision support tools for a sustainable MSP
• marine ecosystem services
• monitoring and evaluation of the MSP
• blue growth
• sustainable development goals, climate change
• adaptive plan
• participatory approach
• conflicts
• co- and multi-use