Blue

General Information

North Sea

Baltic Sea

Clyde Marine Region

Adriatic Sea

In each edition of the MSP Challenge, countries are coded by colours. This is to help users to distance themselves a bit from the real-life countries and assume a more playful mode - one where they are in control and can try out new things. The idea is to make plans for a managerial area without thinking too much about the how the real-life politicians and policy-makers from the actual country might think about it. Thus, the countries profiles are explained to the users for context and objective specification only. It is up to the users to decide what they want to achieve in MSP Challenge and how.

Click on the tab corresponding to the edition you are interested in and check the profile of the blue country in that edition.

Blue

Layer Info
Category	Governance
Editable	No
Area Size	59881.66 km2
Utilizing Layer
EEZ
Territorial waters

Country Blue has a relatively small marine presence in the North Sea (large in relation to country size), but has had a strong presence there since the 1960s when oil and gas deposits were found. Fishing has traditionally also had a large presence and commercial fishing is still important but with strong competition with new sectors. The newest on the agenda is green energy forms at sea, particularly wind energy, where country Blue has been leading in years.

The country Blue government has a Blue Growth perspective, which means that exploitation of marine resources is prioritized, with fishing and material extraction as historically important activities. At the same time, there is currently talk about phasing out oil- and gas rigs, while there is also focus on protecting the Dogger Bank part in country Blue sea space.

Country Blue's case concerns planning for a scenario where oil- and gas rigs are completely phased out over 10 years in favour of areas with renewable energy (both wind, wave and current). At the same time, there is competition with existing sectors (like fishing and shipping) and a need to protect and connect representative key habitats. A current concern is also fishers from countries not partnering in the EU's Common Fisheries Policy, who are difficult to negotiate with. Planning border activities is therefore not easy, and collaboration depends on sectors across borders. Special attention needs to be given to the needs of the following three sectors:

1. Commercial fishing (keep areas for all fishing fleets)
2. Renewable energy (misc. renewable energy forms)
3. Environment (conservation and more MPAs)

Meanwhile, the country needs to be mindful of international traffic at sea, both shipping lanes and passenger traffic (i.e. should not/cannot be changed). In addition, any national defence needs must be left unchanged. Also environmental conditions and ecological qualities in the area need to be considered, e.g. wind speed, currents, various species, pressures, biodiversity, etc. that may affect any planned activities.

Country Blue has a relatively small marine presence in the Baltic Sea relative to country size, with a traditional focus on commercial fishing, shipping and tourism. In later years, however, the commercial fishing sector has become less important in favour of green energy forms at sea, particularly wind and wave energy forms, and conservation, between which there are conflicts because of interest in same areas.

For the country's regional authorities, who are responsible for the country's Baltic Sea area, sustainable exploitation of marine resources is important. New opportunities may also appear, as the country is investing strongly in renewable energy, which will result in new marine space to plan new energy activities.

Country Blue's domestic case concerns planning for a scenario where more offshore renewable energy forms are developed. At the same time, there is competition with conservation efforts and shipping, which are both prioritized as well and cannot be compromised. A challenge at the moment is growth strategies in neighbouring countries, especially countries Orange and Yellow.

The country needs to be mindful about international traffic at sea, both shipping lanes and passenger traffic (i.e. should not/cannot be changed). In addition, any national defensive needs must be left unchanged. Finally, attention needs to be paid to environmental conditions and ecological qualities in the area, e.g. wind speed, currents, various species, pressures, biodiversity, etc. that may affect marine activities.

The Blue planning authority is an interesting one, as it purely concerns a sea area, so without any coastline or land area. The area is busy with shipping, as it is a gateway between the all the planning authority areas and more southern areas in the Celtic Sea, as well as Northern Ireland.

The authority wants to ensure the well-established shipping routes are maintained. At the same time the sheer amount of ships travelling in the area to practically all directions is a cause of concern. So the authority wants to increase safety. The authority is weary of the interest in offshore renewable energy in its area. Yes, the waters are shallow enough, but surely there are better areas in the region for this?

Consequently, the authority is looking for a scenario where shipping routes are streamlined and optimized for safety and efficiency, while keeping any interfering new activities at bay. Although there might be some wheeling and dealing possible...

Within the wider Celtic Sea context, the authority needs to be mindful of not just offshore renewable energy interests and sectors coming their way, but also other new 'blue growth'-related developments. It can't just say 'no' to everything all the time; ships don't occupy every inch of the area all the time...

Country Blue has only a very small area in the Adriatic Sea. We recommend nobody actually plays it, but that a session's facilitator represents it if/when they need to (i.e., when sea-basin-wide decisions are made, e.g. concerning IMO routes). That way the facilitator has some opportunities to influence developments when they matter.