Under the Surface: Climatic and Societal Challenges in Marine Spatial Planning in the Westfjords of Iceland
As the global climate is changing dramatically, the Westfjords of Iceland are facing a multitude of challenges, including changing weather patterns, sea level rise, and invasive species. In order to cope with the recent climatic changes—many of which present great uncertainties to livelihoods—strate...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2225-1154/11/8/172/ 2023-09-05T13:17:38+02:00 Under the Surface: Climatic and Societal Challenges in Marine Spatial Planning in the Westfjords of Iceland Maria Wilke Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir agris 2023-08-17 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11080172 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cli11080172 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Climate; Volume 11; Issue 8; Pages: 172 marine spatial planning environmental change coastal zone planning arctic climate change governance participation Text 2023 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11080172 2023-08-20T23:53:00Z As the global climate is changing dramatically, the Westfjords of Iceland are facing a multitude of challenges, including changing weather patterns, sea level rise, and invasive species. In order to cope with the recent climatic changes—many of which present great uncertainties to livelihoods—strategies must be developed to plan and adapt for the future. Iceland has recently launched marine spatial planning (MSP) endeavours, and one of the first planning processes has been conducted in the Westfjords. MSP presents opportunities for authorities, stakeholders, and the public to come together to forge a sustainable path ahead for marine areas that are under increasing pressure from human activities. However, MSP comes with its own considerable challenges as it attempts to engage stakeholders and the general public in decisions about an ‘invisible’ space largely beneath the surface of the sea. In this paper, the uncertainties of the environmental changes will be explored in conjunction with the multitude of societal challenges to coastal and marine planning in the Westfjords to establish Iceland’s unique context for MSP and to make recommendations for its development. Data from the planning documents as well as from semi-structured interviews and a workshop conducted in the Westfjords will be analysed and discussed. The results show both an urgent environmental need to take action to adapt to ongoing climate change effects and a complex societal structure that favours those who already have power and influence over others. Our recommendations include reforming the Icelandic MSP process with a view to strengthening the public participatory channels as well as the transparency, trust, and accessibility of the process. Text Arctic Climate change Iceland MDPI Open Access Publishing Arctic Climate 11 8 172 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
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ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
marine spatial planning environmental change coastal zone planning arctic climate change governance participation |
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marine spatial planning environmental change coastal zone planning arctic climate change governance participation Maria Wilke Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir Under the Surface: Climatic and Societal Challenges in Marine Spatial Planning in the Westfjords of Iceland |
topic_facet |
marine spatial planning environmental change coastal zone planning arctic climate change governance participation |
description |
As the global climate is changing dramatically, the Westfjords of Iceland are facing a multitude of challenges, including changing weather patterns, sea level rise, and invasive species. In order to cope with the recent climatic changes—many of which present great uncertainties to livelihoods—strategies must be developed to plan and adapt for the future. Iceland has recently launched marine spatial planning (MSP) endeavours, and one of the first planning processes has been conducted in the Westfjords. MSP presents opportunities for authorities, stakeholders, and the public to come together to forge a sustainable path ahead for marine areas that are under increasing pressure from human activities. However, MSP comes with its own considerable challenges as it attempts to engage stakeholders and the general public in decisions about an ‘invisible’ space largely beneath the surface of the sea. In this paper, the uncertainties of the environmental changes will be explored in conjunction with the multitude of societal challenges to coastal and marine planning in the Westfjords to establish Iceland’s unique context for MSP and to make recommendations for its development. Data from the planning documents as well as from semi-structured interviews and a workshop conducted in the Westfjords will be analysed and discussed. The results show both an urgent environmental need to take action to adapt to ongoing climate change effects and a complex societal structure that favours those who already have power and influence over others. Our recommendations include reforming the Icelandic MSP process with a view to strengthening the public participatory channels as well as the transparency, trust, and accessibility of the process. |
format |
Text |
author |
Maria Wilke Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir |
author_facet |
Maria Wilke Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir |
author_sort |
Maria Wilke |
title |
Under the Surface: Climatic and Societal Challenges in Marine Spatial Planning in the Westfjords of Iceland |
title_short |
Under the Surface: Climatic and Societal Challenges in Marine Spatial Planning in the Westfjords of Iceland |
title_full |
Under the Surface: Climatic and Societal Challenges in Marine Spatial Planning in the Westfjords of Iceland |
title_fullStr |
Under the Surface: Climatic and Societal Challenges in Marine Spatial Planning in the Westfjords of Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Under the Surface: Climatic and Societal Challenges in Marine Spatial Planning in the Westfjords of Iceland |
title_sort |
under the surface: climatic and societal challenges in marine spatial planning in the westfjords of iceland |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11080172 |
op_coverage |
agris |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Iceland |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Iceland |
op_source |
Climate; Volume 11; Issue 8; Pages: 172 |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cli11080172 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11080172 |
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Climate |
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11 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
172 |
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