Blue governance: sustainable port governance

Abstract

This research presents a proposal for a study of governance from the perspective presented in the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) of the European Union, which seeks to provide coherence to the problems in the maritime sector through the coordination of all stakeholders in the maritime sector. The objective of this research is to identify the barriers and the problems that occur when a Member State tries to implement the Integrated Maritime Policy in the governmental organization of marine spaces. The challenge is to achieve ‘blue governance’ i.e.the activation of a network of cooperation between the different stakeholders of the port sectors so as to be able to integrate the different regional, national, European and international levels with the purpose of establishing a structured, systematic collaboration framework.