Public participation in marine spatial planning in Iceland

Abstract

Introduction: Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) aims at ecosystem-based management of ocean resources that brings different stakeholders and the public together to discuss their conflicts of interest and forge a sustainable path forward. Public participation is a crucial element of MSP to make it democratically legitimate and sustainable in the long-term. MSP was formally introduced by law in Iceland in 2018 and two projects were initiated in the Westfjords and Eastfjords in 2019, with one further planned in Skjálfandi Bay. Methods: To assess the scope and depth of public participation in those MSP projects, data was collected through semi-structured interviews (n=80), conversations, observations and document analysis during the data gathering and proposal stages of the planning processes. Results: The results show that a limited group of people including institutional actors and formal stakeholders had been engaged in the information gathering stages of the process, but in the later phases of decision-making, local community members were notably absent. Discussion/Conclusion: This lack of public participation highlights the need for more in-depth communication about the MSP process and marine issues in the adjacent communities as well as an urgent need for inclusion of the public into marine decision-making and MSP.