The Working group of the SimWestMed project gathered in St. Julian’s, Malta, on 13 June 2017 to discuss Components and Sub-components of the project. Particular attention was paid to development of the Initial assessment. The partners from the four countries of the project (France, Italy, Malta and Spain) will fulfil a “country fact sheet” that will be merged into a homogeneous synthesis on marine and maritime aspects relevant for MSP in the Western Mediterranean Basin, as a corner stone for the project implementation. The Regional MSP Platform was also at stake, as well as the issues related to land-sea interactions, interactions between uses, cumulative impacts, data and information requirements, and other tools that should help the process of developing and proposing a conceptual methodology for a trans-boundary MSP.
PAP/RAC presented the definition and application of MSP as foreseen by the Barcelona Convention, taking into account the relationship between the EU and non-EU member states. Finally, the discussion focused on the preparation of the case studies, where PAP/RAC will also play a co-ordinating role. The cases will allow the partners to get knowledge and experience from the terrain.
The Steering Committee meeting was held on 14 June 2017. The round table discussion focused on national MSP approaches, as well as on management, co-ordination and communication components. A series of next steps and milestones were agreed upon as guidance for the Working group.
