MSP Symposium

The symposium included three sessions with invited speakers and a fourth roundtable session. The first invited-speaker session focused on how marine spatial planning (MSP) can advance marine conservation and sustainability. The second session addressed the use of geospatial technologies for MSP. Presenters in the third session shared their experiences in collaborating among multi-disciplinary stakeholders and how cross-disciplinary efforts lead to collaboration for improved marine planning processes and outcomes. The final roundtable session allowed for extended discussion in smaller groups of the issues, challenges and opportunities brought up during the speaker sessions. The symposium's participants included policy-makers, academics, students, marine conservationists, planners, and users of the marine environment and its resources – basically, all those interested in ecosystem-based marine spatial planning processes.