scholarly journals The politics of Estonia’s offshore wind energy programme: Discourse, power and marine spatial planning

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Tafon ◽  
David Howarth ◽  
Steven Griggs
Keyword(s):  
Wind Energy ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Marine Spatial Planning ◽  
Offshore Wind Energy ◽  
Community Resistance ◽  
Planning Processes ◽  
Core Issues

There is growing recognition that marine spatial planning is an inherently political process marked by a clash of discourses, power and conflicts of interest. Yet, there are very few attempts to make sense of and explain the political practices of marine spatial planning protests in different contexts, especially the way that planners and developers create the conditions for the articulation of objections, and then develop new strategies to negotiate and mediate community resistance. Using poststructuralist discourse theory, the article analyses the politics of a proposed offshore wind energy project in Estonia within the context of the country’s marine spatial planning processes. First, through the lens of politicization, it explores the strategies of political mobilization and the rival discourses of expertise and sustainability through which residents and municipal actors have contested the offshore wind energy project. Secondly, through the lens of depoliticization, it explains the discursive and legalistic strategies employed by developers, planners and an Administrative Court to displace – spatially and temporally – the core issues of contestation, thus legitimizing the offshore wind energy plan. We argue that the spaces created by the pre-planning conjuncture offered the most conducive conditions for residents to voice concerns about the proposed project in a dialogical fashion, whereas the marine spatial planning and post-planning phases became mired in a therapeutic-style consultation, set alongside rigid and unreflexive interpretations and applications of legality. We conclude by setting out the limits of the Estonian marine spatial planning as a process for resolving conflicts, while offering an alternative model of handling such public controversies, which we call pragmatic adversarialism.

scholarly journals The social and political realities of marine spatial planning: some land-based reflections

2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (7) ◽  
pp. 1535-1541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Kidd ◽  
Dave Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Planning Theory ◽  
Marine Spatial Planning ◽  
Planning Systems ◽  
Plan Implementation ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
Planning Processes

Abstract This paper highlights the value for marine spatial planning (MSP) of engaging with terrestrial planning theory and practice. It argues that the traditions of reflection, critique, and debate that are a feature of land-based planning can inform the development of richer theoretical underpinnings of MSP as well as MSP practice. The case is illustrated by tempering the view that MSP can be a rational planning process that can follow universal principles and steps by presenting an alternative perspective that sees MSP as a social and political process that is highly differentiated and place-specific. This perspective is discussed with reference to four examples. First, the paper considers why history, culture, and administrative context lead to significant differences in how planning systems are organized. Second, it highlights that planning systems and processes tend to be in constant flux as they respond to changing social and political viewpoints. Third, it discusses why the integration ambitions which are central to “spatial” planning require detailed engagement with locally specific social and political circumstances. Fourth, it focuses on the political and social nature of plan implementation and how different implementation contexts need to inform the design of planning processes and the style of plans produced.

scholarly journals Revisiting Approaches to Marine Spatial Planning: Perspectives on and Implications for the United States

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison W. Bates
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Marine Spatial Planning ◽  
Spatial Allocation ◽  
Multiple Pressures ◽  
Integrated Assessments

Marine spatial planning (MSP) offers an operational framework to address sustainable and well-planned use of ocean space. Spatial allocation has traditionally been single-sector, which fails to account for multiple pressures on the marine environment and user conflicts. There is a need for integrated assessments of ocean space to advance quantitative tools and decision-making. Using the example of offshore wind energy, this article offers thoughts about how MSP has evolved in the United States and how the varying scales of MSP achieve different outcomes. Finally, a review of quantitative and qualitative studies that are needed to support MSP are presented.

scholarly journals ADAPTATION OF THE OFFSHORE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT ASSESSMENT MODEL TO THE SEA OF AZOV FOR THE PURPOSES OF MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 23-27
Author(s):  
N.V. Likhtanskaya ◽  
◽  
S.V. Berdnikov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
Coastal Zone ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Marine Spatial Planning ◽  
Sea Of Azov ◽  
The Sea Of Azov

The development of alternative energy is increasingly associated with offshore wind energy, as stronger offshore winds and the proximity of high-voltage onshore power plants produce highly profitable clean energy, making the sector attractive for long-term investment. Therefore, for the purposes of marine spatial planning, a model was chosen that allows assessing the potential for energy production and its cost under various design scenarios for offshore wind farms in the coastal zone, as well as assessing avoided carbon emissions (since wind turbines do not generate greenhouse gases). The model was tested and adapted to the conditions of the Sea of Azov. The technique of selection and preparation of the localized data necessary for the operation of the model, visualization and interpretation of the modeling results using the capabilities of the R programming language and the ArcGIS software environment has been worked out. The calculation of the input data on the distribution of wind speed was carried out on the basis of the ERA-Interim reanalysis data (the Weibull distribution function parameters values used to describe the distribution of wind speeds over a long period of time were calculated at the nodes of the regular grid). The application of the model will allow estimating the density of wind energy in various parts of the Azov Sea coastal zone and to identify the potential sites for the placement of coastal wind energy facilities with the highest productivity and the lowest energy cost based on wind speed data using various economic and technical parameters of the facilities being placed.

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