Focus of Work: NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) are collaborating across the United States to strengthen spatial planning capabilities, especially as offshore wind and aquaculture farms are increasingly proposed in federal waters. Advancements in digital ocean intelligence and ongoing community engagement are essential for the success of the evolving blue economy. Marine spatial planning holds great promise to support coastal managers, Tribes, environmental organizations, academia, and industry in planning for future coastal and offshore development, including for renewable energy.
Our Approach: Seatone has supported NOAA and BOEM in the planning, facilitation, and documentation of six marine spatial planning workshops across the nation, with more to come. These workshops have included multi-day events in the U.S. Caribbean, along the Atlantic Seaboard, in Guam, and in the Gulf of Mexico. Our team begins by assisting agency conveners to form and utilize a steering committee to design the agenda and facilitation strategies that guide each event. We then facilitate all aspects of the workshop for both on-site and virtual participants. Afterwards, we collaborate closely with federal conveners to analyze the outcomes and present key findings as a NOAA Technical Memo.
Key Outcomes: Each regional workshop has generated a comprehensive list of insights, challenges, and available data across multiple ocean sectors, including natural resources and fisheries, industry and national security, metocean, and the cultural and social resources most valued by residents of the region. Some events brought focus to offshore wind energy or the transmission planning required to connect established wind farms to the land-based grid. Both individually and collectively, these workshops are enhancing communication and collaboration between federal and state agencies, as well as with tribal nations, the fishing sector, environmental NGOs, and the research community.
Click the links below or report cover images to access NOAA Technical Memos that capture the outcomes of different workshops:
- Mapping the Way Forward: Spatial Data Inventory and Insights for Marine Planning in the U.S. Virgin Islands
- Mapping the Way Forward: Spatial Data Inventory and Insights for Marine Planning in Puerto Rico
- Mapping the Way Forward: Spatial Data Inventory and Insights for Marine Planning in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina
Additional workshop reports from other regions are pending in the months ahead.
