This policy brief looks at ways to integrate Indigenous and local knowledge in the increasingly digitalised process of marine spatial planning. It examines challenges and opportunities and presents 7 key messages for a better process, drawn from experiences in the North Atlantic.
The increased use of digital tools and data can improve marine spatial planning (MSP), but it also risks favouring information that can be easily digitalised or quantified. Indigenous and local knowledge is an important part of MSP, but harder to catch with digital tools.
This brief argues that the digital transformation of marine spatial planning is primarily a governance challenge rather than a technical one. How digital tools and data support or undermine the inclusion of Indigenous and local communities in planning processes depends less on the tools themselves, but on the intentions, assumptions and decisions that guide their use.
It presents 7 key messages aimed at promoting a more just and equitable integration of Indigenous and local knowledge into increasingly digital marine spatial planning processes:
- Implement MSP as a continuous, purpose-driven process.
- Enhance capacity and reflexivity among planning authorities.
- Establish clear institutional guidelines and roles.
- Balance local and national interests through multi-level dialogue.
- Design adaptive processes for engaging evolving communities.
- Strengthen local collaboration through peer learning and data accessibility.
- Facilitate regular exchanges between countries across the North Atlantic region.
