The aim of the project was to support social participation in the process of developing, for the first time in Poland, the plan for sea areas management. The project was an extension of the activities of the sea administration to include and additional level of local social consultations conducted directly in selected seaside localities.
The most important achievement of the project was providing support for local stakeholders in the process of filing comments to the sea management plan and raising awareness of local communities in the hitherto unknown in Poland planning process.
21 consultation meetings were conducted with local stakeholders and experts, including: eight local information seminars in Gdynia, Władysławowo, Łeba, Ustka, Darłowo, Kołobrzeg, Świnoujście and Szczecin, eight local consultation seminars in the above mentioned localities, three local debates in Gdynia, Słupsk and Szczecin, and two expert seminars with participation of the project Partners, invited experts and the representatives of the sea administration.
Over 300 persons from all groups of stakeholders (fishers groups, local government, businesses from the sea sector, institutions responsible for natural and environmental protection, social and ecological organisations) took part in the local consultations.
Under the planning workshops over 150 comments and proposals were gathered concerning the plan for sea areas management, and they were forwarded to the sea administration in the form of a report prepared in cooperation with the project Partners.
The participation of Partners – the Sea Institute from Gdańsk and the Sea Research Institute from Bergen – helped the participants of the project to acquire expert knowledge on sea areas management and on the existing state and methods of using sea areas. The Norwegian partner presented their experiences in public participation during developing sea management plans in Norway.