Gulf of Bothnia as Resource for Sustainable Growth (SmartSea)

Public description of the goals at the beginning of the project

SmartSea is estimating regional climate and economical changes at the Gulf of Bothnia, building maritime spatial planning tools for decision making, providing guidelines for coastal and off-shore planning (wind mill parks, aquaculture etc.) and creating a strategy for a sustaible Blue Growth.

Public description of the results at the end of the project

An overall objective of the SmartSea project was to provide science-based guidance for decision-making and sustainable utilisation of the marine resources in the Gulf of Bothnia. In this project, we have located key areas of natural resources and ecosystem, estimated physical, biogeochemical and human activity changes, assessed impacts, risks and opportunities of climate change, provided solutions to enhance energy and food production as well as interacted with MSP planners, industry, local authorities and policy makers. Our solution for a sustainable development of the Gulf of Bothnia is to protect at least 30 % of marine areas by 2030, concentrate wind energy production outside the coastal regions, integrate offshore activities, develop automated environmental monitoring and modeling systems and apply an ecosystem approach to maritime spatial planning.