NESB project / VASAB

The NESBp project supports the Greater North Sea Basin Initiative (GNSBI) in fostering international cooperation for maritime spatial planning (MSP) in the North Sea basin, with close ties to the Baltic Sea region. It aims to strengthen collaboration among North Sea countries and between the North Sea and Baltic Sea regions. By linking GNSBI with HELCOM-VASAB MSP Working Group, the project promotes knowledge sharing and networking across sea basins to enable strategic, efficient MSP, building on insights from the eMSP NBSR project and other EU Green Deal MSP initiatives.

NESBp seeks to overcome siloed approaches by connecting international efforts, aligning marine plans, and encouraging integrative, multi-perspective cooperation. It supports the GNSBI in promoting more cohesive international collaboration and better-connected work among existing cooperation bodies.

VASAB – Vision and Strategies around the Baltic Sea is leading NESB project's communication. VASAB is long-established intergovernmental cooperation of ministers, dedicated to spatial planning and territorial development at the macro-regional level, sharing a joint vision and implementing agreed actions. Guided by the VASAB Vision 2040, VASAB develops policy options for a sustainable, resilient, and inclusive Baltic Sea Region while serving as a platform for knowledge exchange among its member countries - Estonia, Finland, Germany (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein Lands), Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden. As the Policy Area ‘Spatial Planning’ coordinator within the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, VASAB oversees land-based spatial planning and, together with HELCOM, co-coordinates maritime spatial planning at the sea-basin scale. Since 2010, the HELCOM-VASAB Maritime Spatial Planning Working Group has provided a common regional framework and principles to ensure coherent MSP processes across the Baltic Sea, aligning with the long-term objectives and supporting the implementation of both the VASAB Vision 2040 and the Baltic Sea Action Plan.