Multi-use of the sea: a wide array of opportunities from site-specific cases across Europe

The concept of multi-use of the sea has increased popularity in the last decades with ocean space getting increasingly crowded due to the development of maritime economy. The concept of multi-use is based on the idea that competing claims for space can be a source of conflicts but may also lead to mutual benefits for the different users when smart combinations are sought. Despite increasing European-wide efforts, on-the-ground knowledge and practice on multi-use are still limited. With the aim to investigate opportunities for multi-use development in the European seas, ten case studies were selected from different site-specific contexts. This paper analyses characteristics and potential of ocean multi-use development by integrating outcomes from desk analysis and perceptions of stakeholders from different action arenas in each of the study areas. Commonalities and contrasts amongst different combinations of sea uses and cases are discussed. The results show a high heterogeneity of multi-uses opportunities across the cases, with many different combinations identified. The examined cases shared an overall balance between factors promoting (drivers) and hindering (barriers) multi-use development /strengthening, and the prevalence in stakeholders’ opinion of expected benefits (added values) of multi-use implementation on its possible negative impacts. Actions required at local, regional (sub-national), and national levels to further exploit the potential of multi-use are proposed.