Multi-Layered Collaborative Marine Governance Model

Marine ecosystems are currently facing substantial stress due to a series of global challenges that have escalated in both magnitude and impact. These challenges include but are not limited to climate change, which is leading to an increase in sea temperatures and sea-level rise; biodiversity loss, leading to disbalance in marine ecosystems; and pollution, particularly from plastics, which is causing pervasive harm not only to marine species and habitats but also to human activities such as fishing and tourism. The individual and cumulative effects of these pressures illustrate the triple planetary crisis that impact marine and coastal environments, potentially irreversibly damaging the ecological balance of the planet and undermining livelihoods, particularly for communities that most rely on marine resources.

The global scale combined with the complexities of these challenges requires a transformative approach to governance. However, current marine governance approaches are marked by fragmentation across jurisdictional and sectoral lines, resulting in incoherent and ineffective policies and practices that fail to achieve ocean conservation and sustainability objectives. The fragmented nature of governance, where different actors operate with varying goals and regulations, is further exacerbated by a lack of coordination among the various actors involved in marine governance, including governmental bodies, non-governmental organizations, industry stakeholders, and civil society.

The European Union established the European Green Deal (EGD) as a strategic vision and overarching framework that aims to foster sustainable practices and drive a transition towards a climate-neutral and sustainable economy. It encompasses a range of objectives, including cutting emissions, investing in renewable energy, fostering biodiversity, and reducing pollution. A central component of the EGD’s approach to governance is the incorporation of e-governance and digital strategies, such as the development of digital twins—virtual representations of marine environments that can be used for monitoring, simulation, multi-party marine spatial planning, and decision-making. These technological innovations offer the promise to enhance governance capabilities by providing real-time data and predictive analytics, thus allowing for more informed and agile policy responses.

Unlocking the EGD's digital, and its broader potential, depends however on its implementation, which is complex as it requires not only the translation of various objectives into national policies affecting different actors and sectors but also ensuring compliance with these policies. This holds also true for the marine domain, where this process involves the transposition of EU directives into national laws and regulations, as well as the on-the-ground implementation activities, such as the designation and management of marine protected areas and offshore wind energy parks.

The dynamics of multi-layered governance introduce additional layers of complexity to this process, as decision-making and implementation involve a multitude of actors operating across various governance levels—local, national, regional, EU, and global. This then requires coherent policy integration and coordination across all scales, particularly in the marine domain, which is managed by various governance structures responsible for different sectors. This is especially true for the governance of maritime transport, marine life, marine energy, and marine plastics. These sectors are each governed by their own specialized frameworks, often referred to as “regime complexes,” which present their own set of institutional barriers and policy challenges. These barriers include, for example, bureaucratic challenges, conflicting policies between different governance levels, and challenges in stakeholder engagement.

PERMAGOV introduces a model that helps understand how marine governance arrangements change and innovate over time, and how their performance can influence the implementation of EGD’s objectives. The problem that the MLCMG model tries to address is multifaceted: it involves navigating the complexity and fragmentation of marine governance, understanding and responding to the global environmental challenges facing our seas and oceans, implementing the EGD's ambitious objectives in a sector-specific and context-sensitive manner, and overcoming institutional barriers within diverse marine regime complexes.

With this model, we intend to advance scholarly understandings of marine governance by interrogating their arrangements as collaborative and essentially shaped by multiple levels and multiple actors (e.g., interactions between governments, international organizations, industry, society). Moreover, by having evaluated the model through focus groups with relevant stakeholders in the marine domain, it is our intention that the model can be used as an analytical tool to evaluate the implementation of EGD goals.

Learn about the model