The MARE 2025 People & the Sea Conference (24–27 June, Amsterdam) brought together the global marine social science community to reflect on how we can navigate tensions, negotiate trade-offs, and pursue transformations for sustainable and inclusive ocean governance. With its focus on marine policy coherence and institutional integration, the CrossGov project had a strong presence across multiple sessions, presentations, and collaborative exchanges.
CrossGov was actively present throughout the conference, sharing research, fostering dialogue, and collaborating across projects to advance more coherent and transformative marine governance.
Key Highlights from CrossGov at MARE 2025
Joint session with sister projects
The CrossGov team started its conference activities by contributing to the joint session with PERMAGOV EU, BlueGreen Governance, MSP4BIO, and Source to Seas- zero pollution 2030, a timely discussion on the integration of environmental policies across freshwater and marine systems.
- Gunnar Sander shared insights on institutional requirements for coherence across directives like the WFD and MSFD, drawing from real-world case studies.
- The session was moderated by Benjamin Boteler, who helped facilitate a productive exchange between researchers and policy experts working at the intersection of environmental, marine, and freshwater governance.
This session provided a strong foundation for the rest of the conference by emphasising the importance of cross-realm policy integration — a core focus of both CrossGov and PERMAGOV.
Policy Coherence in the Mediterranean
Ginevra Capurso presented “Competing interests in the Mediterranean: Analysing the policy coherence between marine conservation and fisheries” on behalf of Dr Sašo Gorjanc, Laura Bastide, Emiliano Ramieri, Andrea Barbanti, and Sarah Loudin. The presentation addressed institutional fragmentation in the Mediterranean and explored tensions in balancing conservation and resource use.
CrossProject Collaboration
A joint presentation by Paulina Ramirez-Monsalve, Jonas Kyrönviita, and Maria Hadjimichael highlighted the role of local communities in enhancing marine policy coherence. This session built bridges between the CrossGov and EmpowerUs EU projects, emphasizing inclusive governance approaches.
Poster Presentations
Two CrossGov posters generated significant interest:
MOOC Launch: The new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on marine governance was officially launched at the conference. Developed by Giulia Cecchi, Olga Mashkina, and Laura Bastide, the course is now open to learners worldwide.
Directive Integration: The second poster, “Navigating Policy Integration”, examined how the EU’s Water Framework Directive (WFD), Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), and Maritime Spatial Planning Directive (MSPD) interact. Developed by Paulina Ramirez-Monsalve and colleagues, it highlighted challenges and opportunities in aligning these major frameworks.
CrossGov-led Sessions: Dialogue, Roleplay, and Real-World Insights
“Navigating the Waves of Change”
A morning session organized and chaired by Paulina Ramirez-Monsalve and Laura Friedrich engaged participants in roleplay-based scenarios to explore solutions for overcoming tensions between:
- Fisheries and biodiversity
- Offshore wind development and marine ecosystems
- Integration across the MSFD, WFD, and MSPD frameworks
The session was kicked off by the coordinator of the project, Froukje Maria Platjouw, with a presentation on explaining policy coherence. The session emphasized the importance of improving policy coherence for achieving sustainable ocean governance.
“Planning for Transformation”
Later in the day, CrossGov hosted a session chaired by Laura Bastide focusing on case study insights from:
- The Oslofjord, presented by Saskia Trubbach and Gunnar Sander
- The Finnish Archipelago Sea, shared by Teppo Linjama and Niko Soininen
- The French Mediterranean region, presented by Laura Bastide
Later in the day, CrossGov hosted a session chaired by Laura Bastide focusing on case study insights from:
Offshore Wind & Biodiversity in the North Sea
To conclude CrossGov’s contributions, Maaike Knol-Kauffman presented new research on “Balancing offshore wind energy development and marine biodiversity: A comparative policy coherence analysis for the North Sea.” The study offers a critical look at how renewable energy expansion can align with biodiversity protection goals—stay tuned for a forthcoming scientific publication
