Beyond Digitalisation in Marine Spatial Planning: Integrating local and Indigenous knowledge in the North Atlantic

This report presents the outcomes of the writing workshop "Integrating Local Knowledge and Data into Marine Spatial Planning and Management in the North Atlantic", held in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, in September 2025. The workshop brought together researchers and practitioners from across the North Atlantic region to explore how Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) can be better integrated into increasingly digital marine spatial planning (MSP) processes. Through a collaborative writing process, participants developed case studies from their own contexts and worked together to identify key learnings.

The cases, spanning Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Shetland, Greenland and England, ground the discussion in the realities of planning practice across the region and inform a set of reflections on three interconnected challenges: how the design of MSP processes shapes opportunities for ILK integration; how responsibilities for knowledge integration are assigned; and how the complexity of defining who is local affects whose knowledge is recognised and incorporated.

The report concludes with key messages organised around three themes, aimed at supporting more just and equitable integration of ILK into increasingly digital MSP processes.

1. From output-focused to process-oriented planning: MSP should be reframed as a continuous, purpose-driven process with structures for inclusive and iterative engagement embedded throughout.

2. Strengthening institutional capacity: Planning authorities need clearer guidance, stronger reflexivity around how digital tools and data shape planning outcomes and greater collaboration across the region.

3. Identifying local actors while embracing change and continuity: Improved ILK integration requires continuous efforts to understand who is local, balance local and national interests and monitor change over time.