Beyond Digitisation 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 re lections 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
de ining 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.
.
.
.
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.
STRENGTHENING INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY: Planning authorities need
clearer guidance, stronger re lexivity around how digital tools and data shape
planning outcomes and greater collaboration across the region.
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.