Micheál Ó Cinnéide

Deriving Lessons Relating to Marine Spatial Planning from Canada's Eastern Scotian Shelf Integrated Management Initiative

Stakeholder participation is viewed as a key element of ecosystem-based marine spatial planning (MSP). There is much debate over the effectiveness of stakeholder participation in ecosystem-based management (EBM) in general and over the form it should take. Particular challenges relating to participation in the marine environment are highlighted. A study of the Eastern Scotian Shelf Integrated Management initiative, which uses a collaborative planning model to implement EBM, is presented in order to explore these issues further. Criteria derived from a review of collaborative planning literature are employed to evaluate the effectiveness of this model, which is found to be a useful consensus-building tool. Although a strategic-level plan has been adopted, the initiative has encountered difficulties transitioning from plan development to plan implementation. These are attributable in large measure to deficiencies in the design of the collaborative model. Useful lessons relating mainly to stakeholder engagement, the role of the lead agency, and implementation strategies are advanced for those engaging in MSP processes.

Integrating strategic environmental assessment into the review process of a development plan in Ireland.

Directive 2001/42/EC requires Member States of the European Union to strategically evaluate and address likely significant environmental effects of certain proposed plans and programmes on the environment. The applications of this process in Ireland came into effect with the adoption of SEA regulations in 2004. The experience of integrating SEA into the review of a local area development plan in Ireland is outlined and critically evaluated in this paper. The SEA process is found to have considerable potential in relation to land-use planning, especially insofar as it appears to facilitate and stimulate an enhanced degree of community participation, but the realization of its full benefits is constrained by operational factors, some of which are attributable to a lack of familiarity with this novel process. Failure to provide adequately in the plan review process for the timely consideration of SEA outputs and an apparent reticence on the part of local decision makers to fully engage with SEA appear to be adversely affecting implementation.

Governance Deficits in Residential Housing Estates in Ireland

The interpretation and operation of planning guidelines relating to private housing estates in Ireland, and the structures for involving residents in their management thereafter, are examined. Institutional and legislative weaknesses underlying the current approaches to estate management have created a range of governance deficits, with potentially longer-term adverse impacts for the development of a sense of local community and for the promotion of participatory democracy and civil society. Drawing on evidence from several recently constructed private housing estates, this paper explores these issues in terms of the institutional context in which planning policies are being administered and the relative position of the relevant stakeholders within this process. An open, participatory approach, that recognises residents as legitimate stakeholders in the process of managing their own estates, is strongly advocated.

Stakeholder Participation in Marine Spatial Planning: Lessons from the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary

Stakeholder participation is advanced as a key element of marine spatial planning (MSP) by the U.S. Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. It provides little guidance, however, regarding stakeholder participation. We argue that much can be learned from existing ecosystem-based marine management initiatives. The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, which utilizes an advisory council to facilitate stakeholder participation, is evaluated in this article with a view to identifying key lessons for new MSP initiatives. A set of criteria, derived from collaborative planning theory, is employed to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach. The advisory council meets some criteria for effective stakeholder participation but is found to be lacking in key elements, including shared purpose and interdependency. Benefits associated with stakeholder participation are constrained accordingly. Deficiencies in the design of the council and its decision-making procedures, requiring attention in order to facilitate more effective stakeholder participation in new MSP initiatives, are highlighted.

The Reality Of The Locality: Exploring Spatial Aspects Of Quality Of Life In Galway City, Ireland

Quality of life is increasingly recognised as a vital component of sustainable urban development. Indicators are used to assess quality of life and to monitor progress towards sustainability over time. An emerging body of literature contends that these indicators need to be derived in close consultation with target populations in order to optimise the extent to which they capture the real determinants of quality of life in particular places. Furthermore, quality of life considerations vary signifi cantly across urban neighbourhoods and consequently the spatial scale at which such studies are conducted may have signifi cant implications for the results obtained. This study focuses on spatial variations in quality of life in Galway, a city of approximately 70,000 people, situated on the west coast of Ireland. Galway is reported as having an exceptionally high quality of life, however, signifi cant variations are found to exist across city neighbourhoods. Factors contributing to this spatial pattern are explored in this paper. An important lesson emerging from this study is that quality of life indicators derived at the neighbourhood level are of utmost importance when assessing the reality of living in different urban settings.

Community-Based Quality of Life Indicators for Urban Areas as Derived in Galway City, Ireland

This paper describes how promoting the quality of life and well-being of citizens is increasingly recognized as an essential component of sustainable urban development. The use of indicators is considered by many to be a key element in giving practical effect to the concept of sustainable cities. However, an emerging body of literature acknowledges that indicators are unlikely to be acceptable or particularly useful unless they are developed in close consultation with their target populations. Community-derived indicators allow individual citizens and communities to express and measure the most important determinants of quality of life for them. This participatory approach raises awareness of elements of the urban environment that are highly valued by citizens and has the potential to contribute to improving local governance. The derivation of quality of life indicators and their observation in urban settings, together with the compilation, analysis, and interpretation of related databases, are highly problematic, not least because the indicators tend to be qualitative in nature and difficult to measure objectively. The use of community-derived quality of life indicators in sustainable urban planning is reviewed in this paper. The process of developing such indicators in Galway (Ireland), one of the fastest growing cities in the European Union (EU) is examined in detail. The manner in which the municipal authority may utilize these indicators to monitor quality of life trends and as a practical tool for bolstering participatory democracy is discussed. This enhanced governance is demonstrated to be a potentially influential process of promoting sustainability practices in cities.

Preparing The Ground For Marine Spatial Planning In Ireland

Marine spatial planning (MSP) is advocated as a means of managing human uses of the sea in a manner that is consistent with the maintenance of the ecological goods and services of the marine environment. The adoption of a system of MSP is seen as urgent in the face of ever-increasing demands on marine resources. This is particularly so in Ireland with its extensive seas, belatedly being recognised as a significant development resource. MSP is promoted by the European Commission (EC) in a recent Green Paper to which Member States of the Union, including Ireland, generally have responded positively. Arising from this consultative process, the EC has published the ‘Blue Book’ that commits support for MSP. It has also issued guidelines for an integrated approach to maritime policy. The recently adopted EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive strengthens the case for implementing MSP as it requires each Member State to develop a strategy for its marine resources. There is evidence that a diverse range of stakeholders at national and local levels in Ireland are positively disposed toward MSP but no practical manifestation of the concept is in place, though some preparatory work is

Promoting local initiative through a community development competition

Abstract A significant thrust toward self-reliant development was initiated by local community groups in Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) areas of Ireland in the late 1960s. Although Gaeltarra Eireann (established in 1957 to promote industrial activities in the Gaeltacht) concentrated on attracting exogenous investment to the area, it also sought to promote a parallel and complementary programme of local development. A community development competition (CDC) is a novel means of encouraging local communities to attempt self-help initiatives. The CDC provides cash prizes for the communities adjudged to have made the greatest progress on various specified fronts during the period of adjudication. Evaluation of the CDC reveals many shortcomings and contradictions. However, the predominant view among Gaeltacht communities and its main sponsor is that the CDC is well worthwhile. The importance of allocating sufficient resources to it is stressed. So too is the need to place the CDC in an overall community development framework and to co-ordinate activities being promoted through it with other activities. The CDC is a limited instrument and only a comprehensive community development programme can realistically be expected to successfully promote self-reliant development among local communities.

Ways to Develop the Competitiveness of the Periphery: The Example of Ireland

The increasing globalization of economic activity and the sudden liberalization of centrally planned economies in eastern Europe have set the countries of Europe on a course of greater and greater economic integration. Within the European Community (EC), this integration process has been enhanced by measures leading to the creation of a single large market which facilitates the free movement of goods and services as well as the various factors of production. Both within the single European market and beyond it, the flows of trade, capital and people across traditional national borders are now increasing substantially, and their pattern within individual countries is adjusting to the growth of international linkages (EC, 1991a). Not surprisingly, this accelerating integration presents new challenges, both opportunities and threats, for peripheral regions. The purpose of this chapter is to outline various measures which are being deployed to improve the competitive position of peripheral regions in order that they shall survive, and indeed capitalize, on the emerging macro-economic situation. The measures are discussed largely in the context of Ireland and the EC, but are considered generally applicable throughout the peripheral regions of Europe.