Supported by the RethinkBlue COST Action, Adeline Bas completed a Short-Term Scientific Mission, a comparative study of offshore wind farm (OWF) planning in Spain and France, conducted in collaboration with José Pascual and Angel Lobo at the University of La Laguna in the Canary Islands. The STSM brought together French and Spanish case studies to examine fisher involvement in offshore wind marine spatial planning and to identify key research questions. The scope was subsequently extended to include Portugal, with Portuguese colleagues to be invited to contribute.
The main outcome is a detailed outline for a scientific paper grounded in the interactive governance framework and focused on the “step-zero” phase of OWF planning: the early, institution-building stage in which marine spatial planning processes are established. The paper will assess whether offshore wind planning secures a just space for small-scale fisheries through three dimensions of Blue Justice: recognition, procedure, and distribution. Preliminary findings suggest that France integrated fishers across all three dimensions, while Spain and Portugal initially did not recognise fishers; Portugal’s process remained responsive, whereas Spain’s led to judicial challenges. Follow-up activities include drafting the three case studies, engaging Portuguese expertise and developing a policy brief on step-zero design principles.
