Abstract

Marine Spatial Planning with Seasketch
Track: Ocean, Coastal, and Marine Resources
Authors: Will McClintock, Chad Burt

Marine spatial planning (MSP) requires the use of decision support tools for visualizing, analyzing and modeling geospatial information. Historically, these tools have been designed for those with specialized knowledge of GIS and not the average stakeholder. Tools that can be used by anyone, regardless of their technical ability, will increase buy-in, transparency, and efficiency in planning. Furthermore, web-based decision support tools can be developed to facilitate communication and collaboration amongst disparate stakeholders and encourage participation by more users over a broader geographic region. I will discuss SeaSketch (seasketch.org), a web-based collaborative GeoDesign application for MSP that will be deployed first by the New Zealand Department of Conservation in the summer of 2012. Offered as a software service, Seasketch may be used by any number of planning projects to engage non-technical users in a marine spatial planning process.