PlanWise4Blue
The Baltic Sea is one of the most intensively used seas of the world and therefore impacted by many burdens affecting the sustainability of the marine environment. Spatial decision support tools (DST) help us to allocate sea space for different human uses without compromising sustainability. The PlanWise4Blue (PW4B) DST tool can be used to estimate cumulative effects of various human activities on nature assets. It does not require special GIS software or GIS knowledge by the user. This knowledge can give decision-makers a head start in assessing the spatial extent of different types of human activity in specific locations.
PW4B tool characteristics
- Open source online tool.
- Based on the best available scientific data.
- Capable of quantifying both single and combined effects of human activities and uses on a broad range of marine nature values.
- The PW4B algorithm is based on spatial maps of environmental data and impact coefficients, which determines expected ecological changes for a given combination of human activities in a selected area.
- PW4B is dynamic: users can upload novel information on the marine environment and this ecological knowledge is then used to quantify cumulative effects.
Further development of the PW4B
The PW4B tool is being regularly updated, i.e. environmental data and knowledge of ecological effects, and when needed, refinements to model algorithms. This will result in enhanced predictions and a reduction in uncertainty in particular regions, as well as the ability to measure the accuracy of the model and to stream-line modelling and calculation processes.
Versions of the PW4B
- PlanWise4Blue - Estonia, Pan Baltic Scope project, ver 1.0
- PlanWise4Blue - Estonia vers 2021, ADRIENNE project, ver 2.0
- PlanWise4Blue - Gulf of Finland, ADRIENNE project, ver 3.0
- PlanWise4Blue - Baltic Sea, MAREA project, ver 4.0 (under development)
