MPA Europe was recently represented at two events dedicated to advancing marine protection in Europe: the 2nd European Maritime Spatial Planning Week, held in Brussels from 1 to 5 June 2026, and the Fair Seas World Ocean Week Conference, held in Cork on 3 June 2026.

At the European Maritime Spatial Planning Week, Thanos Smanis joined several group discussion and workshops and shared the short version of MPA Europe’s Policy Brief with participants. The event brought together experts, projects, and stakeholder groups working on Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP), providing an important opportunity to connect MPA Europe’s findings with wider discussions on how MSP can support biodiversity protection, ecosystem-based management, and more coherent marine governance across Europe.

Belinda Bramley also represented MPA Europe at the Fair Seas World Ocean Week Conference in Cork, an event focused on how Ireland can effectively and collaboratively deliver well-managed Marine Protected Areas. The conference brought together ocean advocates, scientists, policy actors, civil society, industry representatives, and coastal stakeholders to discuss the next steps for designating and managing a network of MPAs in Ireland.

Following the event, Belinda was interviewed for RTÉ Radio 1’s CountryWide and featured in an Irish Examiner article on the need to move beyond MPAs as “lines on a map”. In the interview and article, she highlighted a central challenge for marine protection in Europe: designation alone is not enough. MPAs must be effectively managed, clearly communicated, and supported with the resources needed to deliver benefits for biodiversity, fisheries, coastal communities, and climate resilience.

Belinda also emphasised that public trust is closely linked to whether MPAs are seen to work in practice. When protected areas are designated but not actively managed, stakeholders may lose confidence in their purpose and value. Meaningful engagement with communities, clear management plans, and a better understanding of what each MPA is protecting — and from which pressures — are therefore essential to ensure that marine protection delivers real ecological and social benefits.

The short version of the MPA Europe policy brief was also distributed at the Fair Seas Conference, further supporting discussions on how science-based MPA planning can inform marine policy and practice.

Together, these two events provided valuable opportunities to share MPA Europe’s outputs with European and national audiences working to strengthen marine protection. They also reinforced one of the project’s key messages: effective MPA networks must be ecologically representative, connected, well-managed, and integrated into broader marine spatial planning processes.