Social and cultural values - in contrast to environmental and economic data - are relatively poorly recognized. Their incorporation into planning processes on the sea, and to less extent on the land, is limited. This is especially true in relation to intangible cultural heritage, which is understood as values that people place on marine ecosystems.

The Polish case study aims to address this gap by testing a specific MSP support framework that incorporates cultural values into planning processes in the Gulf of Gdansk area. We also plan to explore how cultural values are currently recognized by the tourist sector in the region, and what can be done to stimulate Blue Growth within the tourist businesses. We plan to (1) identify and assess tangible and intangible cultural heritage in the case study area, (2) identify and describe competition for space between different sectors and the cultural values identified, (3) identify and assess barriers and opportunities to support transition of local tourism towards a more culturally- and environmentally-oriented model, and finally (4) test a framework that better incorporates cultural values into MSP.

In the first phase – stocktaking – we will analyse levels and forms of cultural heritage incorporation into current managerial initiatives in the case study area with the focus on MSP. Based on a literature review, we will identify major drawbacks in the current methods used to assess cultural values for the planning purposes. We will further adapt and test a dedicated framework that includes cultural values into the planning processes. These activities will not be successful if performed without an involvement of local communities and relevant stakeholders. Stakeholder dialogue (including stakeholder mapping and analysis) will be run in parallel with stocktaking, to identify cultural values and incorporate them into the tested MSP support framework. Stakeholder dialogue will include direct interactions selected actors through interviews and dedicated workshops.

In the next step – scenario building -- we plan to evaluate current managerial processes in the case study area in order to assess how cultural heritage is being managed and how cultural heritage can change under different managerial scenarios. Here, we will also ensure stakeholder input that is crucial to build reliable scenarios., This step will also assess how cultural heritage is currently used in the tourism in the area and how tourism can be improved in the light of local (municipality) and regional (provincial) strategies.

Finally, we plan to focus on capacity building and present both the framework and the results of cultural values assessment to interested stakeholders in the area. We plan to focus on managerial/planning agencies, the representatives of the municipalities, and the tourism sector to investigate barriers and opportunities for a better incorporation of cultural values into their daily practices, i.e., planning and business.