News

Mon, 19 Dec 2011

Myton Law and Hull University Joint Collaboration

Following an approach by the University of Hull we have recently agreed to collaborate with them on a funded project concerned with resolving conflicts of use in coastal waters.

The project is a funded initiative under the Higher Education Innovation Funding scheme.

We are delighted to offer the University our resources and assist them with this interesting and ground breaking work.

Coastal waters have long been subject to increased pressure from a range of activities: shipping, fisheries, leisure, military activities, oil and gas production, carbon sequestration, aggregate extraction and disposals. Competition for finite space and resources, and conflicts between users, are recurring maritime themes that have recently intensified with the development of offshore sources of renewable energy, chiefly wind farms. The North East Inshore and Offshore areas are at the forefront of policy and legal initiatives that are designed to optimise use of oceans space and resources. However, there is a limited capacity to deliver legal and operational advice to the various user groups within the region at a time of growing demand for such services, and increasing uncertainty due to rapid change in the regulatory and business environments.

The project will enhance this capacity by establishing the scope for optimising the use of limited space and resources between competing users, and identifying the limitations imposed by current regulatory regimes and business practices. It will draw upon past experience and comparative case studies drawn from other countries to devise optimal strategies for resolving conflicts. This will be achieved in two related and interacting research strands:

a ‘legal’ strand executed in partnership with a local law firm (Myton Law);

a ‘business’ strand conducted in partnership with existing (e.g. fisheries, shipping, leisure) and emerging (e.g. offshore renewables) stakeholders in North East coastal waters.

The objectives of the research are to:

-enhance the capacity of areas of the University to deliver (especially social sciences) to deliver knowledge and skills that will meet regional development opportunities in the area of offshore activities;

-develop understanding of historical and contemporary conflicts over space and natural resources arising from marine activity in the North East Inshore and Offshore maritime areas;

-identify the limitations of the current regulatory and policy regime with regard to resolving such conflicts;

-establish strategies for resolving conflicts of use in coastal waters;

-generate knowledge regarding operational, planning and policy issues pertaining to marine activities;

-build the capacity of local businesses to deal with conflicts of use in marine areas and take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the development of offshore energy generation;

-provide tailored consultancy to local businesses engaged in marine activities;

-deliver advice to the Marine Management Organisation through its consultation process for the development of the Marine Plans for the East Inshore and Offshore areas;

-inform stakeholders (especially incoming businesses) of the economic development, culture and positive attributes of the region through the delivery of CPD programmes;

-contribute to the development of one of the key interdisciplinary themes (‘maritime’) in the University’s 2011-15 Strategic Plan.

We will provide updates of our involvement as the project progresses.