Abstract Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) has been heralded as the key means of achieving a more integrated approach to marine use across sectors and spatial scales. Achieving greater integration and coherence in MSP governance arrangements is seen as a way to resolve current problems of marine governance (such as fragmentation) and address future resource demands in a sustainable way. However, there is a lack of clarity and consensus in practice regarding sustainability in MSP, both in terms of MSP governance practices and sustainable resource use. For example, how are we to treat the environment in MSP? Should we conceive the environment as just another sector with interests to be negotiated, or as the very boundary condition that limits possibilities for maritime activities and developments? How do we integrate diverse views on this in MSP decision-making? This is but one example of an integration challenge in MSP important for sustainability. There are numerous others. Integration is intimately connected to the ability of MSP to deliver sustainable marine resource use at various levels and scales. The roles of integration are diverse and interconnected, including those that affect social-ecological integration or land-sea interaction, but also aspects of good governance and social sustainability. The latter include inter-sectoral decisionmaking, stakeholder engagement, cross-border interaction and knowledge pluralism. How integration is exercised in these procedural aspects of MSP is likely to substantively affect outcomes both in terms of sustainable blue growth or the ability to deliver an ecosystem-based approach. Integration as a policy and analytical problem to be addressed has also been discussed elsewhere – most saliently in the fields of sustainable development, ICZM, environmental policy integration, planning theory and socio-ecological systems. While there has been some work on integration in MSP, additional insight is needed: to better empirically ground the roles of integration in MSP, to understand the multidimensionality and interdependencies of integration dimensions and to unpack what ‘balance’ might mean for understanding and pursuing sustainability in different MSP contexts. In response, this special issue aims to explore the roles, problems and opportunities of various types of integration in relation to MSP's sustainability ambitions.

中文翻译：

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海洋空间规划和可持续性：检查整合的作用 - 规模、政策、利益相关者和知识

摘要 海洋空间规划 (MSP) 被誉为实现跨部门和跨空间尺度的更综合海洋利用方法的关键手段。在 MSP 治理安排中实现更大程度的整合和连贯性被视为解决当前海洋治理问题（如碎片化）和以可持续方式解决未来资源需求的一种方式。然而，在 MSP 治理实践和可持续资源利用方面，实践中缺乏关于 MSP 可持续性的明确性和共识。例如，我们如何对待 MSP 中的环境？我们是否应该将环境视为另一个需要谈判的部门，或者作为限制海上活动和发展可能性的边界条件？我们如何在 MSP 决策中整合对此的不同观点？这只是 MSP 中对可持续性很重要的集成挑战的一个例子。还有很多其他的。整合与 MSP 在不同层面和规模上提供可持续海洋资源利用的能力密切相关。整合的作用是多样且相互关联的，包括影响社会-生态整合或陆海互动的作用，以及善治和社会可持续性的各个方面。后者包括跨部门决策、利益相关者参与、跨境互动和知识多元化。如何在 MSP 的这些程序方面进行整合可能会对可持续蓝色增长或提供基于生态系统方法的能力产生实质性影响。整合作为需要解决的政策和分析问题也在其他地方进行了讨论——最突出的是在可持续发展、ICZM、环境政策整合、规划理论和社会生态系统领域。虽然在 MSP 中已经有一些关于集成的工作，但还需要更多的洞察力：更好地以经验为基础确定集成在 MSP 中的作用，理解集成维度的多维性和相互依赖性，并解开“平衡”对于理解和追求可持续性可能意味着什么在不同的 MSP 上下文中。对此，本期特刊旨在探讨角色，