The Strategic Partnership for Marine Spatial Planning (SPMSP) aims towards the development of a European higher education landscape in the emerging field of marine or maritime spatial planning. SPMSP is going to address current economic issues and problems on EU level, while involving research, administrative organizations and practitioners to reach a common understanding and to deliver blueprints for international and transdisciplinary approaches to modern higher education on MSP. SPMSP develops a common European education agenda exemplified for the Atlantic, Baltic Sea and North Sea Regions, while promoting transnational cooperation of experts in research and practice to overcome isolated individual schemes on current MSP training and higher education. Existing structures will be modernised and improved, while SPMSP simultaneously fosters synergies between education, administration and stakeholders. Improvement of curricula, exchange of knowledge and experts, and transparency and recognition of learning outcomes to reach higher qualifications in MSP are key in implementing this topic into the education landscape properly.Five partner organization from four European countries joint to strengthen the implementation of MSP which is driven by European policies. The University of Oldenburg (D, lead partner), the University of Liverpool (U.K.), the University of Nantes (F), the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (D) and the University of Applied Science Breda (NL) consitute the partnership. Furthermore, three international organizations, the Marine Spatial Planning Research Network, the Baltic inter-governmental VASAB and the pan-Nordic Nordregio will be involved in the partnership as associated organisations deeply rooted in the MSP practice.Various activities on intellectual outputs, multiplier events and lecturing will be carried out by all participating organizations. First, a MSP Arena will be developed. The Arena is an online platform for students, practitioners and lecturers for the exchange of information, data, documents, courses, projects and further offers that can be used, discussed and shared. Subsequently, a generic educational course module ‘Foundations of MSP’ will be developed and implemented at various universities. It aims towards the transnational and practical understanding of the governance and spatial planning of the marine environment. It will be composed of lectures, seminars and virtual colloquiums and optional joint excursions. Multiplier event sessions will be held to communicate and to widespread the SPMSP activities with representatives of other universities and institutions. Lastly, different teaching and training activities, as intensive programmes (i.e., also introducing the MSP Challenge serious gaming approach as core of a course unit), transnational research programmes (e.g. collaborative Bachelor / Master thesis), and a MSP Road Show for joint excursions and the short term mobilities for guest lecturer will complete the agenda. Annual project management meetings will assure coherence in project planning and implementation.SPMSP is to deliver new transnational learning strategies, develop new skills, exchange knowledge, simplify the access to information and add know-how to the rising topic of MSP driven by current EU policies. Outcomes of the project will have long lasting effects at and particularly after project lifetime.