Based on a literature review of over 160 journal articles and books, this paper examines the ecosystem management and environmental governance approaches, and looks for common topics and integrated research agendas. While scientific articles on environmental governance stem primarily from social science research, the ecosystem management approach is more natural-science-oriented. A review of journal articles from the ISI Web of Knowledge (Web of Science) reveals that the two research communities hardly interact. The paper discusses two thematic linkages between the two approaches: the debates dealing with the scale and level of environmental policy; and the discussions surrounding multi-stakeholder participation. Moreover, the article identifies areas with a high potential for the establishment of common ground, such as the current discussion on science-policy interfaces. We argue for more interaction, claim that the two research approaches can learn from each other, and discuss the potential for the development of interdisciplinary research agendas

This article focuses on the use of the ecosystem approach to management (EAM) in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). Based on selected criteria for EAM, the article traces and compares the impact of EAM on HELCOM's Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP), the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the EU Maritime Spatial Planning Directive (MSPD). Starting from the assumption that institutional interplay determines the impact of the EAM on marine policies, the article examines how different forms of interplay (interplay through cognition, commitment and compliance) affect the spread of EAM and its implementation in the BSR. The study finds strong interplay between HELCOM's BSAP and the EU's MSFD. Although HELCOM is still an important player in marine governance in the BSR, since it includes Russia, taking over responsibilities for the implementation of EU legislation has repercussions and affects its independence.