2025, North West Wildlife Trust, Marine Internships, Ornithological Nature Inclusive Design series https://portal.medin.org.uk/portal/start.php?tpc=015_fefb8feb-7788-43c6-b131-1c8884699eed The following report was produced as part of the Marine Futures Internship; a collaborative project between Natural England, Ørsted, The Crown Estate and the North West Wildlife Trusts, which is funded by The Crown Estate and managed by Cumbria Wildlife Trust. The expansion of offshore wind infrastructure has led to increasing interactions with marine ecosystems, including the establishment of black-legged kittiwake colonies on offshore wind structures. Notably, approximately 250 kittiwakes now nest on the Walney 1 and 2 offshore substations (OSSs) off the coast of Cumbria. Within a UK policy context shaped by the mitigation hierarchy, strategic compensation, and emerging marine net gain (MNG) requirements, this raises questions about how such colonies can be supported while meeting developers’ environmental obligations. This study explores the potential role of Ornithological Nature-Inclusive Design (ONID) in offshore wind, with a focus on its feasibility, policy alignment, and stakeholder acceptability. Semi-structured interviews with regulators, developers, statutory bodies, and NGOs reveal broad conceptual support for ONID, but limited willingness to adopt it as a form of strategic compensation. Key barriers include the lack of a clear, shared definition of NID, insufficient evidence of ecological effectiveness, concerns about increased collision risk, and challenges in quantification, cost, and decommissioning. Stakeholders largely view ONID as better suited to early-stage mitigation or delivery of marine net gain rather than compensation. The study concludes that, with a clear definition, targeted evidence-gathering, and appropriate incentives, ONID could become a valuable design best-practice tool to reduce impacts and support seabird populations, including kittiwakes at Walney, without undermining the mitigation hierarchy. The following report was produced as part of the Marine Futures Internship; a collaborative project between Natural England, Ørsted, The Crown Estate and the North West Wildlife Trusts, which is funded by The Crown Estate and managed by Cumbria Wildlife Trust. 20260213T13:55:28