The Channel programme is a collation of interlinked multidisciplinary projects supporting ecosystem-based management in the English Channel by integrating works carried out in the past thirty years including novel approaches to the spatial modelling of ecosystems. The Channel programme has required a coordination of efforts and expertise by both scientists and stakeholders to address the challenges of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and of its national implementations. The Channel programme has also consisted of harmonising information, regulations and habits in terms of ecosystem management in the English Channel.