SEA in Austria and the participative SEA Round Table model

This article firstly gives an overview of Austria’s SEA practice. Secondly it explores the effectiveness of a specific SEA approach, the SEA Round Table. The SEA Round Table is a participative SEA model, involving members of public administration, environmental NGOs and external experts throughout the entire SEA process. This SEA team seeks consensus on an environmentally sound plan or programme. The effects of this SEA Round Table approach are presented by a series of four SEAs carried out for the last four Viennese waste management plans from 1999 to 2018. These four case studies are quite specific SEA cases, which do not allow conclusions on overall SEA effectiveness in Austria. However, some of the outcomes give an idea of how SEA can actually contribute to more environmentally sound plans, which are also easier to implement.     

Importance of context in measuring the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment

By focusing on three contextual areas—social/political, environmental/economic and legal/administrative—this article considers how a greater understanding of context may help in measuring the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment (SEA). Based on a review of literature, some of the environmental assessment studies and a recent case study in Canada, the importance of context is considered generally and contextual criteria developed. A positive approach is necessary if the challenge of moving SEA effectiveness studies forward is to be met.     

Decisional environment values as the object of analysis for strategic environmental assessment

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is intended to go beyond the assessment of the likely environmental consequences of specific projects. However, SEA relies formally on a conceptual and methodological background that is centred on the analysis of likely environmental impacts of decisions related to policies, plans and programmes. This paper attempts to find a common theoretical denominator for the different demands placed on SEA when it is imposed on a case study. The concept of decisional environment values (DEVs) is the suggested approach: DEV is defined here as an objective entity that could constitute the study object of environmental assessment.     

How strategic environmental assessment can inform lenders about potential environmental risks

In this paper, we explore the potential for strategic environmental assessment (SEA) to be a useful tool for banks to manage environmental risks and inform lending decisions. SEA is an environmental assessment tool that was developed to assist strategic-level decision-makers, such as policy-makers, planners, government authorities and environmental practitioners in improving developmental outcomes, aiming to facilitate the transition to sustainable development. We propose that SEA may also be a valuable tool for banks because it has the capacity to provide information about environmental risks at a time when it can be used as an input to bank lending decisions, which can assist banks in making lending decisions with better environmental outcomes. For these reasons, we argue that in some circumstances, and particularly for project finance transactions, SEA may be a more useful environmental assessment tool for lenders than environmental impact assessment, which many banks are currently relying on to help assess and mitigate environmental risks. Furthermore, we suggest that the use of SEA by banks would contribute to the sustainability goals of SEA.     

Strategic environmental assessment in Romania: between benefits and constraints

This paper offers an overall picture of the importance of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in Romania and its opportunities and constraints. The role, scope and effectiveness of SEA in Romania are presented in two good practice examples and examined in order to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the procedure at national and local scale. In practice, the number of SEA procedures is very high due to the legislation in force, and it is increasingly effective in decision-making about programmes and plans. SEA can be viewed as a great opportunity for the implementation of sustainable development in practice. It also continues to be an important procedural and decisional instrument for management and monitoring of socioeconomic development, spatial planning and environmental protection in Romania.     

SEA effectiveness in Spain: insights from practice

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is fairly well-established in Spain, informing decision-makers on the likely environmental consequences of their plans and policies. However, limited attention has been paid to the study of SEA effectiveness in Spain, particularly with regards to practitioner and stakeholder views. This paper aims to bridge this knowledge gap by gathering and examining views on SEA’s participatory aspects, the performance of the procedural elements and the overall role of SEA in decision-making. The paper describes the legal implementation of SEA in Spain, and discusses current views on its effectiveness, grounded on the authors’ own experiences.     

Environmental assessments of strategic decisions and project decisions: interactions and benefits

Application of environmental assessment at the level of policies, plans and programmes (PPPs) is generally referred to as strategic environmental assessment (SEA). SEA has many interactions with the environmental assessment of follow-up decisions, whether these are still at strategic level (SEA), or at project level (EIA). An analysis of cases in the European Union of tiered decision-making and environmental assessment, has shown that these interactions can be beneficial. Hypotheses and facts from the literature are sustained by these cases, and can be elaborated further. It is argued that application of SEA can help to improve the decision-making system.     

The effectiveness of the SEA process in Slovenia

This article focuses on the analysis of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) effectiveness in Slovenia. Apart from some general information on the SEA legal framework and guidance, the article mainly explores the political context, substantive, transactive, normative, knowledge/learning and pluralist effectiveness of SEA in Slovenia. An online questionnaire was prepared to collect information and views related to the stated aspects of SEA effectiveness from key stakeholders involved in the process. The survey results indicate that SEA in Slovenia is only partially effective. The most commonly recognised problems related to the substantive effectiveness of SEA are linked to weak control over the implementation of the mitigation measures and their effectiveness. With regard to transactive effectiveness, the SEA extends the planning process and is mostly assessed to have a low cost–benefit ratio. Personnel and organisations involved in SEA processes have very diverse skills and efficiency. In relation to normative effectiveness, neglect of social and economic components occurs. SEA does not seem to be very successful in changing the way of thinking, which has a negative impact on knowledge effectiveness. Pluralist effectiveness could be also improved, especially with regard to better integration of views from the public into the planning process.     

Integrating strategic environmental assessment into the review process of a development plan in Ireland

Directive 2001/42/EC requires Member States of the European Union to strategically evaluate and address likely significant environmental effects of certain proposed plans and programmes on the environment. The applications of this process in Ireland came into effect with the adoption of SEA regulations in 2004. The experience of integrating SEA into the review of a local area development plan in Ireland is outlined and critically evaluated in this paper. The SEA process is found to have considerable potential in relation to land-use planning, especially insofar as it appears to facilitate and stimulate an enhanced degree of community participation, but the realization of its full benefits is constrained by operational factors, some of which are attributable to a lack of familiarity with this novel process. Failure to provide adequately in the plan review process for the timely consideration of SEA outputs and an apparent reticence on the part of local decision makers to fully engage with SEA appear to be adversely affecting implementation.     

Effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment in Poland

The paper presents the results of an evaluation of the effectiveness of SEA obtained as a result of a survey with the participation of stakeholders. In Poland, several hundred SEAs are conducted annually at the local and regional levels and several at the national level. Although the survey demonstrated that SEA is evaluated as effective or quite effective, the respondents pointed to several irregularities in the non-procedural dimension of effectiveness. The main ones in terms of substantive effectiveness are that SEA is rarely used to help develop plans/programmes and procedures are highly politicised. Moreover, low effectiveness in terms of variant assessment and cumulative impacts and nearly non-existent monitoring of the actual effects of implementing plans/programmes influence substantive effectiveness significantly. The respondents pointed to the problem resulting from the fact that plan-makers are unwilling to take into account the SEA recommended changes. They also emphasised that there are certain attempts to put pressure on SEA consultants to make the conclusions less stringent. Respondents indicate that in Poland the costs associated with conducting SEA often outweigh the profits. The research shows that the society is properly informed about SEA, but public involvement is still low.     

Assessing the impact of strategic environmental assessment

This paper examines the impact of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) – its direct impact on policies, plans and programs (PPPs) and its indirect and longer-term impacts. Criteria for assessing SEA's impact are developed and applied in the Canadian context based on a survey of SEA practitioners, and the perceived opportunities and challenges to realizing the full impact of SEA explored. Results indicate that SEA does have a direct impact on PPPs, but its indirect impacts are either constrained or difficult to distinguish from an agency's normal policies, practices and innovations. Amongst the most significant challenges to realizing the indirect impacts of SEA is the lack of shared vision for SEA by those responsible for implementation, and incongruences between the need for rapid results by way of PPP approval versus the long-term commitment required to realize many of the benefits of SEA. Indirect impacts require more explicit consideration at the outset of the SEA design process than what is currently the case if the benefits of SEA are to be fully recognized.     

Strategic environmental assessment effectiveness in Portugal

Discussions on effectiveness have been around in impact assessment for many years, blending multiple perspectives. This paper is about the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in Portugal. The adopted framework was set by the editors of this special issue and this paper is contributing results obtained through a questionnaire shared with SEA professionals in Portugal, and also from discussions held in a workshop promoted by the Portuguese national authority on SEA. We have tried to understand the influence of SEA in development processes and the perception on SEA added-value to both environmental authorities and other relevant stakeholders in Portugal. Results are mixed and somehow reveal some confusion between expectations with what SEA aims to achieve, and with what it is actually delivering, which question its effectiveness, as expressed by some opinions that SEA ‘magic may be fading away’. However, other outcomes, such as the recognized need for better communication and increased capacity-building, support the conclusion that most SEA practice and experience in Portugal are yet far from SEA full capacity and potential.     

Towards a home-grown approach to strategic environmental assessment: adapting practice and participation in Kenya

Abstract

Kenya is among the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to formally require the assessment of public policies, plans and programs. National strategic environmental assessment (SEA) guidelines were finalized in 2012 to adapt and enhance SEA practice in the Kenyan context. The purpose of this research was to examine recent Kenyan SEA, with a particular emphasis on public participation, by developing and applying an analysis framework that both incorporates commonly accepted SEA principles and approaches and is cognizant of the national context in shaping SEA practice. Results reveal that a number of SEA practices are consistent with the framework in the nine cases considered, such as containing standard SEA components and developing monitoring plans. A requirement that each SEA must include educating the public about SEA is an innovative local adaptation. Results also show a number of practices that are still emerging, such as initiating SEA early and disseminating results to the participants. We conclude that SEA is still developing in Kenya, but processes for conducting it are slowly adapting to the Kenyan context.     

The role of environmental assessment (EA) in Iranian water management

In this paper, we reflect on the effectiveness of environmental assessment (EA for e.g. projects, policies, plans and programmes) in Iranian water management. Urmia Lake Basin (ULB) is used as a case study area and the extent to which EA appears to be delivering environmental protection objectives is established. Data were collected using document analyses, semi-structured interviews with local experts and site visits. It is established that activities are restricted to project level EIA (environmental impact assessment) and that EA is not able to address and mitigate the negative effects of extensive water exploitation through dam- and well building. Strengthening EIA legislation as well as introducing SEA is suggested as a possible way to address shortcomings, in particular with regard to addressing cumulative and wider basin effects.     

Outcomes and contextual aspects of strategic environmental assessment in a non-mandatory context: the case of Brazil

Within the ample body of literature devoted to strategic environmental assessment (SEA) outcomes and the assessment of its effectiveness, it is accepted that the performance of SEA systems is influenced by contextual aspects. Procedural aspects, objectives, guidance, approach, timing, amongst others, are reported as key components of the different dimensions of SEA effectiveness but their linkage to SEA outcomes is yet to be adequately investigated. In this paper, contextual aspects and related outcomes of a non-mandatory SEA system were identified through systematic literature review and personal interviews with key actors of SEA, aiming at the identification of the influence of contextual factors on SEA effectiveness. The findings indicate three main aspects that may explain the lengthy process of introduction of SEA in plan- and policy-making in the country: (i) lack of proper SEA legislation, (ii) the influence of Environmental Impact Assessment practice and (iii) the influence of the environmental licensing culture. Nevertheless, SEA contributes to improving communication between stakeholders along the planning process and to providing a better level of information for lower tiers of decision-making. In spite of the minor influences on the nature of the strategic action, valuable lessons credited to SEA have been learnt.     

Effectiveness of English local plan SA/SEAs

Fourteen years since the implementation of the European SEA Directive, the effectiveness of the English system of Local Plan sustainability appraisals/strategic environmental assessments (SA/SEAs) is analysed, based on 15 case studies, five interviews, and questionnaires of 11 planners. Substantively, SA/SEA leads to fine-tuning of plan policy wording and a more robust choice of development sites, but to only limited wider influence on the plan. Normatively, there seems to be a direct conflict between the requirement that Local Plans must provide enough housing for ‘objectively assessed need’, and environmental protection. From a pluralist perspective SA/SEA reports are very long, and although the statutory consultees often comment on them, the public do so only infrequently. It is in the transactive dimension that the largest changes have taken place: both consultants and planners have had to do more with less. This does not yet seem to have negatively affected the other effectiveness dimensions, but may not be sustainable over time.     

Effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment in Canada under directive-based and informal practice

This article explores the diversity of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) practice in Canada and lessons for improving the effectiveness of SEA. There are multiple dimensions to effectiveness, but core to SEA effectiveness is its strategic nature. SEA under the Canadian federal Cabinet directive is approached largely as an impact assessment tool, and effectiveness evaluated based on compliance. Practice is entrenched in project-based assessment principles, but with no mandatory provision for public engagement, which limits the potential effectiveness of SEA. External to the Cabinet directive, across Canada’s provinces and territories, SEA and SEA-like practices are occurring in diverse forms and represent the more advanced and exemplary cases. A common challenge to SEA effectiveness, however, is that applications are often limited by their ad hoc nature and disconnected from any larger and formal system of participatory and integrated policy, planning and development decision making.     

Strategic environmental assessment in coastal zones,especially Australia's

Intense resource use and development pressure on the world's coastal zone has prompted international calls for integrated coastal management programmes. Associated with increasing coastal development has been the uncoordinated use of project-based environmental impact assessment (EIA) applied to individual coastal projects. In Australia, there is a complexity of different pieces of EIA legislation at federal and state level, and little enthusiasm to adopt the more recently developed formal strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of policies, programmes and plans. Australian coastal management has a parallel complexity of state-level legislation, although day-to-day decisions are mostly taken by local coastal managers. This paper illustrates the inadequacy of project-based EIA for coastal developments with generic environmental issues, and gives an Australian example of an SEA approach to overcome these problems.     

Investigating the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment in Thailand

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) was introduced in Thailand in 2005, aiming to direct decision-making at the strategic level (policy, programme, plan) towards sustainable development. Given reforms to the SEA requirements in 2018, it is timely to evaluate emerging SEA experience in the Thai context to inform future practice. The effectiveness of 14 SEAs was investigated based on a version of a recently published framework which substitutes ‘legitimacy’ for normative effectiveness and pluralism, modified through the addition of disaggregated sub-criteria associated with each dimension of effectiveness (procedural, substantive, transactive, and legitimacy), to facilitate a richer understanding of the effectiveness of practice. This more detailed effectiveness framework enabled a comprehensive evaluation of practice, and should be transferable to other contexts. The findings suggest that SEA in Thailand currently partially achieves procedural, substantive, and transactive effectiveness. Achieving some elements of substantive effectiveness where practice is currently weak is considered to be particularly challenging, and also determinative in the achievement of legitimacy. Consequently, the majority of SEAs evaluated in this study failed to achieve legitimacy.     

Reflecting on the preparation of guidelines for strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of nuclear power programmes

In this paper, the ‘guidelines for strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of nuclear power programmes’ by the International Atomic Energy Agency are introduced. This includes a reflection on their preparation process and contents as well as consultation feedback. The preparation process started with two meetings of international nuclear and SEA experts and the creation of a writing team which prepared an initial set of draft guidelines. This was followed by various consultation exercises. The guidelines are organised along an allocation of tasks within a tiered system of energy related policies, plans, programmes and projects. Whilst consultation showed that there was agreement on the approach to most issues, no consensus was present on the extent to which economic and social issues should be fully integrated with environmental considerations. Strong support was given to the way quality review is designed, going beyond focusing on the main SEA reports to cover procedural and participatory aspects next to elements of a comprehensively tiered decision making framework, the ability to influence decisions as well as the quality (expertise and experience) of those involved in conducting the SEA.

Abbreviation: SEA: Strategic Environmental Assessment; EIA: Environmental Impact Assessment; IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency