Evaluating the use of social impact assessment in Northeast US federal fisheries management

This analysis of Northeast US federal fisheries management focused on how social data have been collected and incorporated. Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with 45 primary informants was augmented with secondary data. Results showed that the social factors of Northeast US federal fisheries are considered important, and that participation in and processes involved with collecting and incorporating social data have improved over time. Nonetheless, progress is still necessary to ensure that managers have the information necessary to understand how fishermen and fishing communities might be impacted by decisions. Managers tend rely on perception and public comment, rather than social impact assessment (SIA) documents. A number of steps are being taken to improve data collection, analysis, and use. Similar challenges exist nation-wide, but dialogue among providers of SIAs is elevating the quality and consistency of products. Where social scientists are engaged early and consistently, fostering the consideration of human dimensions in the design of measures in a participatory and iterative manner, both the SIA process and product are most valuable.     

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.     

融媒体环境下公益广告的互动性设计策略研究

目的 融媒体环境下,公益广告设计呈现出交互性的发展特征,针对融媒体环境下公益广告现有的互动形式,探索出增强公益广告互动性、提高用户参与度的设计策略。方法 通过对公益广告的现状分析,归纳出公益广告现存的问题,并结合具有互动性的公益广告创新案例,提出符合融媒体环境的公益广告互动性设计策略。结论 融媒体环境下,运用行为互动、共情互动、情境互动是实现公益广告互动性的有效设计途径,互动性设计可以有效实现揭示社会痛点、促进公众情感沟通乃至价值认同等公益广告目标,进而可以扩大公益广告的影响力和覆盖面,实现与社会发展的有机统一,对促进公益广告可持续发展有一定的启发意义。     

Human exchange techniques for citizen participation in town revitalization

Citizen participation in design and planning can be regarded as one of the major social movements of the 1970s. Questions such as who should participate, how should they be involved, and when, are significant to designers. This paper illustrates one aspect of the participatory process: environmental awareness and how various human interaction techniques are used in different community settings. Small communities and urban neighbourhoods were selected because they have manageable scales for this type of human activity. Implicit in the examination of various participatory approaches is the recognition of an emerging new role for designers, that of structuring group efforts.     

视触觉在公益主题交互设计中的价值

目的 研究新媒体视阈下,公益主题交互设计在公共艺术生活中发挥出的美学价值与社会价值,以及面临的挑战.归纳并总结视触觉在公益主题交互设计中的价值表现,探究公益主题交互设计的发展方向.方法 从公益主题交互设计在新媒体时代所面临的挑战入手,梳理视触觉设计的发展脉络,分析视触觉的感知维度,以及其对公益主题交互设计,在视觉美感、传播效果与交互体验等方面的提升;结合用户的欣赏体验与精神感受,研究公益主题交互设计,在利用视触觉设计手段丰富交互体验的同时,探究实现扩大用户群体、倡导关注社会问题、调节公众情感等价值追求的途径.结论 新媒体时代的公益主题交互设计应兼顾视觉体验与情感传达,充分利用视触觉设计提升视觉表现力,在充实画面信息的同时,推动公益主旨的传播与升华.     

Environmental assessments in the Internet age: the role of e-governance and social media in creating platforms for meaningful participation

Critical to impact assessments (IA) evolution has been the advent of more meaningful processes for participation. The use of the Internet as a tool of participation, as well as the scope and ambition of IA, has been growing since their inception. This work explores e-governance and social media in IA and the potential contribution these may make to meaningful public participation. Research is informed by literature and case studies in Hong Kong and Canada. The cases and literature revealed that e-governance in IA is used predominantly for sharing information and not for generating dialogue. Social media is used primarily by participants to share information, but is also to organize themselves and their input to IA cases. In addition, we found the innovative use of virtual cloud environments for collaboration and the establishment of one of the first websites for starting, signing and submitting public petitions with a focus on the local environment. Suggestions are made regarding how to better connect the rise in e-participation and conventional IA public participation.     

Targeting the transitions: applying stage-gate® thinking in strategic environmental assessment

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) practitioners have a tendency to emphasize assessment phases over the linkages between the phases. Explicitly addressing the transitions between stages could add rigour to SEA processes and make them more structurally robust. There is a considerable body of research on project management practices used by corporations during new product development (NPD). The stage-gate^® model is presented as an example of a successful and innovative NPD approach that is frequently used by various industries, and which addresses the links between assessment phases. Stage-gate theory treats connections between project stages as gates which must be passed. The philosophy behind the stage-gate model is explored as a macro-process that could support current practices in SEA and other types of impact assessment. The stages and gates designed for a proposed Nova Scotia SEA framework are presented to show how stage-gate thinking can be adapted for use in SEA processes. The paper concludes that SEA processes could become more efficient and effective by integrating a philosophy of gated assessments.     

Environmental indicator frameworks to design and assess environmental monitoring programs

Monitoring is fundamental to environmental impact assessment (EIA) both to assess adherence to standards and to support management options. The use of indicators assures that a monitoring program addresses only the key variables associated with significant environmental impacts and also improves monitoring communication and reporting processes. This paper develops a conceptual framework to design and assess an environmental post-decision monitoring program under EIA procedures - INDICAMP. It also discusses how current indicator frameworks can be used to design and evaluate the performance of environmental monitoring programs in projects. A coastal infrastructure case study demonstrates the usefulness of this methodology.     

Linking environmental assessment and rapid urbanization in Kampala City

Linking environmental assessment (EA) and infrastructure development projects as a result of rapid urbanization reveals serious environmental problems in Kampala City, Uganda. Of the many infrastructure development projects implemented to meet the growing demands of rural–urban influx, few are subjected to EA as part of the project approval process. This paper investigates the environmental impacts of infrastructure development projects that are implemented and seeks to understand the nature of these impacts. The study results suggest that ecological infrastructure is as vital as physical infrastructure for the functioning of the economy – a path that can meet both long-term economic and environmental imperatives. A mechanism for integrating EA into planning and development processes is proposed and the need to look into environmental fiscal reform (EFR), compliance with environmental legislation, integrated urban development policy, and strategic environmental assessment among others is examined.     

An evaluation of environmental impact assessment in Abu Dhabi,United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) is undergoing extremely rapid economic growth and experiencing a related increase in infrastructure and industrial development. If not managed properly, this growth can lead to significant impacts on the natural environment. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) practice in Abu Dhabi is approximately 10 years old. During the period, the number of EIAs conducted each year has increased considerably. This research activity evaluates the performance of the system as documented in legislation, relevant documents and current practices. The current system is compared with evaluation criteria from Christopher Wood. The analysis reveals that the Abu Dhabi process is strong in its legal basis, coverage, screening, scoping and review of the report. Areas that need improvement include better specification of alternatives in design, integration of EIAs into final decision-making, monitoring of the overall process, public consultation and ongoing impact monitoring. A discussion of public involvement and impact monitoring provides the context for potential future enhancements to strengthen the Abu Dhabi system.     

Participatory sustainability assessment for spatial planning: reflections from a pilot exercise in Flanders,Belgium

Sustainability is both an appealing and bewildering concept, subject to a range of interpretations. While this plurality of views can lead to innovative policy solutions to complex societal challenges, it can also lead to confusion and even decision paralysis. If sustainability is to guide decision-making, practical and user-friendly participatory decision-support processes are required. Sustainability assessment allows to systematically integrate sustainability considerations in decision-making. Flanders, Belgium’s northern region, has seen a recent boost of public policy initiatives for sustainability, which includes a stated interest in exploratory sustainability assessments in which the public can be included. A tailor-made approach, based on a modified nominal group technique (NGT), was developed and applied. The NGT-based exploratory sustainability assessment consisted of two rounds during which participants were asked to reflect first individually, and then collectively, about sustainability implications of spatial planning policy documents. The participants stressed the adaptability and user-friendliness of the approach, but also emphasized the difficulty to identify clear sustainability trade-offs. NGT does not allow for a full sustainability assessment on its own, but this pilot exercise shows it can be used as an exploratory sustainability assessment, which can be complemented with other methods and inputs in a later stage of decision-making. We provide a critical reflection on NGT, as a simple yet innovative method in support of participatory sustainability assessment.     

城市导视系统多元化设计研究

目的探究城市导视系统的现状及未来的多元化设计思路与策略。方法结合"一带一路"倡议这一大背景对我国沿线城市的重大影响与深远意义,提出基础设施建设的重要性,并聚焦于城市导视系统,对城市公共空间及其识别特点、导视系统与城市公共空间的关系等方面展开探究,深入挖掘城市导视系统的现状,指出其中的不足之处,在此基础上提出规范城市导视系统设计的几项原则,最后以城市公园导视系统、旅游景区视觉导视系统等为例,探索其多元化设计策略,开启媒体化、时代化和特色化的长远发展之路。结论在当前这个时代背景下,采用多元化的设计手法,进一步完善城市空间导向系统,能够在很大程度上提升城市空间质量,提高城市空间使用效率,给人们的社会生活带来更大的便利。     

Impact assessment: tiering approaches for sustainable development planning and decision-making of a large infrastructure project

ABSTRACT

The objective of this paper is to analyze a tiering scoping approach developed to identify critical multidimensional sustainability issues and impacts of a large infrastructure project: the land transport project linking northern Brazil with a new port on Guyana’s coast. The Inter-American Development Bank awarded a technical assignment to develop the terms of reference of a country environmental assessment, a strategic environmental and social assessment and an environmental and social impact assessment of the project(s). The complexity of the issues at stake lead to the design of a tiered assessment process supported by wide-ranging participative sessions involving 170 individuals from Guyana and Brazil and from diverse sectors. The process identified ex ante conditionalities, critical factors for decision-making and valued socioenvironmental and governance components. Such complex and determinant planning initiatives for the future of a country need to be supported by comprehensive, well-sequenced scoping processes.     

Marginalising household users in smart grids

Unless just and inclusive, transitions to low carbon-energy systems are unlikely to receive sufficient legitimacy and broad public support. While research on inequalities and injustices in energy transitions is growing, these issues remain less explored in the case of the digitalisation of the energy systems through smart grids and smart homes. This paper aims to synthetise our understandings of inequality, exclusion and vulnerability in energy transitions by systemically analysing different dimensions of marginalisation in the transition to a digitalised electricity infrastructure in Sweden. To synthetise understandings of marginalisation and exclusion, conceptualisations of these processes in different social science approaches to energy studies are reviewed. Moreover, an empirical analysis of interviews with a range of Swedish actors such as energy utilities, social housing developers or pensioner organisations is carried out and enriched by previous research on smart grid users. The empirical analysis demonstrates what specific forms that diverse categories of marginalisation, as already identified generally in different social science approaches to energy studies, may take in smart grids. We argue that marginalisation of household users in smart grids may take place along multiple dimensions, relating to matters of literacy, participation, infrastructure, and the economy. The analysis suggests that bundles of marginalisation aspects concerning household users in sustainable energy transitions should be recognised and addressed simultaneously.     

Public understanding of risk in health impact assessment: a psychosocial approach

Development projects inevitably pose risks to the health of humans and the planet. Health impact assessment (HIA) practitioners increasingly evaluate the mental health effects of development but have rarely considered those caused by public understanding of risk (‘risk perception’) itself a determinant of health. This paper proposes a new psychosocial model of public understanding of risk in response to the literature on perceived high risk developments. It exemplifies the psychosocial process that occurs when people respond to industrial threats to health. In doing this, it draws upon literature from psychology, social science and public health. The model is foregrounded in the context of psychosocial health in HIA. The paper also reviews the health and well-being effects that may result. Overall, it is argued that the philosophical and moral underpinnings of HIA compel practitioners and developers to understand the formation and ongoing development of public understandings of risk in light of the cultural, demographic, temporal and other contextual factors shaping them in unique development contexts where HIAs are undertaken, and how understandings of risk actually affect community health. We encourage them to propose mitigation measures and solutions that accord with the values of Planetary Health.     

Urban regeneration and impact assessment for social sustainability

This paper provides a working definition of social sustainability and highlights the growing array of social sustainability assessment tools (e.g. SIA, HIA, equality impact assessment, SA). Within EIA the social dimension has been very much the ‘poor relation’. However, changes in the UK planning system, the drive for sustainable communities, and for greater public involvement in decision making are raising the profile of the social dimension. This is particularly relevant for urban regeneration projects, which are often mixed use (including housing), and with the potential for development to be shaped by community involvement. The paper includes a review of recent environmental statements (ESs) for regeneration projects in the UK, which provides findings on, for example, the inclusion of social factors in the process; scope of such factors; methodological approaches and impact assessment tools; and role of community involvement. The research raises questions about the extent to which social issues shape outcomes; it also highlights some important challenges, including the key issue of ‘integration versus disintegration’ in the scope and process of impact assessment.     

Measuring the scientific impact of e-research infrastructures: a citation based approach?

This micro-level study explores the extent that citation analysis provides an accurate and representative assessment of the use and impact of bioinformatics e-research infrastructure. The bioinformatic e-research infrastructure studied offers common tools used by life scientists to analyse and interpret genetic and protein sequence information. These e-resources therefore provide an interesting example with which to explore how representative citations are as acknowledgements of knowledge in the life sciences. The examples presented here suggest that there is a relation between number of visits to these databases and number of citations; however, a parallel finding shows how citation analysis frequently underestimates acknowledged use of the resources offered on this e-research infrastructure. The paper discusses the implications of the findings for various aspects of impact measurement and also considers how appropriate citation analysis is as a measurement of knowledge claims.     

Computer-based aids for public participation in planning

This paper proposes the use of computer-based aids in participatory planning to:

• give people at home a link with education, information and participation networks

• provide the public with access to all the data necessary for creative participation

• create a satisfactory communication system, based on mutual trust and interactive dialogue between all the participants in the planning process

It is based on the author's strong belief that information and computer technology can offer a powerful facility to those who wich to be involved in the decision processes affecting their environment.

It provides a review of imminent technical possibilities. Cost effectiveness and resouce requirements are not treated at this stage of discussion.     

The big challenge of Scientometrics 2.0: exploring the broader impact of scientific research in public health

In the present study we discuss the challenge of “Scientometrics 2.0” as introduced by Priem and Hemminger (2010) in the light of possible applications to research evaluation. We use the Web of Science subject category public, environmental and occupational health to illustrate how indicators similar to those used in traditional scientometrics can be built, and we also discuss their opportunities and limitations. The discipline under study combines life sciences and social sciences in a unique manner and provides usable metrics reflecting both scholarly and wider impact. Nonetheless, metrics reflecting social media attention like tweets, retweets and Facebook likes, shares or comments are still subject to limitations in this research discipline as well. Furthermore, Usage metrics clearly point to the manipulation proneness of this measure. Although the counterparts of important bibliometric indicators proved to work for several altmetrics too, their interpretation and application to research assessment requires proper context analysis.