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.     

Impact assessment and indigenous self-determination: a scalar framework of participation options

The implementation of the right of indigenous peoples to participate in impact assessment (IA) has moved rapidly in many jurisdictions. To facilitate comparative learning, this paper offers a scalar framework of participation options through standard IA phases and examines five IA regimes in Sweden, Norway, Canada, Australia, and Aotearoa/New Zealand. It is shown how practice is moving toward co-management and community-owned IA, with developments driven by strong indigenous demands and political recognition of material rights to lands and resources. Yet, while influence in IA has allowed for shaping project outcomes it has rarely supported the rejection of unwanted projects altogether. Moreover, some jurisdictions, such as Scandinavia, retain a much more limited consultation and notification approach. Community influence tends to be in evidence generation and follow-up while developers or state authorities retain control over decisive phases of scoping and significance determination. It is argued that indigenous participation is most meaningful through IA co-management that takes places directly with the state and throughout all IA phases, complemented with strategic community-owned IA.     

Participative social impact assessment and management cross-cultural application

The participative approach to social impact assessment and management recognizes that the input from the local community and their participation in a project assessment are essential for the success of a project. Using the example of a mining development, the process of involving the local people is illustrated. The work to date augurs well for its usefulness in the mine development process.     

Measuring the success of public participation on environmental restoration and waste management activities in the U.S. Department of Energy

The value added by public participation to decision-making in the Office of Environmental Management (EM) in the Department of Energy (DOE) can be enhanced through better organization, improved participation strategies and mechanisms, and integration with other aspects of decision-making (e.g., problem definition, mission development, identification and evaluation of decision alternatives, and decision implementation). The opportunity to improve the value added by public participation, however, is contingent on being able to demonstrate that the resources devoted to such activity is a sensible and worthwhile investment. This article summarizes research conducted to expand those savings and improvements and facilitate other improvements by developing a set of performance-based indicators, based on discrete attributes of successful public involvement, for use in evaluating public participation programs and activities in EM, with special emphasis on activities implemented in the field offices of DOE. The success attributes and indicators were developed through reviews of appropriate research literatures and through intensive interviews with and surveys administered to diverse stakeholders, including DOE project managers and public participation specialists, contractor project managers and public participation specialists, representatives of tribal, state, and local governments, federal and state regulatory authorities, environmental interest groups, and other interested parties, at nine DOE facilities in the United States.     

Establishing political impact assessment: revisiting contemporary approaches with Bangladesh cases

Abstract

Despite the enormous significance of differentiated interests and power relations among the stakeholders in development interventions, political impact does not receive adequate attention and space in existing environmental impact assessment and social impact assessment frameworks. The goal of political impact assessment is to ensure democratization, participation, equity; human rights and understand the marginalization process, conflict and cooperation. Inadequate focus on political impacts like participation, marginalization and democratization could have severe impacts like increasing vulnerability and inequality. Using qualitative approaches, this study demonstrates that political impacts like lack of participation, democratization, access to service delivery and violation of human rights created and is predicted to create marginalization in case of Jamuna Bridge and Padma Bridge in Bangladesh. The paper argues that political impacts needs to be emphasized and assessed separately for facilitating more equitable distribution of benefits of infrastructure project and mitigating marginalization of individuals and communities.     

Public involvement in environmental impact assessment: a case study of hydro development in Kullu District,Himachal Pradesh,India

The Governments of India and the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh (HP) recently adopted policy changes intended to expedite development approvals for power projects. This paper focuses on the 1997 changes to the Environmental Protection Act that establish procedures for public hearings as a component of EIA. Three hydro project public hearings in the Kullu District (HP) in 1998 show that public involvement andpublic hearing processes are in their nascent stages despite the rapid pace of development. Many constraints, such as inaccessibility of information, lack of familiarity with EIA, and lack of institutional capacity, hinder serious public involvement. Public concerns focused on safety issues (blasting), new road construction and jobs, with little consideration of environmental impact.     

Vulnerable groups,virtual cities,and social isolation

The number of people suffering from perpetual loneliness continues to increase, diminishing their wellbeing. While this condition affects people's mental life, research shows that it also significantly impacts physical health. Those enduring such hardships often have superficial encounters, but they lack meaningful social engagement with others. Addressing this problem requires highly specialized and interdisciplinary mitigatory efforts. The increasing economic feasibility of virtual reality equipment can help remedy some of these situations, especially when users can connect in supportive digital environs, “virtual cities.” In turn, this exploratory paper examines how creating specific kinds of virtual cities could facilitate meaningful social engagements, which can improve numerous people's living conditions. The author fleshes out this view, showing that these technologies' progressive nature can be shaped to secure the needed measures to improve the quality of some people's lives..     

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.     

Challenges to integrating planning and policy-making with environmental assessment on a regional scale – a multi-institutional perspective

Abstract

Regional environmental assessment (EA) requires the participation of policy- and plan-making institutions to formulate, implement and monitor regional environmental management strategies. However, there is little understanding of what effective integration is in the context of regional EA and from the perspectives of planners and policy-makers involved. This paper seeks to explore how institutional actors perceive cross-domain integration vis-à-vis their own involvement in regional EAs. Thirty-eight participants from four regional EA initiatives in Canada shared their perspectives in an online survey. Three types of silo effects are identified: (1) institutional – intricately linked to factors such as coordination, goals and expectations, leadership and capacity; (2) disciplinary – characterized by limited communication and scepticism around data sharing; and (3) transactional – tendency of actors to emphasize individual narrow perspective rather than collective social and environmental outcomes. Additional findings reveal the importance of learning and multiple domain expertise as opportunities for enhancing cross-domain integration in regional EA practice. Finally, the study concludes that proactive consideration of potential silo effects is necessary for improved regional EA outcomes, and to facilitate more effective regional resource governance.     

Creep fatigue interactions in power plant components

Abstract

The increasing need for flexible electricity generation means that most components must perform under cyclic operating conditions. The multiplicity of generating options also means that defining a ‘typical’ cycle is difficult. Thus, in addition to the traditional hot and cold starts and stops, there are requirements for rapid load changes on many occasions followed by operation at generation levels of 30% of rated capacity. These transients and operation at low loads result in complex changes in local pressure, temperature and flow at different parts of a boiler system. Indeed, these differences, in combination with the use of metallurgically complex steels, are such that the range of potential damage mechanisms has increased. Understanding these mechanisms is not straightforward as less post service investigations and root cause analyses are being carried out. EPRI seeks to facilitate expert evaluation of service experience and collaborates on establishing lessons learned to establish best practice. Annual creep fatigue discussions have identified key issues and areas for development related to component design and performance under transient operation. Summary documents have helped guide this international effort in the field of creep fatigue. It is apparent that a coordinated effort is important to ensuring that outcomes are meaningful and impactful. Excellence in science and engineering is necessary to underpin technology which is used by the electricity supply industry to meet current challenges associated with safe and reliable operation of plant. The present paper summarizes achievements on creep fatigue behaviour arising from the EPRI collaborative work and describes on-going commitment to knowledge creation and technology transfer.     

Using mental well-being impact assessment to understand factors influencing well-being after a disaster

The increased frequency and magnitude of natural disasters is producing a growing awareness of the need to incorporate mental well-being and resilience into policy and practice. The present research uses mental well-being impact assessment (MWIA) to identify and describe the main factors enhancing mental well-being of people affected by a tsunami on Robinson Crusoe Island in 2010, and explores their effects on people's resilience. The main factors were: the natural environment, meaningful activities, local food, social activities, lifelong learning, transport and security. These factors influenced mental well-being through four main environmental dimensions: ecology, culture, milieu and organization. They could influence mental well-being in a constant, multiple and cumulative way. The findings of this research provide a significant practical knowledge for the improvement of MWIA practice.     

The role of local community empowerment in the digital transformation of rural tourism development in the Philippines

Local participation is essential in rural tourism development in the Philippines. However, as technology becomes a critical factor in the digital transformation of the rural tourism paradigm, local participation evolves into local community empowerment. How does this local community empowerment affect the transition through digital transformation? The stakeholder engagement theory was utilized to ensure the relevance of the selected informants' roles and responsibilities in the local community empowerment process. Using a purposive sample of local tourism stakeholders engaged in the digital transformation functions and responsibilities, a semi-structured interview was conducted to describe the role of local community empowerment towards a more effective digital transformation of rural tourism development. The findings revealed that as residents engage in the digital transformation process, residents are empowered based on individual, gender, political, and social aspects. Individual empowerment constitutes the improvement of technical capabilities and setting higher goals, while gender empowerment leads to gender equality specialization and breaking the glass ceiling. Political empowerment was attained through the boosting of their influence and the taking of a decision-maker role. In contrast, social empowerment promotes building industry networks and implementing a family-centric approach. This study contributes to the academic landscape on rural tourism development that determined specific factors of community empowerment essential in the digital transformation of tourism management processes.     

United Nations Environment Programme's approach to integrated assessment of trade-related policies: evolution and recent progress

Over the last decade the Economics and Trade Branch (ETB) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has worked to enhance national capacities to undertake integrated assessment of trade-related policies. This article describes the evolution of the approach adopted by UNEP towards achieving greater integration on three key levels: ‘substantively’ by using quantitative and qualitative tools that generate insight into the interrelationships among environmental, social and economic impacts of public policies; ‘policy-wise’ by establishing more direct linkages between the planning and decision-making processes; and ‘process-wise’ by promoting interministerial co-ordination and multi-stakeholder participation and involvement. There is also a shift towards taking a more proactive approach to designing trade policies that will help reduce poverty in an environmentally sound way.     

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.     

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.     

Increasing Student Awareness of Ethical,Social, Legal,and Economic Implications of Technology

The accreditation criteria for engineering programs require that the curriculum introduce students to the ethical, social, economic and safety issues arising from the practice of engineering. Graduates must also demonstrate competence in written and oral communication skills. This paper describes a bioengineering course we developed at Arizona State University to satisfy these criteria and also meet the literacy and critical inquiry requirement of the university. The primary goal of the course is to increase the students' awareness of the global “societal” issues arising from the development and use of bioengineering technology. Secondary goals include improvement of skills in literacy and critical inquiry, oral communication, and teaming. We use cooperative learning to ensure student participation, creative controversy to stimulate interest in the topics being discussed, and TQM tools to enhance team performance. This paper describes the course content, its organization and structure, the methods used to assess student performance, and the strategies we use to facilitate learning. We also discuss how students have reacted to the course and our experiences in delivering the course.     

Can social impact assessment contribute to social development outcomes in an emerging economy?

Social impact assessment (SIA) addresses the ‘people aspect’ of development-induced change by empowering communities with a voice in the environmental impact assessment process. Globally, poverty and inequality is growing. Countries with emerging economies are especially affected, and SIA conducted within this context necessitates mitigation of both the direct impacts of particular developments as well as the social legacies that entrench poverty and inequality. Social development is an approach that can be used to reduce poverty and inequality. This paper analyses the practice of SIA and its potential to contribute to social development outcomes in emerging economies. SIA, as practised in South Africa, was analysed from the theoretical framework of social development using an exploratory sequential mixed methods design. The findings indicate that weak implementation of mitigation, monitoring and management measures dilute the potential for SIA to achieve social development outcomes. Through minor evolution of SIA practice, the process can lay a firm foundation to facilitate social development outcomes, especially considering its potential contribution to poverty reduction through the social protection floor, skills development and job creation.     

An exact algorithm dealing with shared signals in the GO methodology

This paper provides an exact quantification algorithm dealing with shared signals in the GO methodology. The exact calculation formulas of the output signal state probability of a logic operator, which includes the input signals with the shared signals, have been derived. All the shared signals should be transferred to the output signal of this logic operator and in the following calculation the formulas are still exact. This exact algorithm permits the direct calculation of all signal state probabilities of the systems. The result of an example shows that the exact algorithm is available and meaningful for more development of the GO methodology, it will be useful for more practical applications.     

Underdog or bulldog: introducing biogas technologies in Estonia

The production and use of biogas, along with corresponding sector-specific activities and technologies, is a relatively new subject in Estonia. This paper gives an instructive overview of main barriers behind the development incentives, policy support and technological innovation in terms of emerging market for biogas. The article examines the complexity of market-related, political, technological and social obstacles for introduction biogas technologies. There is a major gap between resource potential, technological capacity and practice in Estonia. About 2?% of the theoretical potential of biogas is being used, totalling around 11?million?Nm³, based primarily on landfill biogas. First, political setting for biogas innovation is still vague, however, consolidated and enhanced since 2010 to compete with other renewables and mainstream energy technologies. The article underlines the statement that the reason why Estonian biogas production has not followed the path of growth and technology transfer is the low renewable electricity feed-in tariff. However, there are many other legal and engineering factors that have held back biogas applications and sector development in general. Stakeholders have established the Estonian Biogas Association, increasing sector’s visibility, targeted lobby to support policy-making, technological and social innovation and professional networking. Though getting the biogas sector to succeed demands a comprehensive approach and involvement of more actors in demand side including local leaders and consumers, both enthusiasm and scepticism should be informed by a sound understanding of framework conditions and complexities for path-breaking transformations in energy systems. To promote biogas production, profitable and technologically feasible showcases should demonstrate benefits and issues to the target group and stakeholders. Instead agricultural and CHP development mode, the priority of using biogas in Estonia could be seen as green vehicle fuel for transport.     

Civic Events in a Dynamic Local Field. The Role of Participation for Social Innovation

Despite the spread of a variety of small-scale civic events, little is known about their potential for promoting innovation and field-wide implications. This paper addresses these points drawing on a study of 52 civic events in Milan between 2006 and 2010, which were set up by 10 nonprofit organizations within a shared local field. In order to assess if and how the observed events relate to a number of transformations that the local field underwent during the research period, an analytical typology of events' development is proposed. The results suggest that patterns of events' development are not neutral with respect to the production of field-relevant implications and that the triggering of social innovation processes by events requires pro-active public participation in their development processes.