Spatial information during public participation within environmental impact assessment in Kenya

This study set out to evaluate the use of spatial information during public participation within Environmental Impact Assessment (EAI) in Kenya, through a case study. A conceptual framework developed for this study considered four key elements: the stages of EIA in Kenya (EIA study stage), public participation (limited to ‘inform’), aspects of spatial information relevant for public participation (availability, accessibility, content, appropriateness, language, translation and technical support), and categories of participants (limited to ‘affected persons’). It was established that a cadastral map had been used, and met the requirements for accessibility, language, translation and technical support; it was unsatisfactory in the aspect of availability, and unconfirmed for content and appropriateness. Recommendations are made for the use of spatial information during public participation within EIA.     

Trends in consultation and public participation within environmental impact assessment in Kenya

The objective of this study was to document trends in public participation within environmental impact assessment (EIA) in Kenya, using a Consultation and Public Participation Index (CPPI) developed for the analysis of EIA Study Reports submitted to the Environment Authority between 2002 and 2010. Results indicated that public participation remained relatively low, with the highest score of 1.65 in 2010, out of a possible score of 5. Scores for individual dimensions within the index fluctuated during the study period, with participation methods and type of participants scoring the highest, following increased emphasis by the Environment Authority on the conducting and reporting of public participation. This was followed by venue, notification and language used, in that order, which were often not reported, and, when reported, choices per dimension were limited. This is the first time this index has been used, yet it serves as a good starting point to evaluate public participation within EIA.     

The doing and un-doing of public participation during environmental impact assessments in Kenya

Mechanisms that restrict public participation during environmental decision-making in Kenya still exist almost a decade after the inception of the Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act (EMCA) of 1999. This paper analyses the current situation concerning public participation during environmental impact assessment (EIA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA). It presents the barriers that may impede effective public participation in environmental decision-making in Kenya and draws attention to possible solutions, including the potential of SEA as a bridge to better public participation.     

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.     

Recognising ‘learning’ as an uncertain source of SEA effectiveness

Strategic environmental assessment’s (SEA’s) capacity to profile significant environmental effects is thought to help make public-sector decision-making more sustainable. Acknowledgement is growing that ‘learning’, that links to but transcends individual assessments, is a key source of SEA effectiveness. Such learning is largely positioned as wholesome, moral, as ‘good’. The Scottish Parliament went further than the European Commission to require all public bodies to engage with SEA. More than 14 years of evidence – including from the Scottish Government SEA Database (an online registry), a survey and interviews – provides a unique opportunity to study the role of learning in SEA. The paper argues that application of SEA requires systematic reinforcement and maintenance of learning. But the learning fostered by SEA is not guaranteed to prioritise or protect ‘environment’ – for that to happen SEA must also be embraced as disruptor of the prioritisation of economic goals.     

Achieving meaningful public participation in the environmental assessment of hydro development: case studies from Chamoli District,Uttarakhand, India

Uttarakhand, India has great potential for hydro development because of its mountainous environment and fast flowing rivers. While growth in the hydro sector could facilitate industrial development and improve social well-being in the state, it could also have severe negative impacts on social-ecological systems. Using a qualitative methodology involving a review of documents, field observations, and over 100 interviews with government, industry officials and community members, the research investigated two large hydro projects in the Chamoli District. The results show that public participation in project planning and implementation did not exemplify characteristics of meaningful involvement. The participation processes would have been improved with greater opportunities for advanced, decentralised, and more active local involvement. The conclusion is that the central and state governments should play a more assertive role in regulating large-scale hydro development in Uttarakhand, to facilitate meaningful public participation and to protect local environmental, economic and social interests.     

Socio-economic and political barriers to public participation in EIA: implications for sustainable development in the Maldives

Abstract

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a policy process that can lead to more sustainable development by preventing or mitigating the negative impacts of development projects. Public participation in the EIA process, especially one based on the ideals of deliberative democracy, is essential to deliver on the goal of sustainable development that is arguably the primary objective of EIA. This article specifically focuses on a study of public participation in the EIA process of the Maldives. Using a qualitative research design involving an analysis of documents and interviews, it investigates four aspects of a deliberative participatory process: fairness, competence, willingness and capacity. The analysis suggests that the process for public participation in the Maldives cannot be characterized as fully fair or competent. It further identifies several socio-economic barriers that affect the capacity and willingness of the actors to participate including political influence, lack of human and financial capacity, gender gap, loss of community spirit and lack of environmental and procedural awareness.     

Perceptions of public participation in impact assessment: a study of offshore oil exploration in Greenland

Oil exploration presently takes place offshore NW of Greenland. The recent entry of the oil industry in this sparsely populated area carries the potential for radical and unpredictable societal change. To ensure local adaptation, Public participation (PP) is implemented as a legal requirement in environmental impact assessment of offshore oil exploration. However, NGOs and associations, industry and individuals in Greenland express general frustration of how PP is conducted. This paper presents an analysis of stakeholders' PP perceptions and their implications in Greenland. It is found that differences in PP purpose perceptions among stakeholders cause disagreement on what is considered good performance. Furthermore, the stakeholders disagree on the desired level of engagement. While NGOs emphasise a need for PP to influence decision-making, the public seems to accept a role as passive recipients of information about decisions already made. This leads to a discussion about the need for a more specific PP guideline based on dialogue among stakeholders, with emphasis on the cultural barriers related to power structures and communication.     

Provisions for more meaningful public participation still elusive in proposed Canadian EA Bill

This research examined public consultations on the citizen engagement provisions of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act prior to submission of an amending Bill to Parliament. Primary data collection focused on a review of documentation including statutes, regulations, policies, proceedings and reports from workshops, and written public input. The discussion is organized around three key themes: public participation; Aboriginal involvement; and access to information. Eight changes proposed in the Bill have potential to improve citizen engagement, but they do not embody other significant suggestions made during consultations. Other changes leave serious questions unanswered in regard to public engagement, such as the decision of when to proceed with hearings. The Bill is, however, still open to amendment.     

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.     

Environmental impact assessment process substitution: experiences of public participants

This paper explores policy action taken by the federal government in Canada to test the potential for substitution of the federal process to regulatory bodies as a means of encouraging environmental impact assessment (EIA) efficiency. Our purpose is to present the experiences of people who participated in the EIA of the Emera Brunswick Pipeline in order to gauge the impact of such process substitutions on meaningful public participation. Our approach included document reviews and a focus group session with some of the public participants in the Emera Pipeline hearings. We find that the National Energy Board hearing process substituted in the case did not meet many of the key requirements of meaningful participation and left some public participants feeling disrespected and marginalized.     

Evaluation of the environmental policy and impact assessment process in Ethiopia

This paper reviews the Ethiopian Environmental Policy with focus on the institutional set-up and implemented Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedures. The evaluation of EIA is done against a set of evaluation criteria. Specific legal provision for EIA application is well documented and the Environmental Protection Authority exists as the legal body. A chronological evaluation of the establishment of the environmental policy reveals that this process was more a result of donor requirements than of political will. Inconsistency on institutional level, non-existence of complementarities between institutions, and of environmental and investment policy and proclamations, contradict the enforcement of the EIA law. Furthermore lack of multidisciplinary experts, missing environmental baseline data, and lack of monitoring and post-auditing adversely affect the effectiveness of the EIA law. The paper concludes that, besides other important measures, the Ethiopian EIA law needs to be adapted.     

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.     

Comparative analysis of public participation in the EIA process for Thai overseas investment projects: Krabi coal terminal,Hongsa coal power plant,and Dawei special economic zone

While Thai overseas investment projects (TOIPs) have become a key form of development in the region, their environmental impact assessment (EIA) quality has been criticized. This research sought to analyze the differences in EIA practices in terms of public participation (PP) in two TOIPs – the Hongsa coal-fired power plant (Lao PDR) and the Dawei special economic zone (Myanmar) – versus a national-level project, the Krabi coal terminal. For Laos and Myanmar, which did not previously require PP, the Thai consultants did not apply the Thai PP framework, leading to poor public participation index (PPI) scores = 0.02, indicating a negligible PP process. However, the consultant on the Krabi coal terminal claimed to abide by the Thai regulations, yet the PPI scores claimed = 0.81 (substantive rationale), were quite different from those indicated by the affected villagers = 0.39 (instrumental rationale). These villagers’ concerns resulted in conflict between the affected villagers and project owners. Our findings have revealed the true necessity of PP regulation and systems to monitor consultant performance to ensure sustainability of TOIPs in neighboring countries.     

On the usefulness of guidelines and instructions for environmental assessment – a qualitative study of the helpfulness perceived by Polish practitioners

Guidelines and instructions for Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment (together referred to as EA here) are developed to improve the quality of legal requirements’ implementation and to support EA procedure accomplishment. However, to date, it has not been checked whether they are useful for practitioners. Therefore, the aim of the study underlying this paper was to verify, based on the experience of Polish EA experts, whether guidelines and instructions are useful in their everyday work. A qualitative study comprising of a questionnaire survey and interviews tested whether (1) EA practitioners know and use the Polish and EU guidelines, (2) how EA practitioners evaluate the validity and usefulness of such instructions, and (3) in which areas there is a lack of instructions and guidelines. The results show a low level of knowledge of national and EU handbooks. Those guidelines focusing on legal procedures, road investments and designing animal passageways are considered to be the most useful. Moreover, practitioners indicate that EU guidelines should be translated into Polish. Most important for practitioners is the linking of guidelines with the EA procedure, so that they can become a platform for dialogue of all stakeholders.     

A review of refugee environmental-oriented projects in Africa: a case for environmental impact assessment

Inadequate integration and lack of focus have been identified as two main issues plaguing contemporary impact assessment. We agree but argue that these are but two of a plethora of ills that thwart environmental assessment and prevent it from becoming the go-to tool for sustainable development in Canada. We witness ongoing ineffective practice in scoping, impact prediction, significance determination, assessment of cumulative effects, and other elements. Fundamental change is needed in the environmental assessment system to turn it from a shallow adversarial process to a technically rigorous and collaborative one.     

Access to public information: a scientometric study of legal versus voluntary transparency in the public sector

Scientometrics - The aim of this study is to identify, synthesise and evaluate the current state of research into transparency in the public sector, with respect to the period 2005–2014, in...     

Improving the quality of environmental impacts assessment reports: effectiveness of alternatives analysis and public involvement in JICA supported projects

Abstract

This study examined the key factors for improving the quality of environmental impact assessment reports through statistical tests and path analysis. The Lee-Colley review package was used to review the quality of the samples of 120 reports prepared by the Japan International Cooperation Agency dating from 2001 to 2012. The result of the study showed that alternatives analysis and public involvement could be key factors for improving the quality of reports. When the number of public involvement stages went up, the number of evaluation criteria for alternatives analysis showed an increasing trend and the quality of the reports improved. Finally, the study pointed out the effectiveness of alternatives analysis with a wide range of evaluation criteria and public involvement for improving the quality of reports. Further research is needed to explore alternatives analysis and public involvement in more depth as well as to improve the effectiveness of their linkage via more case studies.     

基于接入控制器模式的公共无线局域网安全体系设计

公共无线局域网面临网络安全、用户数据保护、身份认证、移动管理及网络服务等多方面的挑战。将现有的公共无线局域网分为WISP—owned,Operator—owned以及for Enterprise 3种类型,并分别讨论了各种类型的特征及其架构。在此基础上提出一种基于接入控制器模式的通用安全体系,可应用于目前大多数类型的公共无线局域网。提出了一种802．1X和Web认证的混合型认证协议,该协议在进行Web认证时将利用802．1X协商后产生的密钥进行,可有效地抵抗窃取服务、基站伪装、消息窃听等攻击,并与现有公共无线局域网Web认证相兼容。     

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.