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Impact assessment: tiering approaches for sustainable development planning and decision-making of a large infrastructure project
Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal
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 InterAmerican 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.
... González and Therivel (2022) lamented the limited research in IA tiering practice, which we begin to address in a limited way through the use of cases studies to investigate the 'missing link' (Arts et al. 2011) between SEA and EIA against a framework which benchmarks the biodiversity knowledge that is expected to be transferred. Case studies are one of the most used methods in recent articles on EA tiering (Coutinho et al. 2019;Therivel and González 2021;González and Therivel 2022;Cumming and Tavares 2022;), but none explore tiering across different EA jurisdictions. ...
... The lack of the practice of SEA remains a problem in Brazilian EA at different levels of decision-making (Gallardo et al. 2021), albeit there is some limited application experience in the tourism sector (Lemos et al. 2012) and energy sector (Westin et al. 2014). Attempts to formalize SEA (Vilardo et al. 2020) have been recognized, and some limited evidence of tiering has appeared in connection with a set of large infrastructure projects followed by individual projects (Sánchez and Silva-Sánchez 2008;Vilardo and La Rovere 2018;Coutinho et al. 2019;. ...
... The focus on case selection was based on the idea of identifying planning cases at different levels that are representative in the context of each of these countries for prompting EA tiering. This justifies the choice of large sector planning through a group of structuring projects, a recurring economic development in Brazil (Vilardo and La Rovere 2018;Coutinho et al. 2019), and urban land use planning, a common reality in English planning (Carmichael et al. 2019;Glasson and Therivel 2019). We make no attempt to generalize from these case studies; instead, they are intended to provide learning about the realities of tiering in practice that can form the basis for future research. ...
... Tiering in IA is a way to ensure information is transferred through different levels of planning and assessment tiers by using a combination of science-based data gathering and analysis (Bond et al., 2018) as well citizen perspectives (Thérivel and González, 2021). Coutinho et al. (2019) highlighted the scarcity of studies on tiering in IA literature in recent years, and that mostly disappointing results are reported in different jurisdictions. For Thérivel and González (2021, p.9), tiering remains as a "particularly weak aspect of environmental assessment processes". ...
... However, the authors did not apply the framework for their evaluated sample of EIA and SEA reports and did not propose its use for studying tiering. Here we use the ESEA framework alongside insights from the literature (Arts and van Lamoen, 2005;Arts et al., 2011;Coutinho et al., 2019;Thérivel and González, 2021;Slootweg, 2021) for exploring ES integration within SEA and EIA as a way to promote tiering in IA (Fig. 3). ...
... Tiering bears potential benefits, such as the coverage of different types of impacts, "funneling effect" (refining the scope of impacts and alternatives, Coutinho et al., 2019), focusing on sustainability priorities and dealing with environmental and social issues at the project level (Geneletti, 2015;Partidário and Gomes, 2013;Kumar et al., 2013). However, tiered approaches can be poorly implemented or overlooked by decision-makers, lessons learned not considered and timeframes not coordinated (Coutinho et al., 2019), or the projects associated with a particular policy, plan, or program materialize only many years after SEA, when policy assumptions may be outdated (Thérivel and González, 2021). ...
Tiering in impact assessment has been advocated for mainstreaming environmental goals into different levels of planning. Likewise, the ecosystem services concept has been receiving increased attention for its potential contribution to the difficult mission of integrating the fragmented views of society's dependence on nature when taking decisions about development proposals and public policies. Using the tiered planning of transportation infrastructure in São Paulo, Brazil, this paper examines the use of the ecosystem services concept as a thread to tiering in impact assessment from the strategic to the project level. By exploring a particular case in the transportation infrastructure sector, we aim at advancing knowledge and drawing lessons about the contribution of ecosystem services as an integrative tool to knit the analysis of impacts at successive levels of planning. The highway affects forest lands and watersheds that provide invaluable services for a large population. By analyzing strategic and project environmental assessments, we found that although ecosystem services underpin three out of five key strategic issues, they were addressed mostly implicitly, both at the strategic and at the project levels, missing an opportunity to integrate societal concerns into the assessment. The explicit and upfront consideration of ecosystem services is necessary to support an integrated assessment and the structured consideration of socio-ecological systems in decision-making and to reveal trade-offs that are usually hidden in piecemeal assessments.
... Olawumi and Chan (2020) identified and assessed the key drivers for the implementation of smart sustainable practices in the construction industry. Coutinho et al. (2019) analyzed a tiering scoping approach developed to identify critical multidimensional sustainability issues and impacts of a large infrastructure project. Calderon et al. (2024) argued that there is a requirement to connect project management with innovation and sustainability to address new societal needs. ...
... The reviewed literature on sustainability (Silvius & Graaf, 2019;Olawumi & Chan, 2020;Coutinho et al., 2019), project scheduling (Bruni et al., 2017;Coelho & Vanhoucke, 2020;Cai et al., 2024;Kadri & Boctor, 2018), and project buffer management (Zarghami & Zwikael, 2024;Hu et al., 2017;Sarkar et al., 2018) highlights various models and methods developed in previous research. However, the model presented in this study goes beyond simply determining the size of the project buffer by also controlling and monitoring its consumption in real-time. ...
Project resource scheduling can be very effective in the implementation of projects. One of the biggest problems in the process of project implementation is that projects are not implemented according to the initial plan and at the scheduled time. This study aims to present a Sustainable Project Scheduling Algorithm (SPSA) to calculate the size of feeding buffers and project buffer by considering sustainable factors in project construction and controlling the consumption of buffers dynamically during different phases of a wind farm project. The innovations of this research include: a) the presentation of a sustainable buffer management algorithm that monitors and controls buffer consumption in addition to calculating the buffer size, and b) the identification of the required resources by considering sustainable factors in project construction. To analyze the project data and examine the performance of the model, the algorithm is coded in MATLAB software. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to determine the extent to which project execution was influenced by the SPSA. According to the findings, in addition to increasing the productivity of the project, using the algorithm caused this project to be completed in a shorter time compared to similar projects. Additionally, the project execution with the SPSA took 179.9 days, about 3% faster than the actual duration which lasted 185.7 days.
Keywords: Project management, Project scheduling, Recourse sustainability, Project buffer management, Recourse scheduling.
... These are: Primorsky No 1and 2 international Transport corridor across China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor, China-Pakistan-Iran-Turkey International Corridor, Chi-na-Pakistan Economic corridor, Brazil-Guyana Corridor, Trans-oceanic Highway, Ori-ent/East Med corridor, Nacala Corridor, Trans-Saharan Road Corridor, Doua-la-Yaoundé-Central African Republic-N'djamena International Corridor, East-West Cor-ridor of Great-Mekong Subregion, Abidjan-Ouagadougou-Bamako Corridor, Tema-Ouagadougou-Bamako transport Corridor and Bothnian corridor. TTC interventions by regions and geographic disposition that were considered include Great Mekong Subregion Corridors, Northern and Central corridors in East Africa, One Belt One Road corridors, Central African Economic and Monetary Community regional corridor, Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation corridors, and Trans-European Transport Network corridors [1,2,21,25,27,29,44,[54][55][56][57][58]. According to the literature, TTC projects are susceptible to environmental, technological, social, economic, geographical, and political risks that are outlined in Table 1. ...
... [12,31,61,62] Economic risks Aspects that limit project funding, undermine its economic viability, or threaten its lifetime sustenance. Among them, unequal benefit sharing among project states, public budget deficits, the uncertainty of currency/exchange rate fluctuation, error in cost/time estimation, regional economic imbalance, and dependance on a single donor [1,21,54] Geographic risks Uneven topography, undocumented geological conditions, hydrological patterns that should not be altered, locations vulnerable to erosion, landslides, slope/embankment failure, as well as variable terrain and natural features that put constrains on TTC design, optimal alignment, and elevation. [27,44,52] In summary, a review of previous literature reveals that ex-ante risk investigation for TTC has been under-researched and suggests the need for further comparison of critical project factors among different TTC projects located in different regions [63,64]. ...
Transboundary Trade Corridors (TTC) are becoming increasingly important for achieving national, regional, and global development objectives. However, the cross-boundary nature of these projects involves dealing with diverse contexts that span across different countries and involve multiple stakeholders with varying interests. These circumstances exacerbate the risks and uncertainties that arise during their implementation, intensifying the challenges involved in making decisions about how to proceed with their execution. Insufficient evaluations of development projects have been identified as a contributing factor to unforeseen risks, which in turn can result in the underperformance and failure of transportation infrastructure projects. This ultimately acts as an impediment to achieving sustainable development goals. Further, rapid deployment of post risk-event corrective measures can exacerbate, for instance, macro-economic crisis and civil unrest. The Great Equatorial Land Bridge is a TTC planned to traverse five countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic, South-Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya. Despite the anticipated advantages for globalization, political cooperation, and regional integration, the risks that must be addressed to successfully implement this project are still uncertain. We, therefore, use a Multicriteria Decision-Making (MCDM) framework to investigate risks to its successful implementation. The analysis results highlight that effectively managing economic, political, and geographic risks is crucial for the successful implementation of the project. Policy-makers, contractors and multiple stakeholders will benefit from this study’s depiction of the risks and their relative importance. Results can also inform actions toward sustainable development of the project.
... In terms of improving the efficiency of knowledge transfer across levels of decision making, Lee and Wood (1978) conceptualized tiering of actions through IA (see Fig. 1). This conceptualization has been frequently referenced since in IA-related literature to argue for transfer of evidence across tiers of IA (for example, in Wood, 1988;Lee and Walsh, 1992;Arts et al., 2011;Therivel, 2004;Sánchez and Silva-Sánchez, 2008;Coutinho et al., 2019;Therivel and González, 2021). ...
... Some suggestions to encourage tiering on biodiversity-related issues have recently been proposed. Coutinho et al. (2019) emphasized that tiering from SEA to EIA can help to identify critical areas for biodiversity and ecosystems and help to protect or conserve them. Gallardo et al. (2022a) discussed the use of the ecosystem concept as a thread to facilitate tiering in IA and Cumming and Tavares (2022) emphasized that a multi-tiered approach can help to conserve ecological connectivity within and between the boundaries of national parks. ...
Biodiversity is under pressure because of human development and is therefore protected through the Convention
on Biological Diversity, among other international policies. Impact assessment (IA) instruments are seen as a
valuable tool for helping to protect biodiversity at different levels of decision making but are argued to work
independently at policy and plan-level (Strategic Environmental Assessment, SEA) as opposed to project level
(Environmental Impact Assessment, EIA), creating inefficiencies in knowledge transfer that threaten biodiversity
protection. This paper aims to benchmark the biodiversity coverage in both SEA and EIA literature to better
understand the potential for transferring biodiversity knowledge from SEA to EIA (known as tiering). An
analytical framework of global biodiversity objectives is distilled from international policy drivers that impact
assessment processes should address. This novel framework is then applied to literature to determine the extent
to which these biodiversity objectives are addressed at each level of assessment. The analytical framework includes 18 objectives which are divided into four main application groups within SEA and EIA practice in order to
identify potential for improving tiering of biodiversity knowledge in IA. This work marks the starting point for a
research agenda aimed at improving tiering of biodiversity assessment in impact assessment.
... Municipal zoning regulations include the definition of urban parameters, which are the same as those defined in the APRM (C2a, C2b), a relevant environmental protection strategy because it allows land use and occupation control. In this sense, the PDPA helps to face the problem of integration between plans, explained by the concept of tiering in the scientific literature (Therivel & González, 2021;Coutinho et al., 2019). This is true because its scope and objectives make it possible to connect land use strategies with water resources conservation strategies, a task that has not been successful regarding the link between the master plan and the basin plan (Peres & Silva, 2013). ...
Basins of interest for public water supply can be defined as Water Source Protection and Recovery Areas
(APRM, in the Portuguese acronym) in São Paulo state, Brazil. These areas must have specific instruments for
environmental management, such as the Development and Environmental Protection Plan (PDPA, Portuguese
acronym), which must diagnose problems and propose actions to protect, recover, and preserve springs and
must be included in basin plans. The Billings Reservoir Basin was defined as an APRM in 2009; its first PDPA
was published in 2010, and the second in 2017. The role of these plans is underexplored in the scientific
literature, and sustainability assessment is an interesting approach to subsidize discussions about the scope of
these plans. In this paper, we present a sustainability assessment of the PDPA-Billings, identifying strengths
and weaknesses in the context of one of the municipalities of Billings Basin - São Bernardo do Campo (SP).
As a method, a case study was developed, with literature and document review and interviews, guided by a
set of eight sustainability assessment criteria. The result was a table containing 51 questions on 24 themes.
One of the relevant positive results is the identification of the PDPA as a central instrument for sectorial
integration, especially between water and land use planning. As potential issues for improvement, we indicate
the possibility of better exploring the multiple uses of water, deepening the theme of water security from the
climate change perspective, and an opportunity for PDPA to contribute with regional development strategies,
seeking to influence and support decisions about water in the future of the regional economy. The evidence
also indicates low control and deficient implementation of the proposed actions, so it would be essential to
review the governance arrangements.
... A regulamentação nos zoneamentos inclui a definição de critérios para habitação, comuns para as zonas definidas na APRM (C2a, C2b), e estas se mostram como uma estratégia de proteção ambiental por permitirem o controle do uso e ocupação do solo. Nesse sentido, o PDPA auxilia no enfrentamento do problema da integração entre planos, o tiering na literatura científica (Therivel & González, 2021;Coutinho et al., 2019). Isso porque sua abrangência e seus objetivos permitem conectar estratégias de uso do solo com estratégias de conservação de recursos hídricos, tarefa que não tem sido bem-sucedida quando da conexão direta entre plano diretor e plano de bacia (Peres & Silva, 2013). ...
RESUMO: Bacias hidrográficas de interesse para o abastecimento público de água podem ser definidas como Área de Proteção e Recuperação de Mananciais (APRM) no estado de São Paulo. Tais áreas devem possuir instrumentos de gestão ambiental específicos, como o Plano de Desenvolvimento e Proteção Ambiental (PDPA) que deve diagnosticar problemas e propor ações visando proteger, recuperar e preservar mananciais, e deve ser inserido em planos de bacia hidrográfica. A Bacia Hidrográfica do Reservatório Billings foi definida como APRM em 2009, teve seu primeiro PDPA publicado em 2010, e o segundo, em 2017. O papel desses planos é um tema pouco explorado na literatura científica, e, para esta análise, a avaliação de sustentabilidade é uma abordagem interessante para subsidiar discussões sobre o escopo e alcance deles. Neste artigo, apresentamos uma avaliação de sustentabilidade do PDPA-Billings, com identificação de pontos fortes e fragilidades para o contexto do município de São Bernardo do Campo (SP). Como método, foi desenvolvido um estudo de caso, reunindo revisão bibliográfica, documental e entrevistas, orientado por um conjunto de oito critérios de avaliação de sustentabilidade. Obteve-se como resultado um quadro contendo 51 questões de 24 temáticas. Um dos resultados positivos relevantes foi a identificação do PDPA como um instrumento central para a integração entre os planejamentos de recursos hídricos e de uso de solo. Como potenciais pontos para aprimoramento, indicamos a possibilidade de explorar melhor o tema dos usos múltiplos da água, a necessidade de aprofundamento no tema da segurança hídrica considerando impactos das mudanças climáticas e identificamos uma oportunidade do PDPA contribuir com estratégias de desenvolvimento regional, buscando influenciar e apoiar decisões sobre a água no futuro da economia. As evidências também indicaram a existência de um cenário de baixo controle e implementação deficitária das ações propostas no plano, demandando a revisão dos arranjos de governança.
... Ex-ante evaluations (such as EIA, SIA, SESA) in large hydropower projects are largely ignored (Koirala, Hill, and Morgan 2017). Planning such large and complex projects demands comprehensive and well-sequenced evaluation approaches (Coutinho et al. 2019). In addition, the ex-post evaluation can mainly benefit from obtaining valuable lessons and recommendations for the improvement of future projects (Zidane et al. 2015). ...
With the growing need for infrastructure development, governments have invested heavily in the construction of large infrastructure projects in the form of megaprojects. However, implementation of such projects requires lots of resources, and they have formidable financial, social and environmental impacts. Despite facing several sustainability issues, megaprojects proliferate. And there is lack of holistic examination of key sustainability issues and influence factors in existing literature of megaproject. This paper, therefore, aims to systematically answer: “what” are the key sustainability issues in megaproject management and “how” can these issues be tackled (influence factors), using 93 peer-reviewed articles obtained from three databases. Moreover, the article proposes an integrated conceptual model by linking the issues and incorporating the influence factors. Finally, some future research areas are presented. The findings of this study may be of significant value to the practitioners and policymakers in incorporating social, environmental and economic dimensions in management of megaprojects.
... So, in starting an infrastructure project, a feasibility study is needed to ensure the feasibility of the project from several parameters. It aims at making decisions in infrastructure project planning [5]. ...
The growth of container flows that is not supported by infrastructure needs has caused goods congestion at Tanjung Perak Port. The situation has an impact on the flow of goods and makes container mobilization stop flowing. Railway infrastructure construction is expected to overcome the problem of goods congestion, especially because this project will be integrated with other transportation at the Port in an intermodal transportation system. The Delphi method is used as an approach to get the dominant aspect to be analyzed in a feasibility study of a railway construction project at the Port of Tanjung Perak. Delphi method results show that the financial aspect and market aspect are the dominant parameters to be analyzed in the feasibility study of a railway construction project. The results of the market feasibility analysis showed that 87.67% of stakeholders agreed with the railway development project plan, with a target market of 19.99% of the number of containers and absorption of around 84% of the target market. The results of the financial feasibility analysis are obtained, the Net Present Value (NPV) is 1,184,370> 0 (profitable project), the Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) is 1.39 ≥ 1 (the project is feasible), and the value of the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is 13%> MARR, (investment is feasible). From the results of the financial feasibility analysis, the railway construction project is categorized as possible. Meanwhile, the break-even point for this project is in the 12th year with the results of a profit-loss analysis showing that in the fourth year, the railway operational activities have shown a positive trend/profit. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license
... Scholars, practitioners and financial institutions have promoted environmental and social impact studies and mitigation plans (ESIA) as an important tool to promote sustainable infrastructure development including ports (IFC 2012; GPHA 2015; van Zyl 2015). This stems from its ability to, through participatory processes that engages relevant stakeholders, identify and capture potential environmental and social concerns and motives of all relevant stakeholders as part of the planning processes for port infrastructure projects ( van Zyl 2015;Le 2016;IFC 2012;Slinger, Taneja, and Vellinga 2017;Coutinho et al. 2019). ...
Balancing economic activities with socio-environmental considerations has become a global standard for the construction of large scale infrastructure projects, including ports. In this discourse, stakeholder participation and environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) have been stressed as important tools that can help port managers to co-create values, avoid conflicts and promote inclusive growth. Drawing on qualitative research tools and stakeholder theory, this paper explores whether and to what extent local stakeholders' inclusion has substantial influence on addressing their socio-cultural concerns and interest. This is illustrated with a case study of an ongoing port expansion project at Ghana's largest port of Tema. The findings suggest that although the port authority conducted an ESIA and engaged local stakeholders as part of the planning process, this did not translate into preventing the loss of valuable cultural resources of the local communities. The port authority did not place 'value' on cultural resources of the local communities that cannot be expressed in monetary terms. Further, lack of good faith engagement with local stakeholders led to conflicts in some cases that triggered a court action and delays. The paper concludes that stake-holder participation if not applied well, can become a 'post-political' tool.
The complicated and uncertain character of megaprojects requires appropriate analysis of affected communities to achieve project objectives and accommodate megaprojects-induced internal displacement participation mechanism. Although previous scholarly works have contributed to the development of public participation theory, these theories have not been fully acknowledged from the affected community's perspective in practices, especially in megaprojects-induced internal displacement. In this study, an extensive literature review was conducted to get a general knowledge of the relationship between the willingness to participate and other prior key determinants. While no cohesive national governance strategy for megaprojects-induced internal displacement has been developed, the lack of recognition for the issue at the governmental level contributes to internal displacement risk creation, placing vulnerable communities at little or no influence on the process. Therefore, this study proposes a conceptual model of megaprojects-induced internal displacement that can be used to diagnose and assess willingness in community participatory research and practice. The findings will help academics and decision-makers be concerned about the key participation determinants to avoid ambiguity and disparity in understanding the adoption progress and status of community participation.KeywordsCommunity participationInternal displacementResilienceMegaprojects
Impact assessment of large-scale projects involves a plethora of technical, economic, social, and environmental factors that must be assessed along with the expectations of the stakeholders of each project. While impact assessment is required for a development project to receive regulatory approval to proceed, it is also an invaluable tool during the design phase of complex projects, providing for informed decision-making. Molding multiple perspectives of diverse stakeholders into a single collective choice is a key challenge in the process. Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) is the methodology used to rank a finite number of decision options based on a finite set of evaluation criteria. Different MCDA techniques, however, may lead to different decisions when applied to the same problem while different sets of criteria and weights may rank choices differently even when the same method is applied. This is a cause of concern, and even acrimony, amongst the stakeholders, often leading to protracted periods of negotiation and delaying project launching. The objective of this paper is to present an intelligent system to ameliorate the effects of the inherent subjectivity in MCDA techniques and to develop a consensus amongst the stakeholders in a data-driven setting. A case study from the field of offshore construction is used as a running example. This case study, informed by real-world experience in the field, demonstrates succinctly the issues involved and illustrates clearly the proposed intelligent methodology and its merits.
Purpose
This paper aimed to study the optimal way to implement and subsequently manage the new metropolitan lines in the Kuwait city as well as to justify them from a social and economic-financial viability standpoint and the most important aspects of transport infrastructure projects viability. The implementation of new modes of transport in an urban environment requires the study of several factors that allow their incorporation on the transport system in the most efficient method. These factors include reviewing the organization of the transport system. The concept of transport system organization, financing models and common trends was defined. Finally, the Public Transport Authority was created to define global objectives and establish specific policies to achieve them was suggested.
Design/methodology/approach
After the analysis of the “status quo” of transport systems organization, the financing and management schemes, both infrastructure projects and the provision of rail service were analysed. The characteristics of the PPP scheme (Public–Private Participation) contract, advantages and disadvantages, its structure, and the definition and share of risk (matrix of risk, rights and obligations of the parties) as a key element of the PPP contracts were defined. From this point onwards, the legal framework in force in Kuwait was analysed, particularly the administrative and commercial regulations applying to this project and the authors verified that the economic-financial viability analysis suggested before can be established under this framework.
Findings
For the viability of these alternatives, the authors developed a simulation economic-financial model that reflects Financial Statements for the “Society Vehicle Project” and are considered some minimum thresholds of profitability, both from the viewpoint of the partners sponsoring the project as from the standpoint of lenders, which make attractive participation of private initiative. Finally, there was a short socio-economic analysis to justify the project implementation from a social standpoint. It analyses and quantifies the reduction of operating expenses of other modes of transport, travelling times, accident rates, environmental pollution etc. All these factors affect the quality of life of the population of Kuwait and are the main reason to carry out this project. Several recommendations were raised that aimed at preparing the projects, bidding and selection of private partner and the articulation and implementation of projects.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the existing body of knowledge through setting the framework for metro projects in arid regions with the hottest temperature on Earth such as Kuwait where such projects are missing completely. This work will be very helpful to governments and municipalities in taking investment decisions. It sets the strategy for utilizing the best of decision-making theory, identifying the reliability advantages and finding the larger economic effects. This work identified, through the analysis of alternative management options generally used in underground and rail projects in different parts of the world, the most convenient alternative in developing countries. It also clearly showed, through the analysis carried out on governmental contributions, how to obtain economic viability for such types of projects. Finally, it helped drawing a roadmap for preparing the projects, bidding and selection of private partner and the articulation and implementation of projects in Kuwait and Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC).
The organised transfer of information between Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) processes – also known as tiering – has the potential to enhance the overall efficiency and effectiveness of environmental assessments and improve the coherence of information to support decisions. Nevertheless, research on tiering practice is limited and the added value of tiering to SEA, EIA and planning processes remains largely unexplored. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by examining tiering practice across sectors and planning tiers in the Republic of Ireland. It reviews nine SEA environmental reports and associated EIA reports, supplementing the review findings with 14 national expert interviews. The research reveals that SEAs can streamline processes by shaping alternatives, anticipating project-level issues and mitigation, and thus setting the terms of reference for EIA for more focused assessments and actions. When SEA and EIA ‘talk’ to each other, there is greater coherence, purpose and clarity of information which can result, ultimately, in better integration of environmental considerations across tiers, helping ensure that impacts are not significant on the ground. Although more apparent and effective in certain procedural stages, overall, tiering streamlines and strengthens environmental assessment processes, ‘raising the game’ through improved practice.
Tiering of information and decisions from more strategic plans to more specific projects (and sometimes the other way) can streamline plan-making and assessments, and improve decisions at each planning tier. In particular, it can lead to more consistent and comprehensive impact mitigation at the lower tiers. In practice, however, tiering of assessments is carried out only sporadically. This paper reviews the international literature and case studies on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) tiering, and presents the findings of interviews with 14 SEA/EIA experts. It concludes that a conscious and explicit transfer of information from the SEA level, and an explicit receipt of this information at the EIA level are necessary prerequisites for effective tiering. SEAs must be carried out with local actions in mind, in order for mitigation measures to support environmental protection on the ground. Lower-tier decision-makers must also be willing to be bound by decisions by the higher-tier SEA, focusing on implementation of these decisions.
The dissertation analyses the transitioning of the port sector towards sustainability in environmental and social terms. In specific, it explores how port authorities in Europe and West Africa engage with the globalising green port idea, and what role is played by contextual factors in determining the choice of policy measures and technological tools they adopt or implement. The dissertation further examines the extent to which sustainability-oriented network(ing) bring to bear positive influence on sustainability practices of participating ports (authorities) and facilitates environmental upgrading along the maritime value chain. Finally, it interrogates outcomes of stakeholder-inclusive port development discourses and mechanisms. It does this by combining concepts and theories such as policy mobilities, sustainability fix and critical debates on network theory and network governance. Methodologically, the dissertation draws on information collected through a triangulation of qualitative research methods and document analysis. The findings show that sustainability schemes and green initiatives of ports are crucially 'translocal', and draws attention to contested outcomes in port networks and stakeholder-inclusive initiatives and discourses of ports.
In this paper I advocate SEA as an instrument of change towards more sustainable patterns of behaviour and development, by following strategic thinking and constructive approaches. I recommend that the future research agenda of SEA should contribute to make SEA a matured, full-fleshed instrument with a clear identity, and coherent functions and forms. This may be achieved by exploring how to engage all actors in a fundamental new attitude in understanding and addressing the complexity of strategic processes, enabling dialogues towards mutual understanding, offering flexibility, ensuring a long-term and large scale perspectives when exploring development options.
This paper provides an overview of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) related research projects as well as publications in international refereed English language journals of the past 20 years. This is based on a survey with international SEA researchers and the results of a content analysis of 263 SEA papers, published in the three most preeminent international refereed English language journals for SEA: Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal and Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management. It is concluded that, while more empirical evidence has been produced than is frequently acknowledged, the main challenge is to raise the level of awareness of what is already out there and to make this the baseline for the future SEA research agenda.
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.
In this paper, a generic strategic environmental assessment (SEA) framework for transport planning is introduced and tested. The framework may be used for evaluating existing practice, whilst also serving as the basis for developing context-specific guidance. Based on (a) the evidence provided by transport planning systems in northern and western European countries and (b) suggestions by various authors and guidance documents on what contributes to effective SEA, the framework revolves around assessment tasks that are allocated to four SEA tiers: policies; network plans; corridor plans; and programmes. Although the framework can be directly applied for evaluating practice, in order to support the development of guidance, existing planning and assessment practice first needs to be analysed, enabling SEA to be adapted to the underlying transport planning system. In the paper, the framework is used to identify possible core tasks of the European Union TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Network) related corridor-plan SEAs in Germany and England.
The main authors of five of the early guidance documents for how to implement the European Union Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive at regional and national level (those of England, Iceland, the Lombardia region of Italy, Portugal and Scotland) discuss the respective documents. They summarise the evolution of the five documents, then discuss what they were trying to achieve and whether they feel they have succeeded, common and diverging aspects of the documents, and unresolved issues.
Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is seen as an instrument that is essential to realizing sustainability goals that transcend project-level undertakings (e.g. policies, plans and programmes). The purpose of this case-based, collaborative research was to extend practical and theoretical understanding of SEA to the related, but in practice poorly coordinated, processes of project-level environmental assessment (EA), master planning and regional land use planning. Semi-structured key informant interviews and review of policy documents were used as the main sources of qualitative data to explore the key events that have led to an emerging strategic approach to planning and EA in York Region. This research contributes to the application of SEA at the municipal level, and highlights the importance of an SEA-type approach as a contribution to better informed, tiered and integrated planning and decision making that is underpinned by sustainability.
In this paper, a generic strategic environmental assessment (SEA) framework for transport planning is introduced and tested. The framework may be used for evaluating existing practice, whilst also serving as the basis for developing context-specific guidance. Based on (a) the evidence provided by transport planning systems in northern and western European countries and (b) suggestions by various authors and guidance documents on what contributes to effective SEA, the framework revolves around assessment tasks that are allocated to four SEA tiers: policies; network plans; corridor plans; and programmes. Although the framework can be directly applied for evaluating practice, in order to support the development of guidance, existing planning and assessment practice first needs to be analysed, enabling SEA to be adapted to the underlying transport planning system. In the paper, the framework is used to identify possible core tasks of the European Union TENT (Trans-European Transport Network) related corridor-plan SEAs in Germany and England.
Increasing emphasis has been placed in recent years on transitioning strategic environmental assessment (SEA) away from its environmental impact assessment (EIA) roots. Scholars have argued the need to conceptualize SEA as a process designed to facilitate strategic thinking, thus enabling transitions toward sustainability. The practice of SEA, however, remains deeply rooted in the EIA tradition and scholars and practitioners often appear divided on the nature and purpose of SEA. This paper revisits the strategic principles of SEA and conceptualizes SEA as a multi-faceted and multi-dimensional assessment process. It is suggested that SEA can be conceptualized as series of approaches operating along a spectrum from less to more strategic – from impact assessment-based to strategy-based – with each approach to SEA differentiated by the specific objectives of SEA application and the extent to which strategic principles are reflected in its design and implementation. Advancing the effectiveness of SEA requires a continued research agenda focused on improving the traditional SEA approach, as a tool to assess the impacts of policies, plans and programs (PPPs). Realizing the full potential of SEA, however, requires a new research agenda — one focused on the development and testing of a deliberative governance approach to SEA that can facilitate strategic innovations in PPP formulation and drive transitions in short-term policy and initiatives based on longer-term thinking.
China's EIA Law does not require transboundary proposals to be assessed, despite recognition of this globally, for example in the Espoo Convention and Kiev Protocol, and in the European EIA and SEA Directives. In a transboundary context assessment within a state is unusual, as regulating these effects is primarily about the relationship between states. However where a state has more than one legal system such as in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) Region of southern China, transboundary effects should also be addressed. Yet despite the geographical connections between Guangdong Province in mainland China (where the EIA Law applies) and the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions (which have their own provisions, neither of which requires transboundary assessments), EIA and SEA are carried out separately. Coordinated or joint approaches to transboundary assessment are generally absent, with the legal autonomy of Hong Kong and Macau a major constraint. As a result institutional responses at the policy level have developed. The article considers global experiences with regulating transboundary EIA and SEA, and analyses potential application to land use, transport and air and water planning in the PRD Region. If applied, benefits may include prevention or mitigation of cumulative effects, broader public participation, and improvements to environmental governance. The PRD Region experience may encourage China to conduct and coordinate EIA and SEA processes with neighbouring states, which has been non-existent or extremely limited to date.
Transboundary impact assessment has been carried out for many years but only now is it becomingnormal practice in Europe at the project level. This is occurring because of clear legal frameworks, including bilateral and multilateral agreements, and long experience in finding solutions to the many practical problems. However, many challenges remain, especially (a) in regions with unclear or weak provisions for transboundary impact assessment; and (b) for more strategic decisions for which we have little experience in transboundary impact assessment, notably for policies, plans and programmes likely to have significant transboundary effects and for transboundary activities.
This paper examines the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in transport planning in the light of different views of planning: synoptic optimising planning, communicative planning and planning as a social struggle. The analysis uses empirical materials from 17 case studies collected by survey from Member Countries of the United Nation's Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) and further processed in a practitioners' workshop, and also a detailed case study carried out in Finland. The case studies and the workshop identified a set of necessary conditions and facilitating factors that contribute to the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessments in transport planning. Our findings suggest that transport planning can often best be characterised as a social struggle over problem definitions and future choices. Thus, the effectiveness of SEA will depend on how well the assessment fits into the planning context and on its actual contribution to debates on problem definitions. Specific procedural steps may improve the effectiveness but explicit requirements to recognise SEA in decision making are likely to be a key condition.
The technique of environmental impact analysis (EIA) was developed initially in the United States in response to a requirement of the National 15nvironmental Policy Act of 1969. Now adopted with variations in at least 3 0 countries antf by the European Community, EIA has proved to be a va1ua't)le component of a group of related techniques for discovering and projectirig the probable consequences of proposed action. In pursuit of iriprovenicnt in analytic technique, however, the policy rationale for EIA has too oftcii been obscured. EIA depends for full effectiveness upon in- tcgration into the policy-making process. Separated from commitment to environmental policy objectives, El.4 IS at risk of becoming redundant paperwork. Copyright 1988 by The Policy Studies Organization.
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