Promise and dismay: The state of strategic environmental assessment systems and practices in Canada

The European Union (EU) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive which was introduced some 25 years ago has had a major impact on decision-making practices in EU member states. In the professional literature, this impact has mostly been discussed under the heading of "effectiveness", with an emphasis being given in particular to procedural elements. The extent to which EIA has contributed to objectives, such as raising environmental awareness and leading to an incorporation of environmental values in decision-making has only been rarely investigated. This paper reflects on these latter two aspects of EIA effectiveness in two EU member states; the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Empirical evidence was compiled mainly on the basis of a comprehensive literature review and online surveys with EIA professionals in both countries. Our results indicate that overall the instrument is about equally effective in both countries with regards to the incorporation of environmental concerns in decision-making. As both countries have different governance mechanisms, further research is needed on why perceived effectiveness does not differ more.

The effectiveness of EIA as an instrument for environmental governance – a comparison of 25 years of EIA practice in the Netherlands and the UK

http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:940753/FULLTEXT01

Contribution of social science to large scale biodiversity conservation : a review of research about the Natura 2000 network

https://isiarticles.com/bundles/Article/pre/pdf/44661.pdf

Theory versus practice in Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)

As the field of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) has matured, the focus has moved from the development of legislation, guidelines and methodologies towards improving the effectiveness of SEA. Measuring and of course achieving effectiveness is both complex and challenging. This paper suggests that SEA professionals need to consider ‘democratic effectiveness’ as well as ‘environmental effectiveness’ in both ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ outputs. The effectiveness of SEA depends critically on the context within which SEA legislation and guidelines are understood and implemented, and the relationship of the SEA to the planning activity itself. This paper focuses on the influence that planners have in these implementation processes, postulating the hypothesis that these are key players in achieving effectiveness in SEA. Based upon implementation theory and empirical experience, the paper discusses the role of the planners in SEA implementation, concluding that their ‘ownership’ of SEA is crucial for both dem...

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Holmfridur Bjarnadóttir

Papers

Context awareness and sensitivity in SEA implementation