Sustainability assessment is being increasingly viewed as an important tool to aid in the shift towards sustainability. However, this is a new and evolving concept and there remain very few examples of effective sustainability assessment processes implemented anywhere in the world. Sustainability assessment is often described as a process by which the implications of an initiative on sustainability are evaluated, where the initiative can be a proposed or existing policy, plan, programme, project, piece of legislation, or a current practice or activity. However, this generic definition covers a broad range of different processes, many of which have been described in the literature as 'sustainability assessment'. This article seeks to provide some clarification by reflecting on the different approaches described in the literature as being forms of sustainability assessment, and evaluating them in terms of their potential contributions to sustainability. Many of these are actually examples of 'integrated assessment', derived from environmental impact assessment (EIA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA), but which have been extended to incorporate social and economic considerations as well as environmental ones, reflecting a 'triple bottom line' (TBL) approach to sustainability. These integrated assessment processes typically either seek to minimise 'unsustainability', or to achieve TBL objectives. Both aims may, or may not, result in sustainable practice. We present an alternative conception of sustainability assessment, with the more ambitious aim of seeking to determine whether or not an initiative is actually sustainable. We term such processes 'assessment for sustainability'. 'Assessment for sustainability' firstly requires that the concept of sustainability be well-defined. The article compares TBL approaches and principles-based approaches to developing such sustainability criteria, concluding that the latter are more appropriate, since they avoid many of the inherent limitations of the triple-bottom-line as a conception of sustainability.

Conceptualising sustainability assessment

Water and energy are each recognized as indispensable inputs to modern economies. And, in recent years, driven by the three imperatives of security of supply, sustainability, and economic efficiency, the energy and water sectors have undergone rapid reform. However, it is when water and energy rely on each other that the most complex challenges are posed for policymakers. Despite the links and the urgency in both sectors for security of supply, in existing policy frameworks, energy and water policies are developed largely in isolation from one another—a degree of policy fragmentation that is seeing erroneous developments in both sectors. Examples of the trade-offs between energy and water security include: the proliferation of desalination plants and interbasin transfers to deal with water scarcity; extensive groundwater pumping for water supplies; first- generation biofuels; the proliferation of hydropower plants; decentralized water supply solutions such as rainwater tanks; and even some forms of modern irrigation techniques. Drawing on case studies from Australia, Europe, and the United States, this Special Issue attempts to develop a comprehensive understanding of the links between energy and water, to identify where better-integrated policy and management strategies and solutions are needed or available, and to understand where barriers exist to achieve that integration. In this paper we draw out some of the themes emerging from the Special Issue, and, particularly, where insights might be valuable for policymakers, practitioners, and scientists across the many relevant domains.

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The energy-water nexus: managing the links between energy and water for a sustainable future.

https://isiarticles.com/bundles/Article/pre/pdf/5663.pdf

Strategic environmental assessment in post-modern times

Plant diseases are often thought to be caused by one species or even by a specific strain. Microbes in nature however mostly occur as part of complex communities and this has been noted since the time of van Leeuwenhoek. Interestingly, most laboratory studies focus on single microbial strains grown in pure culture; we were therefore unaware of possible interspecies and/or inter-kingdom interactions of pathogenic microbes in the wild. In human and animal infections, it is now being recognized that many diseases are the result of multispecies synergistic interactions. This increases the complexity of the disease and has to be taken into consideration in the development of more effective control measures. On the other hand, there are only a few reports of synergistic pathogen-pathogen interactions in plant diseases and the mechanisms of interactions are currently unknown. Here we review some of these reports of synergism between different plant pathogens and their possible implications in crop health. Finally, we briefly highlight the recent technological advances in diagnostics as these are beginning to provide important insights into the microbial communities associated with complex plant diseases. These examples of synergistic interactions of plant pathogens that lead to disease complexes might prove to be more common than expected and understanding the underlying mechanisms might have important implications in plant disease epidemiology and management.

/pdf/synergisms-between-microbial-pathogens-in-plant-disease-3q8yi8doxo.pdf

Synergisms between microbial pathogens in plant disease complexes: a growing trend.

By focusing on three contextual areas—social/political, environmental/economic and legal/administrative—this article considers how a greater understanding of context may help in measuring the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment (SEA). Based on a review of literature, some of the environmental assessment studies and a recent case study in Canada, the importance of context is considered generally and contextual criteria developed. A positive approach is necessary if the challenge of moving SEA effectiveness studies forward is to be met.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14615517.1998.10600136

Importance of context in measuring the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment

Preface - Gerry Bates - Environmental Law Consultant Part 1 - SEA and Sustainability Strategic environmental assessment: an international overview Simon Marsden, Environment Agency, UK Too deep a SEA? Strategic environmental assessment in the era of sustainability Stephen Dovers, Australian National University, Canberra ACT Part 2 - Legal Frameworks Strategic environmental assessment and fisheries management in Australia: how effective is the Commonwealth legal framework? Simon Marsden, Environment Agency, UK Strategic environmental assessment: legislative developments in Western Australia Jim Malcolm, Department of Environment, Water and Catchment Protection, Western Australia Part 3 - SEA of Policies and Plans Applying SEA to policy-making: the policy cycle model and the Queensland Policy Handbook Lex Brown and Tracey Nitz, Griffith University, Queensland Requirements of European tiered planning systems: SEA approaches and tools of general application Thomas Fischer, Department of Civic Design, University of Liverpool Part 4 - Links with Other Environmental Management Instruments Linkages between project-based EIA and the use of 'ad hoc' SEA for Australian coastal development Nick Harvey, University of Adelaide, South Australia The Oceanport integrated assessment experience: what role for SEA in Tasmania? John Hayes, Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment, Tasmania Part 5 - Applications and Perspectives The Australian Regional Forest Agreement process: a case study in strategic natural resource assessment John Ashe, Environmental Consultant, Canberra ACT Strategic environmental assessment: a business perspective Steven Munchenberg, Business Council of Australia, Victoria All at SEA? Strateguc environmental assessment in New Zealand Jennifer Dixon, University of Auckland Conclusions: prospects for SEA Simon Marsden and Stephen Dovers

Strategic Environmental Assessment in Australasia

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) evaluates the impacts from policies, plans and programs with the objective of contributing to ecologically sustainable development. SEA has been applied voluntarily under many guises, but what provisions exist in Australian law for SEA? At the federal level, there are SEA requirements under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cwlth) and the National Environment Protection Council Act 1994 (Cwlth), both of which have resulted in assessment of strategic proposals, primarily of fisheries plans and of National Environment Protection Measures. Four of Australia's states have legislative requirements for SEA that relate to environmental planning and protection (New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania), and the two self governing territories also have some SEA provision. However experience is mixed to date, with little if any research undertaken. We briefly examine the implementation of these laws from a comparative perspective, and conclude that SEA legislation at the state level, at least, has developed significantly over the last ten years, and that legislative effort compares very favourably with effort at the federal level. However SEA is still not carried out in a tiered planning framework in any of the jurisdictions, and political will and understanding of the benefits of SEA remains weak.

Strategic Environmental Assessment Legislation in Australian States and Territories

Foreword * Introduction: SEA and the Law * Part I: International Law * An Overview of International Law * International Environmental Law * The Espoo and Aarhus Conventions * The SEA Protocol * SEA and the Conservation Conventions * Part II: European Law * An Overview of European Law * European Environmental Law * The EIA and other Horizontal Directives * The SEA Directive * Relationship between the SEA, EIA and other Related Directives * Comparisons and Conclusions * Index

Strategic Environmental Assessment in International and European Law: A Practitioner's Guide

Contents: Foreword, David Freestone Perspectives on transboundary environmental governance, Robin Warner and Simon Marsden Part I Inland and Coastal Perspectives: Transboundary environmental governance in the Murray Darling basin, Brendan Grigg Transboundary environmental governance, collaboration and the law: empirical insights from water and natural resource management in inland Queensland, Australia, Cameron Holley Marine protected areas and transboundary governance, Lorne Kriwoken, Julie Davidson and Michael Lockwood Effective governance across Central Asian boundaries: what lessons does the Central Asian transboundary watercourse management experience provide for mountain biodiversity conservation across the Kyrgyz-Tajik boundary? Michelle Lim Developing agreements for transboundary environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment in Asia, Simon Marsden. Part II Marine Perspectives: Transboundary pollution from offshore oil and gas activities in the seas of South East Asia, Youna Lyons Coordinating strategic environmental assessments of marine and terrestrial plans: Australian experience in the sub-Antarctic, Simon Marsden Transboundary environmental governance and emerging environmental threats: geo-engineering in the marine environment, Karen N. Scott A model litigant? Australia's record in transboundary environmental litigation, Tim Stephens Transboundary environmental impact assessment in marine areas, Warwick Gullett Conserving marine biodiversity beyond boundaries: developing environmental assessment frameworks, Robin Warner Could the Espoo Convention become a global regime for environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment?, Timo Koivurova Bibliography Index.

Simon Marsden

Papers

Importance of context in measuring the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment

Strategic Environmental Assessment in Australasia

Strategic Environmental Assessment Legislation in Australian States and Territories

Strategic Environmental Assessment in International and European Law: A Practitioner's Guide

Transboundary environmental governance : inland, coastal and marine perspectives