Can Resilience Thinking Be Integrated into the Strategic Environmental Assessment Process?

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 571-577
Author(s):  
Mike Jones
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Strategic Environmental Assessment ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Resilience Thinking

scholarly journals Development and assessment of development strategy alternatives in strategic environmental assessment

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-100
Author(s):  
Marina Stenek ◽  
Bojana Nardi ◽  
Nenad Mikulić
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Strategic Environmental Assessment ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Informed Decision Making ◽  
Legal Requirements ◽  
The Development Strategy ◽  
The City

Development and evaluation of alternatives is a key process in the strategic environmental assessment (SEA), which enables improvement of the environment, informed decision-making, greater transparency and better opportunities for public participation. It is also the most challenging part of the assessment, because the alternatives are often avoided or considered to the extent to meet the legal requirements. The absence of alternatives in the assessment process significantly diminishes the contribution of SEA to the environmental protection system. The paper will outline the generally applicable methodology for the development and assessment of alternatives in the SEA process, on the example of the Development Strategy of the City of Solin, which is based on the development of the environmental alternative, which significantly contributes to the development of sustainable strategic solutions.

Stakeholders Perspectives on the Use of Indicators in Water Resources Planning and Related Strategic Environmental Assessment

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (01) ◽  
pp. 1950001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Santos Coelho ◽  
Pedro S. Coelho ◽  
Paula Antunes ◽  
Tomás B. Ramos
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Strategic Environmental Assessment ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Water Resources Planning ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Integrated Water Management ◽  
Resources Planning

Water resources planning is currently designed to meet emerging challenges and encompassing a more comprehensive and integrated water management. The main focus of current water resources planning is to promote good water resource conditions through the implementation of innovative water policies. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to characterize and assess the status of water resources, monitor the implementation of planned actions, disseminate information and support the decision-making process. Indicators are often regarded as appropriate tools for supporting these tasks, although their use in this context is not imperative. The present study intends to explore the stakeholder perspective on the role of indicators in the water resources planning and management processes and their strategic environmental assessment process using a Portuguese case study. To achieve this objective, semi-structured interviews with the various stakeholder groups involved were conducted. The treatment of the obtained data using content analysis shows that the interviewees consider indicators to be an essential tool for supporting water resources planning. Some participants express concerns and suggest changes to the selection models and to the communication and decision-support capacity of the sets of indicators used. All stakeholders in the process consider that improvements to the indicators to be used in future processes are possible. In light of the results, it can be concluded that there is a long way to go for indicators to be used to promote better communication with stakeholders and to support decision-making processes; simultaneously, they can form the basis for the review and development of the subsequent cycle of the planning process.

scholarly journals Best practices for Strategic Environmental Assessment and application to the Ontario Long-Term Energy Plan

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Baynova
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Strategic Environmental Assessment ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Term Energy ◽  
Resource Exploration ◽  
Project Level

Research shows that project-level Environmental Assessment (EA) in Ontario is failing to achieve the goals that it was designed to meet, including protection and management of the environment. The practice of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is emerging internationally and an increasing number of countries and organizations are carrying out SEA either formally or informally. Although there is a considerable amount of debate in terms of standardized SEA methodology, SEA is seen as a proactive tool for incorporating sustainability objectives within Policies, Plans and Programmes (PPPs) and addressing cumulative and long-term effects of of multiple projects and policy decisions. The energy sector is globally a large impact generator in terms of resource exploration, production, consumption and waste disposal. Energy development and policy in Ontario have great implications for sustainable development. Project-level EA is the process followed for developing energy infrastructure. However, decisions regarding energy supply are strategic in nature and cannot be adequately addressed through project-level EA. Therefore, SEA is an important tool used to deal with such decisions in the early stages of the assessment process and can help decision makers make informed choices regarding the long-term sustainability of strategic energy initiatives. This study focuses on identifying best practices criteria for carrying out SEA and investigating the extent to which the Ontario Long-Term Energy Plan conforms to SEA best practices.

scholarly journals Territorial analysis as support to the strategic environmental assessment process for agro-waste management planning

Spatium ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 16-22
Author(s):  
Nikola Krunic ◽  
Bosko Josimovic ◽  
Aleksandra Gajic ◽  
Marina Nenkovic-Riznic
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Strategic Environmental Assessment ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Spatial Analyses ◽  
Management Planning ◽  
Multi Criteria Evaluation ◽  
Gis Tools ◽  
The World

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for waste management planning (WMP) has been applied around the world for fifteen years now. In addition to identifying potential trends in space and the environment by means of WMP, the SEA process contributes to involving the general public in issues relevant to the environment. In turn, the endpoint of the SEA process is a set of results that enable appropriate decisions to be made related to WMP. Bearing this in mind, it is necessary for all the segments of the SEA process to be supported by specific spatial analyses and presentations enabling visual monitoring of the results. In this context, an important role is played by GIS tools, since they offer support to the SEA process and give it a new quality, which, in addition to visualizing the results, also increases objectivity in the evaluation of the planned solutions. This paper presents the deployment of GIS tools in spatial analysis and the support they provide for the SEA process during the development of the Agro-Waste Management Plan for Oplenac Vineyard in Serbia (AWMP). The results indicate the possibility of applying GIS tools to increase objectivity in the Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) of the planned solutions in the SEA process.

scholarly journals Best practices for Strategic Environmental Assessment and application to the Ontario Long-Term Energy Plan

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Baynova
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Strategic Environmental Assessment ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Term Energy ◽  
Resource Exploration ◽  
Project Level

Research shows that project-level Environmental Assessment (EA) in Ontario is failing to achieve the goals that it was designed to meet, including protection and management of the environment. The practice of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is emerging internationally and an increasing number of countries and organizations are carrying out SEA either formally or informally. Although there is a considerable amount of debate in terms of standardized SEA methodology, SEA is seen as a proactive tool for incorporating sustainability objectives within Policies, Plans and Programmes (PPPs) and addressing cumulative and long-term effects of of multiple projects and policy decisions. The energy sector is globally a large impact generator in terms of resource exploration, production, consumption and waste disposal. Energy development and policy in Ontario have great implications for sustainable development. Project-level EA is the process followed for developing energy infrastructure. However, decisions regarding energy supply are strategic in nature and cannot be adequately addressed through project-level EA. Therefore, SEA is an important tool used to deal with such decisions in the early stages of the assessment process and can help decision makers make informed choices regarding the long-term sustainability of strategic energy initiatives. This study focuses on identifying best practices criteria for carrying out SEA and investigating the extent to which the Ontario Long-Term Energy Plan conforms to SEA best practices.

IMPACTS OF REGION-WIDE URBAN DEVELOPMENT ON BIODIVERSITY IN STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

2005 ◽  
Vol 07 (02) ◽  
pp. 229-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
BERIT BALFORS ◽  
ULLA MÖRTBERG ◽  
MIKAEL GONTIER ◽  
PETER BROKKING
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Strategic Environmental Assessment ◽  
Ecological Modelling ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Planning System ◽  
Natural Habitats

In urbanising regions, urban sprawl and infrastructure cause profound alterations of natural habitats. Initial decisions on urban expansion and major infrastructure investments are often made on a strategic level where the long-term development of a region is determined. For these types of decisions a strategic environmental assessment can be prepared. However, the lack of an adequate conceptual and methodological framework can pose a major problem for the prediction of impacts, not least concerning biodiversity. This paper will highlight the need for effective methods for biodiversity analysis at landscape and regional levels, with reference to the long-term urban development of the Stockholm and Mälaren regions. Problems of habitat loss, fragmentation and other impacts related to large-scale urbanisation and infrastructure developments will be addressed. GIS-based methods focusing on predictive ecological modelling will be discussed in a scenario context. The implementation of such methodologies in the strategic environmental assessment process would allow a better integration of biodiversity in planning and decision-making, further promoting a sustainable planning system.

ADVANCING A NATIONAL STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE CANADIAN OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON CUMULATIVE EFFECTS

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (03) ◽  
pp. 1250015 ◽  
Author(s):  
SANDRA S. ELVIN ◽  
GAIL S. FRASER
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Strategic Environmental Assessment ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Industrial Activities ◽  
Offshore Oil And Gas ◽  
Offshore Oil

Cumulative environmental effects from the offshore oil and gas industry in Canada are inadequately addressed in the Environmental Assessment process due to the complexity of analysis required to overcome unknowns with respect to offshore environments. Limited Environmental Assessments can lead to deleterious consequences for wildlife populations and their habitats dependent on offshore marine ecosystems, particularly as adverse effects become additive and synergistic. A Strategic Environmental Assessment generates guiding policies and programmes for future industrial activities, while taking environmental concerns from all and potential sources into consideration. To address the cumulative impacts of the offshore oil and gas industry in Canada's three marine regions, this paper advances the idea of a National Strategic Environmental Assessment to ensure the health of marine ecosystems is secured throughout present and future industrial activities sustainably.

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