Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management

Despite increased legislative, political and social support for extended public engagement in environmental assessment, questions remain over the best means to integrate more analytic-deliberative processes within extended and fragmented decision-making frameworks. Using evidence from waste management decision-making in Britain this paper discusses institutional, cultural and technical barriers to effective integration of analysis and deliberation. The barriers are seen to limit effective participation intra decisions but particularly inter-decisions and hence to limit public impact on assessments and achievement of consensus on the optimum integrated waste management strategies. Institutional, technical and cultural barriers to effective process are discussed that compound the problems of enhancing public participation and promote maintenance of the status quo. Thus, environmental assessment still largely proceeds in advance of discussion with the public rather than through discussion with them.

In most regions of the world, consultative approaches involving "open door" model of public involvement are already being adopted in EIA process for ensuring sustainability of environmental and biodiversity resources and the security of the livelihoods of local communities. In India too, legislative provisions for public involvement in EIA were made mandatory by the enactment of Public Hearing Notification in April 1997 with an objective to strengthen public involvement in EIA process. The paper has drawn extensively from the case studies and proceedings of the public hearing to highlight the inherent weaknesses and process constraints that have undermined the benefits of public hearing in influencing the environmental decisions. To overcome some of the existing pitfalls of the consultative process, the paper emphasises the merit of initiating public involvement fairly early in EIA to make it an integral feature of the assessment procedures. The paper also stresses the significant need for a more proactive participation by adequately represented stakeholders in bringing about a positive tilt in the existing ceremonial nature of public hearing process to enhance its effectiveness as a participatory tool for consensus building and decision-making.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) system in the Russian Federation has an extensive set of rules, the main ones are the Assessment of the Environmental Impact (OVOS) of a project and the State Environmental Review (SER). The SER is designed as an investigation of both a project and of its OVOS by an independent expert commission, which is appointed by the federal and regional environmental bodies. The decision of the commission is binding. In addition, a Public Environmental Review (PER) can be conducted by NGOs and recognised by the state.

A mandatory component of the EIA in Russia is public participation. The process of public participation is regulated by Russian legislation (for example the Land Code, the OVOS guidelines and autonomous regional laws) and can take various forms. All these opportunities are established on paper; in reality, they are not always taken into account. There are a number of case studies used to observe the extent to which the public has an impact on environmental decision-making. Selected cases include examples in which the public was passive, in which it undertook limited activities, and in which participation was strong and projects were improved or stopped.

Policy makers and scholars have shown increased interest in the learning outcomes of resource and environmental management initiatives. This applies to environmental assessment (EA) as well as to processes that more explicitly incorporate learning-related objectives, such as adaptive management. Using a transformative framework and a qualitative methodology, in this paper we investigate learning outcomes from involvement in an EA of a major hog processing facility in Brandon, Canada. We also examine implications for EA process design, and the pursuit of key social objectives of sustainability. The extent to which the EA in this case facilitated emancipatory learning was quite limited, that is, the process deviated substantially from the ideal conditions of learning. As well, the EA was at best legitimating, and was by no means participatory, empowering, or equitable. The emancipatory potential of involvement in EA, and opportunities for mutual learning, could be increased with earlier involvement, higher degrees of participation, and more open decision-making.

Environmental problems have spatial origins and consequences. Hence, effective stakeholder participation demands the integration of comprehensive facilities for understanding the spatial components that affect environmental change. This study develops the Collaborative Spatial Delphi (CSD) methodology to embed spatial thinking, conceptualise the dynamic mechanisms, and assess the effectiveness of the resulting participatory process. The CSD uses a collaborative geographic information system (GIS) and the Delphi procedure in a descriptive decision-making framework that integrates diverse stakeholder knowledge for spatial awareness, understanding, and negotiated outcomes. The CSD synthesises relevant theories to conceptualise the participation mechanisms, and an application of the methodology to urban green spaces planning in Montreal, Canada is presented. The results suggest that a deficiency in technical background is not a barrier to effective use of spatial technology in participatory planning. The methodology enhanced many spatial facets of the participation process and was evaluated as effective in achieving negotiated outcomes.

Whilst the drivers for public participation in water resources management have been firmly established by the Water Framework Directive, guidance on the design, implementation and management of appropriate tools, particularly Information & Communication Technology (ICT) based tools, and processes to support such participation remains sparse. This paper begins by reviewing the motivations for stakeholder participation in water resources planning & governance and highlighting some of the methodological and technical problems associated with the design and deployment of suitable ICT platforms. It then goes on to report the design and field testing of a specific Multi-Media based ICT platform for use in stakeholder debates, drawing on case study material from a catchment in Southern France. Specifically, we focus our comments on the issues of content structuring, information presentation, knowledge quality and tool functionality, seen as the major determinants of the tool's ability to support dialogue among non-scientific stakeholders. Finally, we draw conclusions about the experimental deployment of the tool, draw out lessons for future design and implementation activities, and comment on some of the limitations emergent from the use of the tool.

Environmental decision-making generally involves issues of complexity, uncertainty and information feedback. The complexity of environmental problems calls for integrated and multi-disciplinary approaches, which include civil society and stakeholder groups affected by or affecting environmental decisions. This paper presents a participatory modelling framework to facilitate public and stakeholder involvement in environmental decision-making. Results from a case study in the Ria Formosa Natural Park in Portugal illustrate the process of participatory modelling. The use of the System Dynamics modelling methodology facilitates the identification of the fundamental structure underlying the processing of information flows in order to achieve the desired behaviour of environmental decisions. It sets up a collaborative environment for the involvement of stakeholders in the development and experimentation of alternative policy scenarios. Along with the achievement of a simulation model, this approach is likely to foster trust in institutions, promote team learning and increase commitment towards actions.