Effectiveness Of Strategic Environmental Assessment Research Articles

Strategic environmental assessment and SDG integration: enhancing sustainable development in Egypt

AbstractThis research delves into the integration and alignment between strategic environmental assessment (SEA) practices and Egypt's united nations sustainable development goals (SDGs), with a focus on incorporating environmental, social, and economic considerations into policies, plans, and programs. The study assesses Egypt's strategic environmental assessment framework, identifying its strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and gaps in sustainable development. It critically analyzes institutional coordination, stakeholder engagement, monitoring, reporting, and evaluation (MRE) frameworks, and policy coherence. The key findings underscore the commendable emphasis on environmental integrity in SEA practices, while also highlighting significant deficiencies in integrating broader sustainability criteria and aligning with the SDGs. The research concludes with policy implications, practice recommendations, and future research directions that aim to bolster the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment in contributing to sustainable development in Egypt.

A synthesis of a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment between Ireland and Scotland applied to Brazil

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) aims to facilitate both integration and assessment of opportunities and threats for action strategies within the framework of sustainable development. Its stages comprise Screening, which analyzes its need, Scoping, which establishes the range of environmental issues to be covered, Analysis, in which the Environmental Report is prepared, Decision-Making, Follow-up, in which both Monitoring and Follow-up of the assessment are conducted, and finally Consultation. Three types of effectiveness approaches, namely procedural effectiveness, substantive effectiveness, and transactional effectiveness can be identified. This article addresses the effectiveness of SEA in Brazil, Ireland, and Scotland through a comparative analysis, since it enables rich discussions on the subject.

Meta-analysis of SEA's effectiveness evaluation criteria: A comparison between the Chinese and international contexts.

By considering environmental factors in the earliest stage of decision-making, strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is seen as an important preventive measure to realize sustainable development. Despite a great expansion of SEA effectiveness research in the past 10 years, no study statistically reviews how frequently the evaluation criteria are adopted. The present meta-analysis considers 68 academic papers published from 2009 to 2019, with 41 articles relating to the international context and 27 relating to China. After ascertaining the number of times each criterion is mentioned, the adoption frequency is calculated and a comparison is made between the Chinese and international contexts. The result reveals that the criteria adopted in studies evaluating China's SEA largely accord with those used to evaluate international SEA. Both focus on procedural and contextual effectiveness. The distribution of substantive and normative effectiveness evaluation criteria is very similar. However, the significant differences lie in the criteria of assessment methods and communication, which are all of the drawbacks influencing SEA implementation in China. In addition, the problems of China's SEA pointed out by past scholars are statistically analyzed. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2022;18:997-1006. © 2021 SETAC.

Strategic environmental assessment of urban plans in Australia: the case study of Melbourne Urban Extension Plan

ABSTRACT This paper aims to understand the procedural effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of urban planning in Australia. The SEA has been practiced in Australia over the last two decades under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act of 1999. After the reform of EPBC Act in 2006, the application of SEA in urban sector has been widened. By evaluating the procedural practice of SEA of Melbourne Urban Extension Plan using a set of evaluation criteria, the study shows that most of the procedural requirements were confirmed by the SEA of the plan. There were some shortcomings including, among others, inadequate consideration of cumulative impacts, socio-economic impacts and the analysis of alternatives at different stages of SEA. The possible reasons behind these shortcomings were explained based on the context of SEA in Australia. Furthermore, this study explored some key features of SEA system in Australia those may influence the SEA practice. The findings of the study can be useful to the application of SEA of urban planning in addition to practitioners, academics and policy makers in Australia or elsewhere.

Evaluating the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment to facilitate renewable energy planning and improved decision-making: a South African case study

ABSTRACTCriteria for the evaluation of the effectiveness of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) have evolved internationally from the requirement for mere procedural effectiveness, to include criteria such as substantial and incremental effectiveness. This paper provides an overview of the international evolution of effectiveness evaluation for SEA and its parallel progression in South Africa. Within this context, the effectiveness of the two SEA case studies conducted in support of national-scale renewable energy planning in South Africa was reviewed against internationally recognised effectiveness criteria to test their ability to influence decision making for renewable energy projects in the country.The evaluation was informed by the role of the first author as the project director in the case studies. The review found the SEAs to be partially effective, mainly through the introduction of new legislation, processes and systems at the national level that operationalise the outcomes of the SEA. A fundamental limitation emerged in determining whether incremental effectiveness had been achieved as it is too soon to evaluate the effectiveness of the recently promulgated legislation and instruments. The paper builds on previous work on effectiveness evaluations and provides the perspective of an administrative implementer.

The process of implementation of European legislation in the sphere of environmental protection of Ukraine

The article analyzes the process of adaptation of the national legislation to the European standards in accordance with the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. In particular, in the sector “Environmental management and integration of environmental policy in other sectoral policies”, the implementation of Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programs for the environment and Directive 2011/92/EC on the assessment of the impact of certain public and private projects on the environment was considered. The influence of environmental management tools and the integration of environmental policy on other sectoral policies have been determined and their interrelation with the rest of the sectors in the field of environmental protection has been established. It has been established that environmental assessment is the main instrument for ensuring environmental considerations in the development of plans and programs and contributes to sustainable development through the promotion of environmental protection issues in economic and social development.The procedures of strategic environmental assessment and environmental impact assessment have been characterized; their subjects and objects have been clarified. The peculiarities of these procedures, stages and advantages of their application in the national practice of public environmental management are presented. The way of implementation of strategic environmental assessment and environmental impact assessment at the level of the European community is considered, and examples of their practical application at the level of the EU member states are presented.It is indicated that strategic environmental assessment and environmental impact assessment are procedural tools used to prevent any possible negative effects of economic activity on the environment and public health. A comparative analysis of these procedures was carried out and links and differences were identified. It has been proved that the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment in preventing environmental hazards is significantly higher than environmental impact assessments. The problem aspects and perspectives in the field of practical implementation of legislation in the field of environmental assessment in Ukraine are highlighted.

Investigating the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment in Thailand

ABSTRACTStrategic environmental assessment (SEA) was introduced in Thailand in 2005, aiming to direct decision-making at the strategic level (policy, programme, plan) towards sustainable development. Given reforms to the SEA requirements in 2018, it is timely to evaluate emerging SEA experience in the Thai context to inform future practice. The effectiveness of 14 SEAs was investigated based on a version of a recently published framework which substitutes ‘legitimacy’ for normative effectiveness and pluralism, modified through the addition of disaggregated sub-criteria associated with each dimension of effectiveness (procedural, substantive, transactive, and legitimacy), to facilitate a richer understanding of the effectiveness of practice. This more detailed effectiveness framework enabled a comprehensive evaluation of practice, and should be transferable to other contexts. The findings suggest that SEA in Thailand currently partially achieves procedural, substantive, and transactive effectiveness. Achieving some elements of substantive effectiveness where practice is currently weak is considered to be particularly challenging, and also determinative in the achievement of legitimacy. Consequently, the majority of SEAs evaluated in this study failed to achieve legitimacy.

Effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment in Poland

ABSTRACTThe paper presents the results of an evaluation of the effectiveness of SEA obtained as a result of a survey with the participation of stakeholders. In Poland, several hundred SEAs are conducted annually at the local and regional levels and several at the national level. Although the survey demonstrated that SEA is evaluated as effective or quite effective, the respondents pointed to several irregularities in the non-procedural dimension of effectiveness. The main ones in terms of substantive effectiveness are that SEA is rarely used to help develop plans/programmes and procedures are highly politicised. Moreover, low effectiveness in terms of variant assessment and cumulative impacts and nearly non-existent monitoring of the actual effects of implementing plans/programmes influence substantive effectiveness significantly. The respondents pointed to the problem resulting from the fact that plan-makers are unwilling to take into account the SEA recommended changes. They also emphasised that there are certain attempts to put pressure on SEA consultants to make the conclusions less stringent. Respondents indicate that in Poland the costs associated with conducting SEA often outweigh the profits. The research shows that the society is properly informed about SEA, but public involvement is still low.

Effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment in Germany? – meta-review of SEA research in the light of effectiveness dimensions

ABSTRACTSEA practice in Germany has been growing since its introduction and so has the number of SEA research projects and publications. This paper provides a meta-review of German SEA effectiveness research published between 2004 and 2018. In this context, we discuss: (1) What is the status quo of SEA application in Germany? (2) What dimensions of SEA effectiveness have been addressed in research to date? and (3) How effective is SEA in Germany? Our findings indicate that there is room and need for SEA improvement, for example, with regards to the practice of screening, transparency, and quality management. With a focus of previous SEA research on the dimension of procedural effectiveness, future research should aim at other dimensions and their interactions (substantive, transactive, knowledge and learning, legitimacy).

Effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment in the Czech Republic

ABSTRACTThe widespread application of SEA over the last 15 years in the Czech Republic has allowed for a gradual accommodation of SEA procedural steps into the standard bureaucratic routine of public authorities. In this paper, we discuss results of a small-scale survey among Czech SEA practitioners focusing on issues related to the effectiveness and efficiency of the SEA. The results suggest a moderate progress driven primarily by the accumulation of practical experience among both SEA consultants and the planners, and there is certainly no shortage of examples where SEA positively affected a plan. On the other hand, continuation of many negative general environmental trends (e.g. excessive conversion of virgin land for development, continuation of environmentally harmful agriculture and forestry policies, etc.) seem to conform the notion that the SEA, as currently practiced, in the Czech Republic fails to deliver to its full potential.

Effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment in Canada under directive-based and informal practice

ABSTRACTThis article explores the diversity of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) practice in Canada and lessons for improving the effectiveness of SEA. There are multiple dimensions to effectiveness, but core to SEA effectiveness is its strategic nature. SEA under the Canadian federal Cabinet directive is approached largely as an impact assessment tool, and effectiveness evaluated based on compliance. Practice is entrenched in project-based assessment principles, but with no mandatory provision for public engagement, which limits the potential effectiveness of SEA. External to the Cabinet directive, across Canada’s provinces and territories, SEA and SEA-like practices are occurring in diverse forms and represent the more advanced and exemplary cases. A common challenge to SEA effectiveness, however, is that applications are often limited by their ad hoc nature and disconnected from any larger and formal system of participatory and integrated policy, planning and development decision making.

Strategic environmental assessment effectiveness in Portugal

ABSTRACTDiscussions on effectiveness have been around in impact assessment for many years, blending multiple perspectives. This paper is about the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in Portugal. The adopted framework was set by the editors of this special issue and this paper is contributing results obtained through a questionnaire shared with SEA professionals in Portugal, and also from discussions held in a workshop promoted by the Portuguese national authority on SEA. We have tried to understand the influence of SEA in development processes and the perception on SEA added-value to both environmental authorities and other relevant stakeholders in Portugal. Results are mixed and somehow reveal some confusion between expectations with what SEA aims to achieve, and with what it is actually delivering, which question its effectiveness, as expressed by some opinions that SEA ‘magic may be fading away’. However, other outcomes, such as the recognized need for better communication and increased capacity-building, support the conclusion that most SEA practice and experience in Portugal are yet far from SEA full capacity and potential.

Investigating the substantive effectiveness of Strategic Environmental Assessment of urban planning: Evidence from Italy and Spain

We investigated the substantive effectiveness of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of urban planning in Italy and Spain, by looking at the changes made to the original plan as a result of the SEA process. The Italian and Spanish SEA legislations establish an SEA Authority, different from the one that elaborates the plan and the Environmental Report. This authority is in charge of supervising the SEA process and issuing a final statement containing directions and prescriptions on environmental issues to be implemented in the plan as a prerequisite for its approval. After having reviewed a sample of SEA in these two countries, we found that in the great majority of cases the SEA authority required some changes, despite the fact that the plans had undergone an environmental assessment. Results also indicate that the legal arrangements, and in particular the level of independence of the SEA authority (which in Italy and Spain is determined at the regional level), affect the quality and quantity of requested changes. In regions where the SEA Authority is established at a higher level in the planning hierarchy, more substantial changes tended to be required, including more mitigation and compensation measures. On the contrary, in regions where a subsidiary approach is in place, i.e. the SEA authority is established within the same municipality that elaborates the plan, less substantial modifications are more often required. We conclude that in the Spanish and Italian contexts a more effective SEA, in terms of environmental performance of urban plans, is supported by institutional arrangements that provide for an SEA Authority clearly separated and fully independent from the planning Authority.

Evaluating the substantive effectiveness of SEA: Towards a better understanding

Evaluating the substantive effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is vital in order to know to what extent the tool fulfills its purposes and produces expected results. However, the studies that have evaluated the substantive effectiveness of SEA produce varying outcomes as regards the tool's contribution to decision-making and have used a variety of approaches to appraise its effectiveness. The aim of this article is to discuss the theoretical concept of SEA substantive effectiveness and to present a new approach that can be applied for evaluation studies. The SEA effectiveness evaluation framework that will be presented is composed of concepts of, and approaches to, SEA effectiveness derived from SEA literature and planning theory. Lessons for evaluation can be learned from planning theory in particular, given its long history of analyzing and understanding how sources of information and decisions affect (subsequent) decision-making. Key concepts of this new approach are ‘conformance’ and ‘performance’. In addition, this article presents a systematic overview of process and context factors that can explain SEA effectiveness, derived from SEA literature. To illustrate the practical value of our framework for the assessment and understanding of substantive effectiveness of SEA, three Dutch SEA case studies are examined. The case studies have confirmed the usefulness of the SEA effectiveness assessment framework. The framework proved helpful in order to describe the cumulative influence of the three SEAs on decision-making and the ultimate plan.

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) as a means to include environmental knowledge in decision making in the case of an aluminium reduction plant in Greenland

The purpose and means of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) can vary depending on the case investigated and interests of actors involved. Based on the objective for the SEA of a proposed aluminium reduction plant (ARP) in Greenland, this paper evaluates the SEA's effectiveness in securing environmental knowledge in a decision-making process. It is concluded that the SEA secured inclusion of environmental knowledge in three out of four key decision arenas, which determined the direction and outcome of the process. The results from the SEA did not oppose the recommendations based on the economic assessments. As there was no conflict between economic and environmental recommendations, and hence no visible proof of SEA's influence on the outcome of the decision, it is discussed whether environmental knowledge, in this decision making process, equals influence. The investigation was carried out as a part of a PhD project and is meant as a contribution to the debate about how to investigate SEA effectiveness and to broaden the understanding of the use of SEA in Greenland.

Case studies: Application of SEA in provincial level expressway infrastructure network planning in China — Current existing problems

Since the Law of the People's Republic of China on Environmental Impact Assessment was enacted in 2003 and Huanfa 2004 No. 98 was released in 2004, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has been officially being implemented in the expressway infrastructure planning field in China. Through scrutinizing two SEA application cases of China's provincial level expressway infrastructure (PLEI) network plans, it is found that current SEA practice in expressway infrastructure planning field has a number of problems including: SEA practitioners do not fully understand the objective of SEA; its potential contributions to strategic planning and decision-making is extremely limited; the employed application procedure and prediction and assessment techniques are too simple to bring objective, unbiased and scientific results; and no alternative options are considered. All these problems directly lead to poor quality SEA and consequently weaken SEA's effectiveness.

Quality and effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) as a tool for water management within the South African context

The water management sector has been one of the first sectors in South Africa to explore the application of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) during the mid 1990s. This paper presents the results of a performance evaluation on the quality and effectiveness of a key landmark SEA case study, namely the Mhlathuze Catchment SEA. The case study provides an ideal opportunity to gain valuable insights into the interpretation as well as the strengths and weaknesses of SEA as applied within the water management sector. The research results showed that the SEA achieved an 'average' overall input quality performance and a mixed output effectiveness performance. Reviewed against 'direct output' indicators it achieved a 'poor' effectiveness performance results. However, the SEA also achieved significant successes in terms of 'indirect outputs', such as a more holistic approach to water management, facilitated more effective public participation and contributed to broader strategic planning in the department. The paper concludes by making recommendations to improve the quality and effectiveness of SEA within the water sector.

Evaluating strategic environmental assessment in The Netherlands: content, process and procedure as indissoluble criteria for effectiveness

To assess the effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) we distinguish between its contribution to the quality of the ultimate policy choice (usefulness, applicability), the procedural quality of the planning process (transparency, timeliness) and the quality of stakeholder participation in the planning process (openness, equity, dialogue). In the context of two case studies involving Dutch planning practice, we argue that when and how an SEA is applied is crucial to understanding its effectiveness, and show that effectiveness depends upon its alignment with, and embedding in, the planning process.

Effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment - the significance of learning

Learning, particularly transformative learning, is an established feature of environmental planning, management and assessment. Nevertheless, very often it loses its prominence both as a process and as a goal. This paper explores the extent to which strategic environmental assessment (SEA) can facilitate learning at an organisational and individual level, and ultimately, achieve effectiveness. It is based on the assumption that SEA effectiveness can be achieved if policy, programme and plan-making are oriented towards both the continuous improvement of decision-making and the associated implementation processes. Set within the context of the European SEA Directive, the learning dimension of SEA is explored in Germany, Italy and the UK. This is done through a framework for analysis based on a review of the organisational and individual learning literatures. The research indicates that, owing to their unique contextual and methodological influences, the three countries developed distinct approaches to SEA, with differences in the skills and knowledge needed to improve its learning outcomes. Based on the research findings, the paper identifies what further research is needed to improve SEA's learning outcomes and achieve more effective SEA practice.

The quality and effectiveness of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as a decision-aiding tool for national park expansion—the greater Addo Elephant National Park case study

Internationally South Africa is regarded as a leading developing country in the application of SEA. Research also indicates that the conservation sector within South Africa has been particularly prominent in exploring its application. However, very little empirical research has been conducted to learn from practice and to establish the added value of SEA to strategic decision making. To address this gap in knowledge the paper explores the input quality and output effectiveness of the greater Addo Elephant National Park SEA. The results show that the SEA achieved average to good input quality and output effectiveness performance, respectively. A number of lessons were learned for the application of SEA to future park expansion initiatives. These relate to the timing of the SEA, addressing social impacts, setting of boundaries as well as dealing with scale. The research results concluded that SEA made valuable contributions to decision making and could be considered an important decision-aiding tool for the conservation sector. To take the debate forward and to benchmark best practice it is proposed that further comparative performance evaluation research of multiple SEA case studies within the conservation sector be conducted.