Environmental Planning Process Research Articles

A new model for selecting valued components in environmental assessment: Lessons from an Indigenous-led cumulative effects management program

Valued components (VCs) are at the core of impact assessment (IA), cumulative effects management (CEM), and other environmental planning and management processes. However, the research that exists on VC selection identifies major conceptual and methodological flaws in the conventional approaches used in most project-based IAs, including poor understanding, inadequate guidance, insufficient engagement with local stakeholders and Indigenous communities, and failure to incorporate local and Indigenous perspectives, knowledge, and values in decision-making. To address these flaws, this paper proposes a new community-based method for selecting VCs, which was developed in the Indigenous-led CEM program of the Metlakatla First Nation (located on the northwest coast of Canada). The new VC selection method is grounded in Indigenous values and informed by Indigenous and local knowledge as well as scientific research. It uses a six-step approach to identify VCs and prioritize them, based on clear decision-making criteria, deliberative community dialogue, and explicit consideration of implementation constraints. The Metlakatla First Nation used this method to identify high-priority VCs for their CEM program, but the method could also be adapted for use in project-based IA and other planning and management processes to improve VC selection. A comparison of the results of the application of the new method in the Metlakatla CEM Program with the results of a recent conventional proponent-led IA of a large industrial project in Metlakatla territory shows that the new method addresses many of the deficiencies in the conventional model and generates a substantially different set of high-priority VCs that better reflect Indigenous values and knowledge.

Planning incapacitated: Environmental planning and the political ecology of austerity

Coal mining in the UK, once central to its political economy, has been in terminal decline for decades for both political and more recently environmental reasons. Against the grain of this decline, the proposal of a new metallurgical coal mine near Whitehaven (on the north west coast of England) has caused significant controversy. Those supporting the mines development say it is necessary to ‘level up’ from the previous decade of austerity, whereas opponents argue that new coal mining would severely undermine the transition to low carbon energy sources. Through a discourse analysis and open-ended interviews, this paper analyses the contestation of the mine through the environmental planning process, identifying how both the discursive contestation and decision-making practices are shaped by political logics (austerity/levelling up) and ecological logics (climate change). The paper finds that, as states turn towards greater levels of public subsidies as a new form of crisis management, the environmental decision-making processes which can determine the shape of investments have been severely undermined through a decade or more of reduced public investment, policy streamlining and a lack of public expertise. The paper argues that even though states may be turning towards policies subsidising energy projects, they are doing so in a context where there is a lack of state capacity due to a ‘political ecology of austerity’, limiting public capacity to plan for a better future.

Анализ концепции применения технологий информационного моделирования для экологического планирования города

The article formulates problems that make integration difficult and arise due to differences in the scope and scale of models required for building construction, on the one hand, and environmental planning, on the other. While building construction models focus mainly on the structure of the building itself, environmental planning takes into account natural objects and habitats, including protected areas in a larger radius of the structure. Disciplines such as architecture, structural engineering, or building technical equipment have already integrated their processes, data structures, and tools well into building information modeling (TIM). However, such integration is still not enough in environmental planning and landscape architecture. Data about these objects is usually contained in geographic information systems (GIS). Therefore, combining BIM and environmental planning also becomes a matter of integrating TIM and GIS. In addition, the creation of an automatic configurator for territory planning will have a significant positive impact on the environmental planning process and will add a new criterion for assessing the environmental sustainability of future development already in the design process.
 We have considered the issues of integrating the processes of environmental planning of the city with the methods and technologies of information modeling. In particular, the models used in construction are considered, attention is focused not on the building itself and its structures, but on environmental planning and accounting for natural objects. The ways of solving the problems of integration with geographic information systems (GIS) and the development of an automated configurator for territory planning are proposed.

ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ ДИНАМИЧЕСКОЙ МОДЕЛИ УПРАВЛЕНИЯ ПРИРОДОПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕМ В РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ

The rate of environmental change facing modern society has been accelerating in recent decades. The paper presents a dynamic model of environmental management taking into account environmental restrictions on the use of resources in a local area of the natural environment. The main reasons for these changes to support management decisions include low barriers to entry and significant changes in the boundaries between markets, the frequent emergence of new technologies, crises and political changes. In this regard, management theory and practice are aimed at the constant search for a management system capable of responding to the challenges of the modern market context. In such conditions, market entities can often be only temporary in nature, which significantly complicates the practice of corporate governance The result is a variety of concepts that improve upon previous models in process control The authors proposed a dynamic model of environmental management based on the dynamic capacity of natural resources, where special attention is paid to the management of the environmental planning process and its dynamic capabilities, expressed in promising directions for the rationalization of environmental management, which means searching for and maintaining a dynamic basis. The article examines the literature review and practical experience of using dynamic management models in the environmental management system.

Stakeholders’ involvement in the planning of nature-based solutions: A network analysis approach

Environmental planning is considered an important process to positively encourage the inclusion of nature-based solutions (NbS) in urban areas. The success of their implementation relies on the collaboration between the involved stakeholders in the environmental planning process. The aim of this study is to identify the key stakeholders within the environmental planning processes that could be considered in NbS promotion, as well as to understand their actual position in a conceptual collaboration network. Therefore, a sample of seven Local Environmental Action Plans (LEAPs) from Romania was selected to identify the relevant stakeholders for addressing environmental challenges through the promotion of NbS. We use social network analysis (SNA) to understand the barriers and opportunities of the collaborative planning process by identifying (i) 42 distinct stakeholders classified, based on the diffusion of innovation theory, according to their interests and reasons in promoting or hindering an innovation, and (ii) 12 categories of environmental challenges. Our findings illustrate a relatively low centrality and influence of stakeholders as innovators, change agents, and transformers. Furthermore, those who have greater influence in the collaboration network and therefore those who could emphasize the use of NbS into environmental planning based on the actions from LEAPs come from the following categories of stakeholders: controllers, mainstreamers, and laggards. The environmental challenges are addressed mainly by institutional stakeholders, to the detriment of community ones. Our study highlights the necessity for collaboration to support efficient NbS integration into environmental planning processes.

Choosing the best site for a technical backfill center for urban solid waste using a multi-criteria evaluation technique based on geographic information systems. Case study of the city of M'sila

Choosing the best site for a technical backfill center for urban solid waste using a multi-criteria evaluation technique based on geographic information systems. Case study of the city of M'sila

The meaning of participative implementation processes for local energy balancing in a systemic approach

Within an interdisciplinary, participatory and transformative research approach, a multi-method research design was used to examine acceptance criteria of energy balancing technologies. Energy balancing is important to integrate the increasing amount of renewable energies efficiently into the energy supply system: due to the fluctuating power production from wind and solar power plants flexibilities are needed. The study applied a holistic, systemic perspective, not only focused on the technologies, but also on consumers, producers and the interwining of both. Within the study, a mixture of balancing technologies, suitable for decentralized energy systems on a regional or local level, took center stage. The most relevant stakeholders to define acceptable pathways for planning and realization processes for decentralized energy balancing concepts are in the focus of interest. They are identified as decision holders to foster the implementation of energy balancing. For environmental planning, regional participation and related governance processes results state a lack of awareness for the necessity of energy balancing. A shared understanding of future energy balancing needs and possibilities within respective regarded areas is crucial besides administrative boundaries of e.g. municipalities. Furthermore, different levels to integrate municipal stakeholders and citizens in an adapted planning process for energy balancing concepts have been identified and a prototype of a strategic planning tool was developed and tested.

GEOMORFOLOGIA E PLANEJAMENTO AMBIENTAL EM UMA REGIÃO DE INTERESSE ESTRATÉGICO NA AMAZONIA BRASILEIRA

A região oeste do estado do Pará, tem atraído investimentos crescentes devido à sua posição estratégica dentro de um modelo de exportação em consolidação no Brasil, de escoamento de commodities via a calha Amazônica. Este interesse vem acompanhado de conflitos associados a implantação de obras, especialmente de infraestrutura e logística e de mudanças no uso do solo com a conversão de terras. Dentro deste cenário é fundamental que hajam subsídios para que seja realizado um planejamento ambiental adequado tanto das obras quanto das atividades econômicas que vêm sendo propostas e implementadas em nível regional. Este trabalho propõe, através de compartimentação geomorfológica em escala adequada, contribuir para o processo de planejamento ambiental desta região, apontando potencialidades e vulnerabilidades encontradas em cada compartimento. São utilizados dados de sensoriamento remoto óptico e de radar adquiridos com base no regime hidrológico local, associados a dados oficiais (cartas náuticas e topográficas) e observações de campo. A descrição dos compartimentos identificados, traz ainda elementos para a discussão sobre à origem e evolução das formas e dos processos geomorfológicos na planície amazônica e terra firme, além de fornecer as bases para estudos de maior detalhe que possam investigar as relações entre os compartimentos encontrados.

Learning in environmental governance: opportunities for translating theory to practice

ABSTRACT Environmental governance is characterized by complex dynamic issues where new knowledge is constantly emerging that can shape how we understand the system and what kinds of policies and strategies are most effective. As a result, targeted mechanisms to acquire, translate, and disseminate knowledge into new policies are critical for adaptive environmental governance. The scholarship on learning in environmental governance has exploded in the past two decades leading to new empirical and theoretical insights. However, lacking from this literature is an examination of how these insights can inform practice. Here we explore evidence from the scholarship studying learning in environmental governance that can inform practitioners who engage in and manage environmental planning and decision-making processes. Three key factors are drawn from the scholarship that may foster learning: face-to-face dialog that is open and ongoing; cross-scale linkages; and investments in institutional rules, norms, and shared strategies for intentional learning. We translate these findings into strategies for environmental governance practitioners and explore how to mitigate some of the factors that constrain learning across many governance contexts.

Explicating Environmental Patriarchy: An Examination Through Gender and Environment Perspectives

Much has been written about the relationship between women, nature and development, a relationship where women’s work, like nature, is often undervalued, in terms of acknowledging the interdependence of women and nature in preservation of environment to foster sustainable growth. Women are perceived as prominent actors in domestic chores as well as contributors to environmental rehabilitation and conservation. However, in comparison to men, their work and knowledge have often been undervalued in both environmental planning and domestic resource management. The existence of environmental patriarchy is, thereby, located at three dimensions; first, women’s exclusion from resource ownership and management; second, women’s exclusion from deliberation of indigenous knowledge; and third, gendered power relationship in society. This article explores the region-specific concerns of women built into theoretical feminist perspectives of the Western world in contrast to the Third World countries, dealt within a theoretical perspective of ecofeminism and feminist environmentalism. However, both the models leave some major theoretical questions unanswered, finally concluded in a perspective as proposed by feminist political ecology. The idea behind doing this is to take account of the various ways of conceptualizing feminist ecological theories so as to emphasize greater role of women in environmental planning and decision-making processes. By simultaneously analysing some environmental movements, it was found that women’s activism was not only sustainable but confronted other social issues and patriarchy in private domain.

Incorporating stakeholders' values into environmental decision support: A Bayesian Belief Network approach

Participatory modelling increases the transparency of environmental planning and management processes and enhances the mutual understanding among different parties. We present a sequential probabilistic approach to involve stakeholders' views in the formal decision support process. A continuous Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) model is used to estimate population parameters for stakeholder groups, based on samples of individual value judgements. The approach allows quantification and visualization of the variability in views among and within stakeholder groups. Discrete BBN is populated with these parameters, to summarize and visualize the information and to link it to a larger decision analytic influence diagram (ID). As part of ID, the resulting discrete BBN element serves as a distribution-form decision criteria in probabilistic evaluation of alternative management strategies, to help find a solution that represents the optimal compromise in the presence of potentially conflicting objectives. We demonstrate our idea using example data from the field of marine spatial planning. However, this approach is applicable to many types of management cases. We suggest that by advancing the mutual understanding and concrete participation this approach can further facilitate the stakeholder involvement also during the various stages of the environmental management process.

Energy Sovereignty and Corporate Social Responsibility

This paper will examine how corporate social responsibility (CSR), specifically related to the challenges of climate change, is integrated in oil and gas business models using a stakeholder theory approach. The paper will draw upon a case study of the Canadian oil and gas industry, looking at multinational corporations’ institutional pressures with respect to stakeholders, and challenges to their legitimacy, in Canada in comparison to MNC oil and gas operations elsewhere. The Arctic environmental region is home to Canada’s most significant reserves of hydrocarbons, oil and gas, but changes which are being exacerbated by shifts in the earth’s climate will ultimately make the environmental planning process more challenging for companies looking to expand their interests in the Arctic and for the sovereignty debates over land claims and land use. This is not only true because of the changes in the environment itself, but because of the effects of these changes on First Nations communities. This paper will show that long-term changes in environmental frameworks are one of the reasons why cumulative and collaborative CSR efforts are warranted in order to ensure that there is a balance between the interests of different parties. This will be achieved through a project development framework linked to a CSR approach grounded in stakeholder stewardship, rather than self-interest, that recognizes multiple levels of sovereignty in the control and use of resources.

A critical assessment of employing democratic and deliberative ideals in the environmental planning process in Bangladesh

In the 6th (2011–15) and 7th (2016–20) Five Year Plans (FYP), Bangladesh's policy makers have set ambitious national environmental targets and goals to move the country towards more a sustainable economy and society. The goals were dictated by the economic, social and political interests of the political elites. This has resulted in limited stakeholder participation in environmental policy formulation. The 6th FYP aimed at achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7: ‘Ensure Environmental Sustainability’. It failed due to shortcomings in local implementation and due to a lack of community participation. The 7th FYP is based on the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 13, 14, 15. The obvious paradox within Bangladesh's environmental planning is the big gap between central government's policy making and community participation and local government involvement. This paper examines environmental policy formulation, implementation and monitoring in the last two FYPs in Bangladesh. Contemporary deliberative democratic theory provides important theoretical and applied insights that are often unexamined in the environmental planning literature. A theoretical framework is developed to analyse to what degree environmental planning arrangements incorporated deliberative elements and how they contribute to decision-making. A case study of the environmental planning process tests its effectiveness in explaining observed outcomes. Elsewhere, deliberative democratic approaches have been central to the success of the environmental planning process. The central government's failure to apply this approach produced a policy gap. Plan targets cannot be met unless local participation is ensured through the deliberative framework.

The legitimization of concern: A flexible framework for investigating the enactment of stakeholders in environmental planning and governance processes

From the 1990s and onwards, environmental planning and governance has undergone a broad participatory turn. This paper focuses on one specific aspect of participatory processes and the concrete arrangements through which they are carried out, more specifically: how such processes always come to enact some actors as ‘legitimately concerned’ stakeholders and others not. Such investigations bring into focus context-specific effects of inclusion and exclusion as well as de/legitimization of specific actors and concerns. We propose a flexible framework for untangling the various components which in different ways influence the fine-grained power dynamics at play in such events, particularly focusing on the enactments of stakeholders that result from the situated interplay of rationales and infrastructures for participation. The guiding ambitions for the framework is for it to be applicable to a broad range of subfields of environmental planning and governance while avoiding the analytical risks of strong normative commitments from the outset regarding whether participation per se is good or bad, and offering some novel insights into the investigated cases. Throughout the paper, we utilize two case studies, from urban planning and fisheries management, to test the analytical productivity of the proposed framework while also searching for cues for the further development of the framework itself.

Regional Plan in Bahnamirrural District through Environmental Planning Process

Physical development and planning of rural district is one of the most important environmental dimensions in rural areas. It is carried out by establishing spatial framework, in which economic and social activities are implemented successfully. In this regard, the current research was conducted for social, economic, and ecological development and planning in Behnemirrural district, using three major stages of planning process. These three stages included recognition, analysis, and integration. In the recognition stage, the natural, social, cultural, and physical features of the studied region were recognized. In the stage of analysis, facilities, issues, and their causes were analyzed by drawing causal analysis table. Then, issues were weighted and prioritized in terms of intensity, level of effect, and destruction importance. In the integration stage, the general goals were developed given the priority of issues. Then, operational goals and solutions were developed for each general goal and solutions were positioned on the map.

Brisbane City Council's Q100 assessment: How climate risk management becomes scientised

This paper provides a report of climate risk management for the city of Brisbane between 1976 and 2011. Using the evidence presented by the Commission of Inquiry established to investigate extreme flooding events across Queensland in 2010–2011, this paper describes Brisbane City Council’s ongoing attempts to derive a ‘Q100’ flood risk management metric as a means to determine urban planning policy. The evidence presented by the Commission demonstrates how the normative decisions that underpinned the Council’s derivation of Q100 and which sought to maximise urban development in the Brisbane River floodplain were in direct conflict with State government's concurrent priorities relating to water resources supply and flood risk management. This account of conflicting climate risk management strategies by local and state government demonstrates how the derivation of technical expert evidence can become politicised to align with conflicting priorities, and are then used in a ‘scientised’ environmental planning process.

Environmental policies in the peri-urban area of Mexico City: The perceived effects of three environmental programs

Managing peri-urban areas is complicated due to the unique rural and urban characteristics and because sectorial policies are not always compatible. In Mexico City, peri-urban spaces (particularly the Conservation Zone in the south of the city) provide important ecosystem services for urban residents. However, despite this environmental importance, the Conservation Zone suffers from land-use changes as a result of the economic transition from rural to urban activities. Different government agencies have implemented environmental programs attempting to address this problem. The present paper focuses on the beneficiaries' perceptions of the effects of three such programs. The results demonstrate the importance of the conservation programs but at the same time show numerous unresolved issues, including excessive administrative fulfillments, social and political conflicts, and a lack of coherence among programs. An alternative could be an integrated spatial and environmental planning process in which federal and local authorities, beneficiaries, and city inhabitants participate.

Using social network analysis to examine planner involvement in environmentally oriented planning processes led by non-planning professions

Broad stakeholder involvement cannot be assumed in all environmental planning and management processes that have critical land use dimensions. This paper illustrates how concepts and techniques from social network analysis (SNA) can be used to examine and better understand the roles of one type of stakeholders, planners, in environmentally oriented planning and management processes led by other professions. Two cases of natural hazard mitigation planning led by emergency managers illustrate the usefulness of three SNA concepts of network structural characteristics in understanding how differences in planner involvement may influence incorporation of land use approaches in local natural hazard mitigation plans aimed at reducing long term risks from natural hazards.

Beyond traditional stakeholder engagement: Public participation roles in California's statewide marine protected area planning process

Public participation was one of the hallmarks of the California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, a planning process to support the redesign of California's system of marine protected areas (MPAs). The MLPA Initiative implemented innovative and unconventional public outreach and engagement strategies to assist local communities share relevant knowledge and data, and provide timely and targeted contributions to MPA planning discussions. This collaborative model helped broaden traditional forms of participation to ensure public input received and integrated into MPA planning legitimately reflected the interests and priorities of California's coastal communities. A number of considerations were critical to the success of this collaborative approach, including: understanding the needs and limitations of public audiences; working directly with communities to identify appropriate outreach and engagement strategies; prioritizing strategies that supported a multi-directional exchange of information; adapting strategies based on public feedback and internal lessons learned; and hiring professional public engagement specialists. Strategies evolved over time and increased the level and quality of public participation over this multi-stage planning process. Experiences gained from the MLPA Initiative can be used to encourage consideration of collaborative participation in other environmental planning and decision-making processes.

Groundwater Resource Planning to Preserve Streamflow: Where Environmental Amenity Meets Economic Welfare Loss

Streams and their associated biological communities are among our most valuable natural resources. Humans rely on the environmental services provided by streams in a myriad of ways. However, in some areas, excessive groundwater pumping exacerbates the already critical pressure on streamflow and must be managed through effective planning. Based on economic and hydrogeological concepts, this study estimates the quantity of streamflow depletion that is attributable to groundwater pumping and the negative impact on the socioeconomic system if groundwater pumping must be constrained to restore streamflow. The primary objective of this paper is to develop a multiobjective nonlinear optimization model to simulate the tradeoffs between streamflow restoration and economic welfare loss in a Chicago suburban county, McHenry County. The multiobjective optimization was conducted at both county and municipality levels. An evolutionary algorithm, the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm, was used to solve the optimization model and to identify the tradeoff curve (Pareto frontier). Comparing municipal Pareto frontiers shows spatially heterogeneous costs of preserving streamflow through various shadow prices and also the different capacities of restoring streamflow. The results include discussion of the shapes of the Pareto frontier, the sensitivity of the pumping boundary constraints, and return flow coefficients. It is concluded that the multiobjective optimization model provides a useful framework to consider conflicting objectives in a typical environmental management and planning process, and that the findings can help decision-makers and planners to formulate effective groundwater pumping strategies. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)WR .1943-5452.0000269. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers. CE Database subject headings: Rivers and streams; Streamflow; Groundwater management; Optimization; Algorithms; Economic factors; Environmental issues. Author keywords: Stream depletion; Tradeoffs; Spatial planning; Multiobjective optimization; Genetic algorithm.