Impact Assessment Process Research Articles

Enacting the socio-economic duty: inequalities of outcome and section 1 Equality Act 2010

The first section of the landmark Equality Act 2010 has been lying dormant for 14 years. The ‘public sector duty regarding socio-economic inequalities’ – passed by the Labour government in 2010 – was never brought into force in England by the Conservative-led coalition that replaced them. The new Labour government has committed to its resurrection. Drawing on evidence from Scotland and Wales, where the ‘socio-economic duty’ has been in force since April 2018 and March 2021 respectively, this article offers three reflections for policy makers and those who will be tasked with its implementation in England: the promise of its ‘holistic’ incorporation into the Equality Act 2010 of impact assessment processes; the ongoing necessity for support with evidence collection and data sharing; and the duty’s potential as a catalyst for broader organisational change far beyond a strict interpretation of its legal remit. Although (very) far from a panacea, if coupled with well-executed guidance, training and oversight, its commencement could help to encourage greater consideration and transparency of evidence on socio-economic inequalities in key areas of public sector decision making.

The operating principles in an EIA process

The Environmental Impact Assessment, often known as the EIA, is an essential process that is designed to evaluate the potential environmental repercussions of proposed projects before they are put into action. An examination of the key operational principles of the EIA process is presented in this article, with an emphasis placed on the significance of these concepts in promoting sustainable development. Purposiveness, rigor, practicability, cost-effectiveness, and public participation are some of the topics that are discussed. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process ensures that environmental considerations are included into decision-making by adopting these principles, which in turn reduces the risk of adverse consequences on the environment. The purpose of this article is to examine the role that legal and institutional frameworks play in facilitating effective Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and to assess case studies that highlight how these frameworks are actually put into practice. Throughout the course of the article, topics such as the relevance of Social Impact Assessment, the need of environmental audits, and the development of new technologies in Environmental Impact Assessment are discussed. The purpose of this article is to underline the need of adhering to the fundamental operational principles of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in order to achieve environmentally responsible and sustainable development. This is accomplished via a comprehensive literature review and analysis.

Towards healthier places: understanding local authority implementation of health impact assessments in urban planning projects in England

ABSTRACT Health Impact Assessment is a tool increasingly used by local authorities in the urban planning process to support the delivery of healthy places. However, there is a lack of evidence on the use of health impact assessments, including how they fit into planning decision-making processes. This paper reports on a qualitative study with nine participants in public and private sectors involved in the health impact assessment process in England. Using the language of policy theory, a model of how health impact assessments work to promote health in urban planning projects is proposed: in part by forcing change from developers through regulation, but more so by persuading them to make healthier developments voluntarily through a process of collaboration and dialogue. This model can help stakeholders involved in health impact assessments understand and manage the process more effectively. Findings also highlight enablers and barriers of effective practice which form the basis of recommendations for local authorities implementing Health Impact Assessment.

Is It Possible to Establish an Economic Trend Correlating Territorial Assessment Indicators and Earth Observation? A Critical Analysis of the Pandemic Impact in an Italian Region

The paper is set within the methodological framework of the Territorial Impact Assessment (TIA) process, which is an instrument designed to facilitate sustainable and cohesive policy-making choices at the European level. The article is developed within the context of a European H2020-RICE cooperative project, which utilises the STeMA (Sustainable Territorial Economic/Environmental Management Approach) TIA methodology to investigate the potential relationship between statistical economic indicators, specifically Gross Domestic Product, and related parameters (metadata), and Earth Observation (EO) data. The objective is to provide evidence of socioeconomic trends during the Coronavirus 2019 pandemic in the Lazio Region (Italy), with a particular focus on the metropolitan area of the Rome capital city Rome. In line with the pertinent European context and the scientific literature on the subject, the paper examines the potential for combining classical and Earth observation indicators to assess macroeconomic dimensions of development, specifically in terms of gross domestic product (GDP). The results of the analysis indicate the presence of certain correlations between grey data and EO information. The STeMA-TIA approach allows for the measurement and correlation of both qualitative and quantitative statistical indicators with typological functional areas (in accordance with European Commission-EC and Committee of Ministers responsible for Spatial/Regional Planning—CEMAT guidance) at the NUTS (Nomenclature des unités territoriales statistiques) 2 and 3 levels. This facilitates the territorialisation of information, enabling the indirect comparison of data with satellite data and economic trends. A time series of data was gathered and organised for the purpose of facilitating comparison between different periods, beginning with 2019 and extending to the present day. In order to measure and monitor the evolution of the selected territorial economies (the Lazio Region), a synthetic index (or composite indicator) was developed in the economic and epidemic dimensions. This index combines single values of indicators according to a specific STeMA methodology. It is important to note that there are some critical observations to be made about the impact on GDP, due to the discrepancy between the indicators in the two fields of observation.

A realist impact evaluation of a tool to strengthen equity in local government policy-making

BackgroundLocal governments have a critical role to play in addressing health inequities. Health equity impact assessments are recommended to help governments apply an equity lens to the development and implementation of policies and programs. Despite evidence of equity-positive benefits of such tools, adoption remains limited, prompting calls for evaluations to assess their impact and identify factors that will promote uptake across various contexts.MethodsWe conducted a mixed method study to evaluate the impact of an equity impact assessment (EIA) tool and process on policies and organisational capacity in a local government in Victoria, Australia, and identify factors that influenced this impact. We analysed 33 documents related to 18 EIAs, and conducted surveys (n = 40) and in-depth interviews (n = 17) with staff involved in EIAs.ResultsAlmost all (17 of 18) EIAs resulted in equity-positive changes to policies and programs, most frequently addressing individual-level factors, such as making community communications and consultations more accessible to under-represented or under-served groups. Structural-level recommendations from one EIA, such as increasing diversity in decision-making panels, were found to impact both the current policy and a broad range of future, related projects and services. Improvements in equity-centric organisational culture and capacity (including staff awareness, skills and confidence) and increased engagement with under-represented communities were also reported. Factors perceived to influence the impact of EIA’s related to organisational commitment and capacity to prioritise equity, process-level factors related to the type and timing of EIAs, and extent of implementation support.ConclusionOur study supports wider uptake of health equity impact assessments in local government policies and programs. Legislation, leadership and resources from upper-tiers of government can help increase the adoption of equity tools to reduce disparities in population health.

From Participant to Partner: Applying Indigenous Understandings of Treaties to Canada’s Environmental Impact Assessment Processes

The following seeks to explore solutions forward amid increasing pressure to improve the quality of Indigenous involvement within environmental assessments (EAs). This paper describes the historical entanglements of resource development, colonialism, and limited recognition of Indigenous interests within EAs currently. It deconstructs the implications of the following: extractive methodologies habitually used within EAs; distinctions between Canadian and Indigenous legal systems; cultural variances in perceptions of power structures; and noticeable systemic issues within EA processes. Drawing from Indigenous understandings of treaties, this article brings forth some key considerations necessary to establishing meaningful Indigenous involvement during EAs. It positions treaties as a powerful, practical orientation towards envisioning a framework that utilizes practices which foster genuine collaboration and dialogue amongst all parties involved. To this end, this article contends with the importance of addressing gaps in quality of Indigenous involvement during EAs, particularly as calls for reconciliation and sustainable environmental decision-making continue.

Reversing the gaze: understanding how community members are negatively affected by impact assessment

ABSTRACT This study addresses the persistent tensions in Impact Assessment (IA), which aim to balance public engagement with technical analysis. In this context, the IA process itself poses a significant risk to the individuals and communities involved in the impact assessment. The consequences of these risks, and whether they materialize, remain uncertain and depend on the specific context of each IA process. Drawing on the sociology of risk and broader IA literature, we present a case study of the Grassy Mountain Coal Project in southern Alberta, Canada. Instead of evaluating project-specific impacts within the IA process, we examine the impacts of the IA process on community members. By reversing our gaze, we aim to understand how IA processes impact communities and how these impacts manifest. Led by the results of the study, the impacts of the IA on community members are examined under three specific impact locations: (1) risk perceptions and anticipatory impacts, (2) procedural issues, and (3) community and regional conflicts. Our conclusions underscore the need to recognize these types of impact on communities and explore ways to minimize the costs of IA to communities.

Impact Assessment as a Legal Design Pattern—A “Timeless Way” of Managing Future Risks?

Impact assessments are increasingly employed and debated as instruments for mitigating the fundamental rights risks associated with artificial intelligence, platforms and personal data processing. However, before their adoption in connection with technology and fundamental rights, impact assessments have been used for decades to mitigate large undertakings’ environmental and social impacts. An impact assessment is a process for collecting information to identify a future action’s effects and mitigate its unwanted effects. This article proposes that impact assessments represent a distinct legal design pattern with core elements that can be replicated in new legal contexts requiring ex-ante identification and mitigation of foreseeable risks. The tensions between diverging interests, temporality, epistemics and economics characterise this legal design pattern. The impact assessment process seeks to resolve these tensions by enabling translation between the regulator, the executor of the planned action and the stakeholders impacted by it. Awareness of the underlying patterns allows the lawmaker or the regulator to learn across diverse impact assessment models. Design pattern thinking advances research both on law and regulation by uncovering the tensions underling the design solution, as well as pattern interaction between legally mandated impact assessments and those representing other regulatory instruments. Finally, the approach raises awareness of the instrument’s shortcomings, including spheres where relying on complementary legal design patterns, such as precautionary principle, is more justified.

Investor perspective on impact-driven startups – the prioritization of certainty

PurposeIn this study, the authors dive into the assessment process of startups by impact investors. In particular, the purpose of this study is to investigate the preferences impact investors place on different social and environmental criteria. The authors build on social learning theory to understand the underlying rationale of the investors.Design/methodology/approachWith this research, the authors simplify the impact category system by conducting a systematic literature review. The authors then validate these criteria with a survey of 69 impact investors in Europe.FindingsThe results highlight the prioritization of quantifying impact and a discrepancy between essential and desirable impact categories. Due to the clear and significant results changing with the target market and startup stage focus, the authors assume a tendency of homophily of impact investors.Originality/valueWith this empirical study, the authors offer strategic implications for investors and startups as the authors decrease the complexity of impact categories while validating their significance in the impact assessment process.

Regulation vs promotion: Small modular nuclear reactors in Canada

Canada is planning to construct a set of new and hitherto untested nuclear reactor designs called Small Modular Reactors. The government has incentivised this process by providing tens of millions of dollars to companies developing these designs. In this paper, we describe two problems with the process of regulating these technologies. The first problem is evidence of institutional bias within the federal regulatory body that is tasked with regulating these technologies. Using the case of small modular reactors, this paper details how the regulator's actions do not suggest unbiased decision making. The second problem is the exclusion of small modular nuclear reactors from the Impact Assessment process. As a result, the discussion about whether to construct these reactors will be based on an incomplete understanding of the full environmental consequences of the decision to build. Finally, we offer policy recommendations to address these problems.

Environmental Risks Associated With Urban Development Projects in Kenya

Purpose: The aim of the study was to examine environmental risks associated with urban development projects in Kenya Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: The study revealed that urban development projects in Kenya present significant environmental risks that require careful consideration and proactive mitigation measures. The rapid urbanization and infrastructure expansion in Kenya's cities have been associated with various environmental challenges, including air and water pollution, habitat loss, soil degradation, urban heat island effects, and adverse impacts on human health. These environmental risks stem from factors such as increased vehicular emissions, industrial activities, improper waste management practices, deforestation, and inadequate urban planning and infrastructure. The concentration of population and economic activities in urban centers exacerbates these environmental pressures, further highlighting the urgent need for sustainable urban development strategies in Kenya. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: urban political ecology theory, environmental justice theory & sustainable development theory may be used to anchor future studies on environmental risks associated with urban development projects in Kenya. Prioritize the implementation of green infrastructure initiatives, such as green roofs, urban parks, and sustainable drainage systems, to mitigate environmental risks associated with urban development. Integrate nature-based solutions into urban planning and design processes to enhance ecosystem services, improve air and water quality, and reduce urban heat island effects. Advocate for legislative reforms and policy interventions that prioritize environmental sustainability in urban development planning and regulation. Implement stringent environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes for all urban development projects to ensure compliance with environmental standards and regulations.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning in environmental impact prediction for soil pollution management – case for EIA process

Scientific predictions are a key component of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), which can indicate the level of change within an environmental sphere (e.g., soil). As part of the EIA process, decision-making in mitigating complex environmental problems such as maintaining soil quality can be challenging, especially in data-sparse locations. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can ameliorate but the literature suggests that the deployment of Machine Learning (ML) techniques in soil research is concentrated mostly in developed countries. The potential of ML in managing soil pollution from complex mixture of heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, and physicochemical factors is rarely explored. To address this research gap, we built robust models that increase the accuracy of impact prediction based on new experimental soil data from a data-sparse region of Africa (i.e., Nigeria). The algorithms applied are artificial neural networks (ANN), support vector regression (SVR), regression tree (RT), and random forest (RF). The study also implemented a multivariate linear regression (MLR) model as a baseline. Key findings include (a) the MLR model performed less than the machine learning models largely due to the nonlinearity of data; (b) Log-normalization helped to improve the predictive capability of all models as the effects of statistical variability were removed; (c) the RF model had the best performance in terms of correlation coefficient, mean absolute error, and root mean square error, and (d) the machine learning models showed improved performance with increased correlation and lower error between the actual and predicted soil electrical conductivity values. Our results imply that data sparsity may no longer be an excuse for the non-use of quantitative impact prediction in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) processes. This could change how EIAs are conducted and enhance sustainability in natural resource exploitation, globally. Future work will apply algorithms for automated feature selection to obtain optimal subset of soil quality measurements that will further improve the accuracy of the models.

Enhanced earthquake impact analysis based on social media texts via large language model

Social media aids disaster response but suffers from noise, hindering accurate impact assessment and decision making for resilient cities, which few studies considered. To address the problem, this study proposes the first domain-specific LLM model and an integrated method for rapid earthquake impact assessment. First, a few categories are introduced to classify and filter microblogs considering their relationship to the physical and social impacts of earthquakes, and a dataset comprising 7282 earthquake-related microblogs from twenty earthquakes in different locations is developed as well. Then, with a systematic analysis of various influential factors, QuakeBERT, a domain-specific large language model (LLM), is developed and fine-tuned for accurate classification and filtering of microblogs. Meanwhile, an integrated method integrating public opinion trend analysis, sentiment analysis, and keyword-based physical impact quantification is introduced to assess both the physical and social impacts of earthquakes based on social media texts. Experiments show that data diversity and data volume dominate the performance of QuakeBERT and increase the macro average F1 score by 27 %, while the best classification model QuakeBERT outperforms the CNN- or RNN-based models by improving the macro average F1 score from 60.87 % to 84.33 %. Finally, the proposed approach is applied to assess two earthquakes with the same magnitude and focal depth. Results show that the proposed approach can effectively enhance the impact assessment process by accurate detection of noisy microblogs, which enables effective post-disaster emergency responses to create more resilient cities.

Indigenous peoples and the power(lessness) of public participation: Assessing effects of Indigenous community input in the Alaskan Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing program environmental impact statement

Public participation in the U.S. environmental impact assessment process is legally required under the National Environmental Policy Act, yet the procedural norms of the process often leave members of the public feeling powerless. While public participation has the appearance of a democratic process, it is imbued with unequal power dynamics and federal agencies maintain decision-making authority. Despite sovereignty and treaty rights, Indigenous communities in the U.S. do not participate in environmental decision-making through a collaborative governance structure. Instead, Indigenous communities interested in project impacts primarily voice their concerns through the public comment process. This paper explores Indigenous participants’ impacts on environmental impact decision-making through an illustrative case study structure. The phenomenon is explored in an in-depth analysis of the recent leasing environmental impact statement (EIS) for oil exploration and development in the 1002 Coastal Plain area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. This work uses a qualitative content analysis of the Coastal Plain case study to assess how public comments, particularly comments from Indigenous peoples, impact change in the documents that follow public participation processes. From this analysis, this article aims to illustrate a few key issues with how Indigenous input is considered in public participation processes. Findings indicate that public comments may result in minor changes to assessment documents but, overall, public input has little influence on project outcomes.

ChatGPT and the future of impact assessment

Like all other fields, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is expected to affect the Impact Assessment (IA) systems worldwide. This study explores the opinions and concerns of international IA experts regarding how ChatGPT may change the future of IA in terms of the benefits and threats it may pose to IA. Twenty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted with IA experts including consultants, regulators, and academics. The majority of the interviewees were of the view that ChatGPT will help reduce the time and effort required for preliminary data collection and will improve the report quality in terms of formatting and sentence structure etc. However, a number of interviewees also feared that the quality of data in reports and public involvement in IA process may be compromised, chances of plagiarism and bias may increase, and the quality of IA graduates produced by academic institutions may deteriorate. The majority of the experts were afraid that ChatGPT will pose more threats to IA compared to the benefits it may offer. The policymakers, while keeping all these concerns in mind, need to formulate laws, rules, and guidelines regarding the use of ChatGPT in IA in their respective areas as suggested by the interviewees. Future studies may be conducted to evaluate and compare the use of different types of chatbots such as Google’s Bard or Microsoft’s Bing in IA. Additionally, AI related laws and guidelines drafted by IA systems across the globe and their implementation may be evaluated a couple of years later.

Identifying and promoting qualitative methods for impact assessment

ABSTRACT Qualitative methods for impact assessment (IA) represent a broad spectrum of approaches that are important for realising effective IA practice. The purpose of this paper is to identify and promote qualitative methods that are available for use in contemporary and future (next-generation) IA processes. From an extensive literature review, an international survey (145 responses), expert interviews (48 interviewees), and a workshop attended by 27 IA practitioners, 17 qualitative method categories were identified. These were further subdivided into three classes: conventional qualitative methods, highly participatory methods, and mixed methods. Each method is described, and an indication given of how each can be used in IA practice, including the specific stage of the IA process to which they might be applied. Whilst this paper seeks to stimulate practitioners to apply qualitative methods to enrich IA practices, the research also identifies a lack of expertise with social science methods as a significant barrier to the effective use of qualitative methods in IA practice.

Change-making in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): piloting changeology approach using England as a case study

ABSTRACT Piecemeal changes to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process have to date not fully delivered EIA’s normative goals and met today’s environmental challenges. By regarding the to date approaches to change-making as a problem requiring a solution, this paper applies critical analysis to reflect upon current change-making based on England’s EIA system as a case study. The analysis identifies a lack of innovative ideas and sound evidence-based approaches to inform and support the change-making process. Consequently, we argue for an epistemology of change-making (changeology) so that the entire approach can be based on an empirically informed framework, to inform the journey (process) and destination (fit-for-purpose EIA) and make the EIA process fit-for-purpose and aligned to future expectations. Changeology should be viewed as more than informing one-time change-making but as a framework of well-studied practice for changing (or improving) EIA in the long term.

Consideration of Climate Change on Environmental Impact Assessment in Tanzania: Challenges and Prospects.

The potential of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process to respond to climate change impacts of development projects can only be realized with the support of policies, regulations, and actors' engagement. While considering climate change in EIA has become partly mandatory through the EU revised Directive in Europe, African countries are still lagging. This paper assesses Tanzanian policies, laws, regulations, and EIA reports to uncover consideration of climate change impacts, adaptation, and mitigation measures, drawing from the transformational role of EIA. The methodology integrates content analysis, interpretive policy analysis, and discourse analysis. The analyses draw from environmental policy, three regulatory documents and three EIA reports in Tanzania using a multi-cases study design. The aim was to understand how considering Climate Change issues in EIA has played out in practice. Results reveal less consideration of climate change issues in EIA. The policy, laws, and regulations do not guide when and how the EIA process should consider climate change-related impacts mitigation and adaptation. The practice of EIA in the country is utterly procedural in line with regulations provisions. Consequently, environmental impact statements only profile the climatology of the study area without conducting a deeper analysis of the historical and future climate to enhance the resilience of proposed projects. The weakness exposed in the laws and regulations contributes to the challenges of responding to the impacts of climate change through the EIA process. It is possible to address climate change issues throughout the project life cycle, including design, approval, implementation, monitoring, and auditing, provided the policy and regulations guide how and when the EIA process should consider climate change issues. Additionally, increasing stakeholders' awareness and participation can enhance the EIA process's potential to respond to the impacts of climate change.

Identifying undefined risks: A risk model and a privacy risk identification measure in the privacy impact assessment process

Privacy impact assessment (PIA) has attracted the attention of privacy watchdogs and researchers for decades. This study focuses on a risk model and risk identification method, which are two crucial elements of the risk identification step in the PIA process. As a preparatory work, this article reviews national and international organizations’ current templates and guidelines and finds that PIA guidance includes multiple domains but rarely provide a risk model or a systematic risk identification method. Based on the analysis, our study offers a risk model that can capture various privacy risk realization processes. It further proposes a combination of risk identification methods that correspond to the main target domains in the PIA and the proposed risk model. This combination consists of privacy principles of a given personal information or privacy rule to check compliance with the rule, and our suggested list of risk factors is useful in inductively finding potential risk scenarios that violate social expectations of privacy.

Good governance quality in Namibia’s environmental impact assessment process

ABSTRACT EIA is a well-known environmental governance tool. EIA in Namibia started in the 1980s, voluntarily, till independence, when legislations were developed. Since its implementation, no study has assessed the quality of Namibia’s EIA process. This study assesses the quality of the EIA mechanism in Namibia and the extent to which the process satisfies governance principles. The evaluation criteria used were obtained from sources in the literature and based on the United Nations governance principles. Data were collected through a survey and subsequent interviews with experts. Out of 12 criteria used to examine adequacy, only four were scored as adequate. Important EIA requirements on cumulative impacts, alternatives, and follow-up were rated as inadequate. Namibia’s EIA process partially satisfies eight out of ten qualities of good governance, with accountability and transparency rated as poor. These inadequacies may have implications on the quality of assessment and the decisions thereof. An EIA process that fails to meet good governance qualities can be deemed unfit to achieve the intended purpose. Experts suggested that EIA quality can improve when legislation is supported with guidelines, financial input, and a plan to decentralize.