This report, based on a draft paper prepared by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and reviewed by Summit participants, presents the results of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency-sponsored study. The paper offers a framework on how such a network could be organised and operated, and explains how the CEAA has used the framework to develop its site on the Internet. The report is also a contribution to the International Study of the Effectiveness of Environmental Assessment. The document proposes a framework for an EA network and looks at the experience of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.
Anyone serious about integrating environmental factors into planning and policy making will gain new insights and ideas from Fischers book on SEA; and students, teachers and practitioners of the subject will find the book essential. Leonard Ortolano, Professor at Stanford University, USA Fischers book demystifies the process and substantive analytical dimensions of SEA. Offering solidly documented empirical evidence of the value of SEA to development, the knowledge captured in this book is a great contribution to the practice. Linda Ghanime, Environmental Operations and Policy Adviser, United Nations Development Program This book is an invaluable reference text for SEA practitioners. I recommend it to everyone! Xu He, Professor and Director of the Strategic Environmental Assessment Center at Nankai University, China Fischer gives a concise and wellstructured account of SEA as it is used today. Readers thus will gain important insights into SEA: why it is important, how it works, and what it can and should achieve. Professor Thomas Bunge, Federal Environment Agency, Germany Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a fast-growing and rapidly evolving professional field driven by both advances in theory and practice and by regulatory requirements in Europe, North America, Australasia, South Africa and increasingly across Asia. However, to date, analysis of existing practice and associated reporting has remained far from systematic and there has been a clear need for a comprehensive textbook to facilitate teaching, learning and practice in this burgeoning field. This textbook, the first of its kind, provides for a state-ofthe-art review of SEA theory and practice and promotes a more systematic approach to SEA. It is written for a wide student, professional and academic audience and aims particularly at supporting the development of SEA modules in undergraduate and postgraduate planning, environmental assessment, engineering and law courses. It provides an overview of the fundamental principles and rules of SEA, reports systematically on international SEA practice and theory and pushes the envelope by developing the theory. Supporting material includes boxed examples and case studies from around the world, extra reading suggestions and a glossary of terms. This is the essential book for all students, professionals and academics in SEA and EIA and follow-up worldwide.
"The Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal are unique among Canada's courts because they are itinerant -- they hear cases in all parts of Canada -- as well as bilingual and bijural. This book was prepared for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Federal Courts of Canada in 2021. Seventy-eight current and retired judges on the two courts were interviewed and are referred to throughout the book. The authors present a brief history of these courts and their predecessor -- the Exchequer Court of Canada -- and an overview of the courts' jurisdiction, decision-making trends, and unique attributes. There are chapters on each of the courts' specialties -- administrative law, immigration and refugee law, intellectual property, security and intelligence, Indigenous issues, the environment, admiralty, labour and human rights, and tax. Chief Justice Noèel and Chief Justice Crampton each contribute a chapter. The preface is by Justice Frank Iacobucci and the epilogue by Justice Robert Dâecary."--
This authoritative handbook surveys the full breadth and depth of SEA, bringing together a range of international perspectives and insights on the theoretical, methodological and institutional dimensions and practical issues of the field. It then subjects this conventional wisdom to a critical reappraisal, looks at the vast lessons of experience and offers new ideas and interpretations as to where the field is going. The volume is organized into six major sections, beginning with an introduction and overview of the development of the field and a framework for evaluating SEA good practice. Part I comprises a review of SEA frameworks in leading countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA), the European Union and developing regions (Africa, Asia, Latin America and Newly Independent States). Part II reviews SEA practice in several major sectors (energy, minerals, transport, water, development assistance and coastal zone management). Part III addresses the linkages between SEA and other comparable tools such as spatial planning and environmental management. Part IV probes key cross-cutting issues in SEA, including how to address cumulative and trans-boundary effects. Part V identifies ways and means of SEA process and capacity development, focusing on how to improve and upgrade the theory and practice of the field. Part VI examines the shift from conventional SEA towards more integrative approaches, drawing on experience and examples from a number of countries. Published with IAIA
Federal agencies have taken steps to include the public in a wide range of environmental decisions. Although some form of public participation is often required by law, agencies usually have broad discretion about the extent of that involvement. Approaches vary widely, from holding public information-gathering meetings to forming advisory groups to actively including citizens in making and implementing decisions. Proponents of public participation argue that those who must live with the outcome of an environmental decision should have some influence on it. Critics maintain that public participation slows decision making and can lower its quality by including people unfamiliar with the science involved. This book concludes that, when done correctly, public participation improves the quality of federal agencies' decisions about the environment. Well-managed public involvement also increases the legitimacy of decisions in the eyes of those affected by them, which makes it more likely that the decisions will be implemented effectively. This book recommends that agencies recognize public participation as valuable to their objectives, not just as a formality required by the law. It details principles and approaches agencies can use to successfully involve the public.
Environmental Analysis reviews information gathered during NEPA assessments, summarizes the state of the art in methods and approaches, and defines future opportunities and new approaches required to link high-quality science to the decision-making process. Individual chapters address the process itself, present examples of recent experience with ecological impact assessment, evaluate social impact assessment and the important role the public must play, discuss the difficult challenge of assessing cumulative effects of multiple impacts, consider the regional and global implications of NEPA, and examine the important role of follow-up studies in the process. The authors of the 59 individual papers comprising this book represent the major sectors that have been key participants in the decision-making process from the beginning. These sectors include academia, national laboratories, federal agencies, state agencies, private industry, and foreign nations. Environmental Analysis will be interesting reading for environmental scientists, engineers, policy makers, and lawyers in government and academia; private consultants; and non-government environmental organizations.
This comprehensive Handbook shows how Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), an important decision support tool for strategies, policies, plans and programmes, is applied globally. It reflects on SEA practices and the advancements made over the past three decades in the development of SEA.
