Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a new approach to environmental assessment, global in scope, which considers the environmental impacts of policies, plans and programmes. It is already in use in a number of countries and is rapidly being adopted by those involved with environmental management and regulation, including governments, official and voluntary sector agencies, academic courses and consultancies. This text defines and analyzes SEA within the overall context of environmental assessment. It introduces and reviews the current state of SEA, evaluates its application in a number of countries with a range of detailed case studies, provides a critique of its techniques and an analysis of its importance for the future.

This book challenges the prevailing assumption that Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) should be structured around a unitary EIA process. The book begins by identifying, through a scenario, eight recurrent problems in EIA practice. The characteristics of multiple variations of conventional EIA processes, at both the regulatory and applied levels, are then presented. The residual problems that remain after the conventional processes are described and assessed providing the springboard for a description and analysis of eight alternative EIA processes.

This unique volume brings together key writings from experts drawn from the first ten years of the Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), launched in 1999 as a forum for encouraging better linkages between environmental assessment and management tools. The book is structured around four themes that focus on the characteristics of tools that influence their ability to link together effectively: The Nature of Tools; The Nature of Decision-Making and Institutional Context; The Nature of Engagement and The Nature of Sustainability. Edited and introduced by William Sheate, founding and present editor of JEAPM, the book provides an analysis of what makes for successful linking of assessment and management tools, supported by theoretical and practical examples. Key authors include Roland Clift, David Gadenne, Robert Gibson, Neils Faber, Thomas Fischer, David Lawrence, MNns Nilsson, Bronwyn Ridgway, and Frank Vanclay. Sample Chapter(s). Chapter 1: The Evolving Nature of Environmental Assessment and Management: Linking Tools to Help Deliver Sustainability (10,216 KB). Contents: The Evolving Nature of Environmental Assessment and Management: Linking Tools to Help Deliver Sustainability (W R Sheate); The Nature of Tools: Choices for EIA Process Design and Management (D P Lawrence); The Project Cycle and the Role of EIA and EMS (B Ridgway); A Framework for Tool Selection and Use in Integrated Assessment for Sustainable Development (W De Ridder et al.); The Nature of Decision-Making and Institutional Context: A Systemic Framework for Environmental Decision-Making (R Van Der Vorst et al.); Decision Making and Strategic Environmental Assessment (M Nilsson & H Dalkmann); The Nature of Engagement: In It Together: Organizational Learning Through Participation in Environmental Assessment (P Fitzpatrick); Social and Environmental NGOs as Users of Corporate Social Disclosure (L Danastas & D Gadenne); The Nature of Sustainability: Organisational Sustainability: A Case for Formulating a Tailor-Made Definition (D J Kiewiet & J F J Vos); Beyond the Pillars: Sustainability Assessment as a Framework for Effective Integration of Social, Economic and Ecological Considerations in Significant Decision-Making (R B Gibson); and other papers. Readership: Natural scientists, social scientists, engineers, businesses and consultants interested in sustainability."

A Practical Guide to Understanding, Managing and Reviewing Environmental Risk Assessment Reports provides team leaders and team members with a strategy for developing the elements of risk assessment into a readable and beneficial report. The authors believe that successful management of the risk assessment team is a key factor is quality repor

At the heart of environmental protection is risk assessment: thelikelihood of pollution from accidents; the likelihood of problemsfrom normal and abnormal operation of industrial processes; thelikely impacts associated with new synthetic chemicals; and so on.Currently, risk assessment has been very much in the news--therisks from BSE and E. coli, and the public perception of risks fromnuclear waste, etc. This new publication explains how scientificmethodologies are used to assess risk from human activities and theresultant objects and wastes, on people and the environment.Understanding such risks supplies crucial information--to framelegislation, manage major habitats, businesses and industries, andcreate development programmes. Unique in combining the science of risk assessment with thedevelopment of management strategies. Covers science and social science (politics, economics,psychology) aspects. Very timely - risk assessment lies at the heart of decisionmaking in various topical environmental questions (BSE, Brent Spar,nuclear waste).

Based on the "go to" book in the field of ecological risk assessment, this shorter, principles-based, updated textbook is essential for students and new practitioners who want to understand the purposes of environmental assessments and how to achieve them. It includes environmental risks to humans as well as nonhuman populations and ecosystems, and most types of environmental assessments. Drawing upon the author’s extensive experience in the field, first as a senior research staff member in the Environmental Sciences Division at Oak Ridge Laboratory and then as science advisor in the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s National Center for Environmental Assessment, the book explains fundamental principles and basic techniques and illustrates them with example applications which carry through multiple chapters and make this book a practical and hands-on guide. Both the content and the style are inviting and approachable to different levels of students. Features Integrates human health and ecological assessments. Includes epidemiological, risk, causal, impact, and outcome assessments. Focuses on fundamental principles that are applicable in all nations and legal contexts. Employs an engaging style and draws on the author’s practical experience. Explains fundamental concepts in short chapters, making it perfect for beginners in the field. Explains the challenges and rewards of a career in environmental assessment. This book is a practical guide for senior and graduate students in environmental sciences and management, as well as new practitioners of assessment who want to understand the purposes of environmental assessments and how to achieve them.

Health Impact Assessment is a policy-support instrument and approach that seeks to assess the health impacts of projects, programmes and policies on population health. The ultimate goal of HIA is to systematically predict health impacts and subsequently inform the intersectoral decision- and policy-making processes of these impacts. Integrating Health Impact Assessment with the Policy Process examines how the process of integrating HIA with policy can take place. Introductory chapters outline the HIA process and provide a conceptual foundation for the book. Then, drawing from experiences of HIA practice and research globally, country specific experiences are presented to examine HIA's relationship with the policy process. Throughout the book checklists and learning points are provided to assist the readers' understanding of the concepts and examples discussed. This practical and conceptually-grounded guide represents a convergence of theory and practice from the disciplines of public health, environmental health and the social sciences, and will appeal to practitioners and professionals in these fields, as well as policy-makers, decision-makers, planners at regional and national government levels as well as academics, educators and students.