SOLUTION: Stakeholders in Environmental Impact | My Assignment Tutor

1[SCI5250 hypothetical example model of Assignment 1]Best Practice Engagement of Stakeholders in Environmental ImpactAssessmentAngus Morrison-Saunders1. IntroductionThe purpose of this paper is to identify two key aspects of best practice engagement ofstakeholders in environmental impact assessment (EIA) based on a review of contemporaryinternational literature.2. Understanding stakeholder engagement in EIA applicationsEngaging stakeholders in EIA relates to the broad best practice principle of “participative”promoted by the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA & IEA 1999, p3).Being participative means that an EIA process should provide opportunity for stakeholdersto be informed and involved with their concerns being explicitly addressed indocumentation and (approval) decision-making (e.g. Andre et al. 2006; Fundingsland Tetlow& Hanusch 2012; IAIA & IEA 1999). The broader principle of providing natural justice indecision-making; i.e. that people affected by a decision have a legal right to have input tothe making of that decision (e.g. Bates 1997; Aarhus Convention on Access to Information,Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters 1998) is central tostakeholder engagement in EIA (Morrison-Saunders 2018). However, it translates into only“minimum levels of public participation” (Morrison-Saunders 2019, p9). Full environmentaljustice extends beyond input and inclusion to remedying the environmental and socialimpacts identified (Dilay et al 2019) and ensuring that projects overall are in the publicinterest (Joseph et al 2020). There is a further psychosocial effect on communities arisingfrom their involvement in EIA processes (Baldwin and Rawstorn 2018).A distinction can be made between stakeholders affected by a proposal (IAIA and IEM, 1999;Morrison-Saunders, 2018) and those simply having an interest in it. The implication is thatgreater participation opportunity should be extended to directly affected parties, relative toothers having only a broad interest. This this is consistent with the position of UNEP (2018,p63) and Morrison-Saunders (2019) who wrote that ‘in some jurisdictions face-to-facemeetings are only available to those directly affected by a proposal undergoing EIA’ (p10).The extent to which the ‘participative’ principle outlined by IAIA & IEM (1999) is ‘bestpractice’ is debatable in light of the spectrum of public participation possibilities (e.g.Arnstein 1969; IAP2 2014; Sheedy 2008) which extends from informing to consulting, andinvolving through to empowering community participants. Hartz-Karp et al (2015, p398)argue that a transition to sustainability necessitates moving towards ‘deliberativecollaborative governance’ in which assessment processes pursue a ‘coherent public voice’implemented by means of ‘consensus-oriented decision-making’ (i.e. affected personsactually help make the decision). This means that best practice stakeholder engagementwould extend beyond simple participation.Stakeholder engagement in EIA varies according to the local political and cultural values,traditions and institutions in place (Petts 1999; Noble 2015). Examples here include the2tension between Western and non-Western views (Morgan 1998, p152 & 155), thatincreasing levels of maturity in democracy may lead to higher levels of public engagement(O’Riordan and Sewell 1981), and suggestions that public participation in EIA practice inChina is limited because procedures are poorly defined, ignored or missing (Bina et al 2011).Thus, ‘local socio-political context must be taken into consideration when deciding on whatmight constitute best practice’ (Morrison-Saunders 2019, p11).3. ConclusionDrawing these points together, best practice engagement of stakeholders in EIA should:• inform and address the concerns of all interested parties during EIA; and• explicitly engage with affected parties and incorporate their values and viewpointsinto EIA decision-making through consensus-based approaches where appropriate.[556 words]ReferencesAarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice inEnvironmental Matters 1998available: https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/pp/documents/cep43e.pdf [accessed 15July 2020].André, P., B. Enserink, D. Connor and P. Croal 2006 Public Participation International Best PracticePrinciples. Special Publication Series No. 4. Fargo, USA: International Association for ImpactAssessment, available: http://www.iaia.org/uploads/pdf/SP4.pdf [accessed 15 July 2020].Arnstein, S.R. 1969 A ladder of citizen participation, Journal of the American PlanningAssociation, 35 (4): 216–24.Baldwin, C. and P. 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