Transitions-based strategic environmental assessment

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is emerging as an important tool for sustainability transitions, yet there has been limited research conceptualizing transitions-based SEA. If SEA's primary goal is to facilitate strategic change and guide decision-processes toward sustainability, an assessment framework that accounts for the multi-dimensional factors and relationships influencing transition processes seems highly relevant. This paper advances the transitions-based SEA design – an approach to SEA that is focused on the institutional environment and policy context for the development of strategic initiatives including institutional commitments, supporting policies, and opportunities. We do so within the context of energy transitions, bridging strategic planning theories, decision making, and transition management. Building on existing SEA frameworks that advance strategic thinking, the paper presents the foundational principles and strategic questions to be asked in a transitions-based SEA design. The framework was developed based on a review of sustainability transitions and SEA literature supplemented by expert input. The SEA design focuses on the guiding vision for transitions, the institutional context and governance arrangements, opportunities and risks of proposed sustainability pathways, progress indicators for on-going transition management, and impacts of the exogenous landscape. The framework defines a new functionality for SEA, pushing the boundaries of what SEA can achieve, and should accomplish, as a strategic assessment tool while also challenging conventional thinking and practice beyond its application to policies, plans and programs.     

Bridging the divide between theory and guidance in strategic environmental assessment: A path for Italian regions

Clear and effective legislation is a requisite to bring sustainable development from theory into practice. This paper develops a methodology to investigate how Italian regional legislation disciplines the use of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), the procedure used in the European Union (EU) to pursue sustainable development of policies, plans, and programs (PPPs). Our case study is the Italian regional level, examined to identify eventual flaws and areas for improvement for each regional legislative framework. For this purpose, this study refers to a selection of analytical criteria recurring in the international debate on sustainability assessments. Statistical multi-dimensional analysis is used to identify Italian regions with similar SEA legislation. We recognize four taxonomies, depending on the way regional legislation provides information about i) legislation and guidelines, ii) integration between SEA and PPPs, iii) sustainability goals, iv) technical organization, v) participatory organization, and vi) monitoring. The results suggest that Italian administrators should cooperate to improve legislation at the regional level. Acknowledging the institution-centred nature of SEA, this methodology could drive the EU to better support SEA development in countries with diversified traditions.     

Strategic environmental assessment for sustainability: A review of a decade of academic research

This paper examines the strategic environmental assessment (SEA)–sustainability relationship over the past decade, from 2000 to 2010, focusing in particular on the incorporation of sustainability in SEA. A total of 86 papers from the academic literature containing the terms ‘sustainability’ or ‘sustainable development’ and ‘strategic environmental assessment’ were identified and reviewed. Several common themes emerged by which SEA can support sustainability, including providing a framework to support decision making for sustainability; setting sustainability objectives, ensuring the consideration of ‘more sustainable’ alternatives, and integrating sustainability criteria in PPP development; and promoting sustainability outcomes through tiering and institutional learning. At the same time, our review identified many underlying barriers that challenge SEA for sustainability, including the variable interpretations of the scope of sustainability in SEA; the limited use of assessment criteria directly linked to sustainability objectives; and challenges for decision-makers in operationalizing sustainability in SEA and adapting PPP development decision-making processes to include sustainability issues. To advance SEA for sustainability there is a need to better define the scope of sustainability in SEA; clarify how to operationalize the different approaches to sustainability in SEA, as opposed to simply describing those approaches; provide guidance on how to operationalize broad sustainability goals through assessment criteria in SEA; and understand better how to facilitate institutional learning regarding sustainability through SEA application.     

Framework for integration of urban planning,strategic environmental assessment and ecological planning for urban sustainability within the context of China

Sustainable development or sustainability has been highlighted as an essential principle in urban master planning, with increasing recognition that uncontrollable urbanization may well give rise to various issues such as overexploitation of natural resources, ecosystem destruction, environmental pollution and large-scale climate change. Thus, it is deemed necessary to modify the existing urban and regional administrative system so as to cope with the challenges urban planning is being confronted with and realize the purpose of urban sustainability. This paper contributed to proposing a mechanism which helps to make urban planning with full consideration of issues with respect to sustainable development. We suggested that the integration of urban planning, SEA and ecological planning be a multi-win strategy to offset deficiency of each mentioned political tool being individually applied. We also proposed a framework where SEA and ecological planning are fully incorporated into urban planning, which forms a two-way constraint mechanism to ascertain environmental quality of urban planning, although in practice, planning and SEA processes may conditionally be unified. Moreover, as shown in the case study, the integration of the three political tools may be constrained due to slow changes in the contextual factors, in particular the political and cultural dimensions. Currently within the context of China, there may be three major elements which facilitate integration of the three political tools, which are (1) regulatory requirement of PEIA on urban planning, (2) the promotion or strong administrative support from government on eco-district building, and (3) the willingness of urban planners to collaborate with SEA experts or ecologists.     

Framework for integration of urban planning, strategic environmental assessment and ecological planning for urban sustainability within the context of China

Sustainable development or sustainability has been highlighted as an essential principle in urban master planning, with increasing recognition that uncontrollable urbanization may well give rise to various issues such as overexploitation of natural resources, ecosystem destruction, environmental pollution and large-scale climate change. Thus, it is deemed necessary to modify the existing urban and regional administrative system so as to cope with the challenges urban planning is being confronted with and realize the purpose of urban sustainability. This paper contributed to proposing a mechanism which helps to make urban planning with full consideration of issues with respect to sustainable development. We suggested that the integration of urban planning, SEA and ecological planning be a multi-win strategy to offset deficiency of each mentioned political tool being individually applied. We also proposed a framework where SEA and ecological planning are fully incorporated into urban planning, which forms a two-way constraint mechanism to ascertain environmental quality of urban planning, although in practice, planning and SEA processes may conditionally be unified. Moreover, as shown in the case study, the integration of the three political tools may be constrained due to slow changes in the contextual factors, in particular the political and cultural dimensions. Currently within the context of China, there may be three major elements which facilitate integration of the three political tools, which are (1) regulatory requirement of PEIA on urban planning, (2) the promotion or strong administrative support from government on eco-district building, and (3) the willingness of urban planners to collaborate with SEA experts or ecologists.     

The mutualism of strategic environmental assessment and sustainable development goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set a universal agenda intended to stimulate social, economic and environmental action. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has the potential to assist in the implementation of actions supporting the SDGs by providing a systematic framework to incorporate them into policies, plans and programmes; and the SDGs in turn, could substantiate SEA's contribution to sustainable development. Therefore, the partnering of both policy instruments fosters a mutualistic relationship, benefiting both. In this paper, we review current engagement of SEA with the SDGs both in the academic literature and in practice. The findings reveal a recognisable subtle shift towards the adoption of a new paradigm in plan-making, particularly supported by governments' growingly proactive embracement of SDGs, albeit through different approaches, initiatives and commitments. This sets a robust foundation for spatial planning and, by extension, a reference framework for SEA. Nevertheless, operationalising the SDGs is difficult. The extent to which SDG objectives and targets are embedded in SEA and, indeed, integrated into plans/programmes seems to be hampered by the broad scope of both sustainability and SEA, and a general lack of awareness and know-how. This suggest a need to clarify SEA's mandate for engaging with the SDGs, as well as to provide training for a more proactive integration of the objectives and targets. Through initiatives such as these, there are opportunities to optimise mutual gains for both policy instruments.     

Conceptualizing strategic environmental assessment: Principles,approaches and research directions

Increasing emphasis has been placed in recent years on transitioning strategic environmental assessment (SEA) away from its environmental impact assessment (EIA) roots. Scholars have argued the need to conceptualize SEA as a process designed to facilitate strategic thinking, thus enabling transitions toward sustainability. The practice of SEA, however, remains deeply rooted in the EIA tradition and scholars and practitioners often appear divided on the nature and purpose of SEA. This paper revisits the strategic principles of SEA and conceptualizes SEA as a multi-faceted and multi-dimensional assessment process. It is suggested that SEA can be conceptualized as series of approaches operating along a spectrum from less to more strategic – from impact assessment-based to strategy-based – with each approach to SEA differentiated by the specific objectives of SEA application and the extent to which strategic principles are reflected in its design and implementation. Advancing the effectiveness of SEA requires a continued research agenda focused on improving the traditional SEA approach, as a tool to assess the impacts of policies, plans and programs (PPPs). Realizing the full potential of SEA, however, requires a new research agenda — one focused on the development and testing of a deliberative governance approach to SEA that can facilitate strategic innovations in PPP formulation and drive transitions in short-term policy and initiatives based on longer-term thinking.     

A Strategic Project Appraisal framework for ecologically sustainable urban infrastructure

Actors in the built environment are progressively considering environmental and social issues alongside functional and economic aspects of development projects. Infrastructure projects represent major investment and construction initiatives with attendant environmental, economic and societal impacts across multiple scales. To date, while sustainability strategies and frameworks have focused on wider national aspirations and strategic objectives, they are noticeably weak in addressing micro-level integrated decision making in the built environment, particularly for infrastructure projects. The proposed approach of this paper is based on the principal that early intervention is the most cost-effective and efficient means of mitigating the environmental effects of development projects, particularly macro infrastructure developments. A strategic overview of the various project alternatives, taking account for stakeholder and expert input, could effectively reduce project impacts/risks at low cost to the project developers but provide significant benefit to wider communities, including communities of future stakeholders. This paper is the first exploratory step in developing a more systematic framework for evaluating strategic alternatives for major metropolitan infrastructure projects, based on key sustainability principles. The developed Strategic Project Appraisal (SPA) framework, grounded in the theory of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), provides a means of practically appraising project impacts and alternatives in terms of quantified ecological limits; addresses the neglected topic of metropolitan infrastructure as a means of delivering sustainability outcomes in the urban context and more broadly, seeks to open a debate on the potential for SEA methodology to be more extensively applied to address sustainability challenges in the built environment. Practically applied and timed appropriately, the SPA framework can enable better decision-making and more efficient resource allocation ensuring low impact infrastructure development.     

Evaluating the substantive effectiveness of SEA: Towards a better understanding

Evaluating the substantive effectiveness of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is vital in order to know to what extent the tool fulfills its purposes and produces expected results. However, the studies that have evaluated the substantive effectiveness of SEA produce varying outcomes as regards the tool's contribution to decision-making and have used a variety of approaches to appraise its effectiveness. The aim of this article is to discuss the theoretical concept of SEA substantive effectiveness and to present a new approach that can be applied for evaluation studies. The SEA effectiveness evaluation framework that will be presented is composed of concepts of, and approaches to, SEA effectiveness derived from SEA literature and planning theory. Lessons for evaluation can be learned from planning theory in particular, given its long history of analyzing and understanding how sources of information and decisions affect (subsequent) decision-making. Key concepts of this new approach are ‘conformance’ and ‘performance’. In addition, this article presents a systematic overview of process and context factors that can explain SEA effectiveness, derived from SEA literature. To illustrate the practical value of our framework for the assessment and understanding of substantive effectiveness of SEA, three Dutch SEA case studies are examined. The case studies have confirmed the usefulness of the SEA effectiveness assessment framework. The framework proved helpful in order to describe the cumulative influence of the three SEAs on decision-making and the ultimate plan.     

The application of strategic environmental assessment in a non-mandatory context: Regional transport planning in New Zealand

There is no legal mandate for strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in New Zealand. However, a requirement to consider environmental and sustainability issues is a key feature of many statutes, including that relating to regional transport planning. Given this, the research sought to determine whether SEA could be used to improve the incorporation of environmental and sustainability aspects into the regional transport planning process in New Zealand. Existing practice was evaluated, examining what factors currently limiting the consideration of environmental and sustainability issues and to what extent elements of SEA are currently being used. The research culminated in the development of a conceptual model where SEA elements could be incorporated into the existing framework to promote improved consideration of environmental and sustainability issues. The results provide some reassurance about the value of SEA even where its application is not legally mandated. However, it also highlighted some ongoing issues around the integration of SEA in existing frameworks and around the scope of SEA as a decision-aiding tool.     

A historical review of the cumulative science in SEA effectiveness

Based on research on the effectiveness of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and the critical factors determining it, numerous questions regarding SEA and its effectiveness have come to light. In this paper, we address a range of these questions based on a review of 39 peer-reviewed scientific articles. Questions are examined such as how effectiveness is defined and how the critical factors affecting it are determined. The concept of effectiveness is broadly accepted, but its meaning differs between different schools of thought. Effectiveness is clearly kept apart from the concept of quality, but in many definitions of SEA effectiveness, we have seen the concepts presented as overlapping and developing through time. At any point in time, a multitude of meanings of effectiveness thus exist, sustaining the idea of Thomas Kuhn that this kind of social science is not really cumulative. To overcome these limitations, we present a view of how these different concepts can be presented in a number of logical and historical steps. Based on the critical factors and their concentration into broader concepts, it targets to the formulation of a general, more comprehensive model that can describe the interrelationship between general- and stage-specific critical factors. It is concluded that “comprehensive models of causation” exist which condense a broader range of critical factors into only 4–10 main topics that describe the most pivotal forces at play. It may be possible to facilitate a common understanding of the nature of SEA and thus invite future research.     

CEA in policies and plans: UK case studies

This paper examines how cumulative effects assessment (CEA) has been considered in Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA) of regional and local plans in a number of case studies in the UK. Initially, the paper presents the legislative and regulatory requirements for assessing cumulative effects in plans and programmes in the UK. The two approaches for assessing plans in the UK, Sustainability Appraisal (SA) and SEA are discussed and in most cases, a combined SA and SEA process is undertaken by Regional and Local Planning Authorities. The strengths and weaknesses of this approach are explored, as well as their usefulness in decision making. There are problems relating to baseline, establishing trends and predicting cumulative effects at the strategic level. The issues in assessing cumulative effects within this SA/SEA framework are discussed and recommendations for improvements are made.     

Ecosystem services inclusive strategic environmental assessment

A consistent framework to address biodiversity, ecosystem services and their societal values is now established with the MEA (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment) and the TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity). These and other studies point to the urgency in considering actions that can revert the process of degradation of biodiversity values and its supporting ecosystems. Safeguarding livelihoods is a common objective in ecosystem approaches as well as in strategic environmental assessment (SEA) effort to promote sustainability. Human activities, as direct and indirect development drivers, are crucial targets for SEA to have a strategic contribution in influencing priorities, by showing strategic reasons for change. Rather than keeping only a control and mitigation role on the assessment of effects and impacts of development on the environment, SEA has the capacity to understand the decisional and development context and to drive development opportunities into pathways that are inclusive of environmental and sustainability priorities. The development opportunities provided by ecosystem services can be explored in SEA through strategic approaches to enhance the value of the benefits and avoid the negative impact of human actions on ecosystem services. SENSU, a research team at IST-Portugal, advocates the strategic-based and collaborative oriented approach in SEA based on Partidario (2007) SEA framework of critical decision factors (CDF). A methodology to allow the consideration of ecosystem services in SEA is being developed and tested. This paper will share research advances on how ecosystem services can be incorporated into SEA as a fundamental component of strategic assessment in support of decision-making.     

Implementing Strategic Environmental Assessment of spatial planning tools: A study on the Italian provinces

After more than a decade from the publication of the European Directive 2001/42/CE (Directive) on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), the design and construction of the interested spatial planning instruments has gone through a variety of changes and integrations in European and in world states. This inhomogeneous panorama can be explained with a pattern of institutional structures that have so far affected the implementation of the Directive. The aim of this paper is to investigate the level of implementation of the Directive in Italy by developing a comparative analysis of the quality of integration of SEA within the design of the spatial coordination plan of a set of Italian provinces. Italian practice is analyzed in the framework of a comparative study of worldwide SEA implementation within spatial and land use planning. The results reveal strengths and weaknesses in SEA implementation at the provincial level and, in particular, the emergence of critical areas of research concerning institutional context, public participation, monitoring, and observatory of the spatial transformations.     

Can we infer about ecosystem services from EIA and SEA practice? A framework for analysis and examples from Portugal

Biodiversity, soil, water, air, climate, landscape and other components are typically analyzed in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) when looking for the effects of a given project on the biological and ecological components of the environment. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) tends to follow the same general pattern, when looking for the environmental effects of plans and programs. In both cases, ecosystem services are often not explicitly considered. We developed a framework to analyze environmental assessment (EA) practice and infer about ecosystem services based on existing evidence from EIA and SEA reports and supporting information. Our framework addresses the relations between ecosystem services and the environmental factors assessed in EIA and SEA, considering the relevant conceptual frameworks such as the ES cascade model and the DPSIR framework applied to ES provision. We base our proposals on results from a preliminary meta-analysis of recent EIA and SEA reports from several types of plans and projects in Portugal, in which implicit assessments of ES were clearly predominant. We discuss the implications of those results and the opportunities to infer about ecosystem services, and conclude on the need for more dedicated and explicit efforts to ecosystem services assessment in EIA and SEA.     

Coping with climate change related conflicts – The first framework to identify and tackle these emerging topics

Climate change is supposed to exacerbate conflicts arising from resource scarcity and contrasting objectives. Some European authors highlighted already the need to look at conflicting interests when elaborating and applying adaptation and mitigation strategies. This study analysed the level of consideration of these emerging topics arising through increased competition of resources, contrasting interests, climate change adaptation as well as mitigation measures for Austria and Southern Germany in detail. Furthermore, it surveyed the application of possible approaches for conflict prevention and mitigation in an international perspective and additionally examined the particular role of SEA as one of the instruments to cope with conflicts related to climate change. The results express the strong need to look at emerging conflicts in cross-sectoral and sectoral adaptation early enough and a strategic perspective. Based on the content analysis of the Austrian and German adaptation and mitigation documents, expert interviews as well as the international literature review, a rather low consideration of these emerging topics as well as approaches to cope with them became evident. In response to these deficiencies, the paper introduces a first framework to identify and tackle emerging and exacerbated conflicts related to climate change. This novel framework is internationally applicable. In the final step of the framework approaches to prevent and minimize conflicts are the key topic. Among these approaches, SEA could take a leading role in case mandatory planning instruments cover the topics related to potential or existing exacerbated fields of conflicts. Overall a mix of formal and informal instruments and a more cross-sectoral perspective seems necessary. To this aim, the paper introduces four main guiding principles to consider and minimize up-coming conflicting topics.     

Exploring experts' views and perspectives on the enhancement of Strategic Environmental Assessment in European small islands

Small islands have the attention of the international community because they are territories with unique features, and a pressing need for the enhancement of sustainability. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has characteristics that may promote the development and improvement of sustainability in these territories: (i) changing the mind-set, and the decision-making and institutional paradigm, (ii) facilitating cooperation and coordination between different stakeholders, and (iii) providing a framework for good governance and community empowerment. The scientific literature suggests that there may be a need for context-specific SEA in these territories. However, SEA studies often do not incorporate local contextual information, including intuitive knowledge and sense of place. Therefore, there is a possible gap between what is found in the literature and what local communities think, including different stakeholders and experts. Hence, the main goal of this research was to gain an insight into the views and perspectives of small islands SEA experts about issues related to SEA in European small islands, including context-specific approaches, as well as the contribution of SEA for sustainability in these territories. To achieve the research aim, exploratory research using a questionnaire-based survey was designed, aimed at experts on SEA in European small islands. Findings showed regional cooperation networks may have a fundamental role when developing SEA-specific approaches in these territories. This is because SEA-specific approaches encourage a joint effort among islands within one region to improve SEA capacity-building, develop and share a baseline information system, and to share and exchange resources, overall. Also, guidelines are preferred among experts over more legal frameworks and regulations. Finally, the research showed that experts view SEA as a way to enhance sustainability in small islands. This study highlights the importance of integrating stakeholders, such as territorial experts, to learn and promote the use and improvement of environmental and sustainability tools such as SEA.     

Revisiting urban sustainability from access to jobs: Assessment of economic gain versus loss of social equity

This study has aided an understanding of how the built environment impacts multiple facets of sustainability from perspective of job access that potentially assist in environmental protection, economic development, and social justice. However, the latter two contributions entail tradeoffs that are little-discussed in empirical research. We elaborate upon the manner in which job access affects economic and social sustainability and focus on tradeoffs between the two. We measure and characterize the impact of job access on housing prices and the spatial distribution of disadvantaged populations across New York City, using census data. Results document not only that there are significant positive effects of job access on housing but also that higher housing prices screen out disadvantaged populations and undermine social equity. Findings highlight the paradox in sustainable development that job access seldom exhibits simultaneous positive effects on economic and social equity. We propose that urban built environment might have sigificantimpact on and might be a solution to the tension between economic benefits and social loss regarding job accessibility. That is, appropriate spatial land use planning and public policies could maximize individual welfare and sustainability for future cities-a new perspective of achieving urban sustainability. The major challenge is finding a workable balance between economic and social sustainability that is theoretically sound and empirically feasible.     

The role of SEA in integrating and balancing high policy objectives in European cohesion funding programmes

Funding programmes for European cohesion policy are a crucial tool to support the sustainability goals of the European Union and national policies of its member states. All these funding programmes require a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to enhance sustainable development. This article compares five first SEA applications at cohesion policy level to discuss challenges, limitations and benefits of this instrument. In order to support the SEA-process a “Handbook on SEA for Cohesion Policy 2007–13” (GRDP 2006) was developed. The paper examines the special requirements and challenges at the programme level given the special conditions for stakeholder involvement, integration of SEA in the programme development process and strategies to cope with uncertainties to ensure real compatibility with policy goals. Using action research and in-depth interviews with SEA planners and programme managers enabled us to analyse the suitability of the methodology proposed by the handbook. The results show that some recommendations of the handbook should be changed in order to increase the transparency and to enhance the standard and comparability of the SEA-documents.Overall the SEA proved to be a rather successful tool for the integration of sustainability goals at the EU and national policy levels. Its particular strengths emerged as the process makes uncertainties visible and leads to possible redefinitions while maintaining actual policy goals.     

Use of sustainability appraisal by English planning inspectors and judges

This article considers how sustainability appraisals (SA — an English form of SEA that also considers social and economic issues) are treated at the end of the plan-making process: by planning inspectors who review plans before they are adopted, and by judges in the case of legal challenge to plans and their SAs. It briefly describes the role of inspectors and judges, and how their decisions influence SA. It presents the conclusions of 81 planning inspectors' reports about local authority development plans and their SAs, including three cases where inspectors required further SA information and reasons given by inspectors for not challenging the legal adequacy of other SAs. The three main successful English legal challenges to SA are then summarised. Planning inspectors seemed prone, until recently, to not challenge even quite poor quality SAs. This seems to be changing in the wake of recent court judgements, and in turn is affecting planners' SA practice. However it is unclear whether these changes will affect only the procedural aspects of SA or also planners' and inspectors' ‘hearts and minds’.