Multilingual Glossary of Impact Assessment
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About the Glossary
The aim of the Glossary is to provide the user with a profile of the topic area's terminology. By searching the terms and definitions, the users may familiarize themselves with the vocabulary and its use. If they need further understanding and context, they can refer to the reference.
The need for the Glossary came from impact assessment professionals expressing their frustration at having to work in an environment in which an excess of terms and definitions had proliferated. Putting one's own spin on terms was the practice, causing a great deal of confusion in explaining and interpreting impact assessment to the uninitiated, especially policy and decision makers.
The multilingual Glossary structure is currently in three languages: English, French and Portuguese. We anticipate adding other languages in the future, but this will depend upon interest and financial support. A database has been developed that will facilitate collecting and organizing the terms, definitions and references submitted, which will be a valuable resource for future projects.
The first version of the multilingual Glossary is but a starting point for a broad consultation process of relevant interested parties in the seven topic areas: Practice & Process, Biodiversity/Ecology, Health, Social, Strategic, Trade and Urban Impact Assessment. IAIA members, through their Sections and linguistic affiliations, are assisting with the Glossary's development. Therefore, the Glossary will be continuously updated and revised. All submissions will be verified to ensure that the term, definition and reference is valid, and complies with the information requested.
To date, the Glossary project has been sustained through the services of many professionals from the Arts and Science Faculty and the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science at Concordia University, in Montreal.