The Nature and Practice of Impact Assessment 

Assoc. Prof. Richard K. Morgan
Centre for Impact Assessment Research and Training
Department of Geography
University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

Proposed 2-Day Training Course on Impact Assessment
IAIA, Marrakech, Morocco,  June 2003

Summary of the training course
The purpose of the training course is to provide an introduction to the nature, purpose and practice of impact assessment for people comparatively new to the field.  It will also provide an introduction to IAIA, the activities of its various sections, and the main issues being addressed in the main conference.

Purpose of the course
The IAIA meetings attract participants from many different backgrounds and disciplines.  Many are drawn to one particular area of impact assessment, but lack a broader perspective of the field. This course provides a framework of concepts and principles that will help people unfamiliar with impact assessment to understand the different forms of impact assessment currently being practised and the relevance of the good practice principles promoted by IAIA.  This framework is then used to help participants understand the main themes being addressed in the conference, and the nature and role of IAIA as the leading advocate of impact assessment at the international level.  

The first part of the course will focus on why impact assessment is used as a decision-making aid from the policy level to the project level; who benefits from it, and the broad principles for promoting good practice in impact assessment.  The course then moves on to cover the various forms of IA, but emphasising that they all share similar aims and conceptual bases.  Inevitably, though, they differ in specific methodological and technical requirements and this needs to be recognised by people new to the field. 
The second part of the course will focus on the role of IAIA in supporting the impact assessment community, both internationally and at the local.  First, the course looks briefly at the emerging international context for impact assessment, before turning to the major issues now being addressed by the impact assessment community, such as globalisation, biodiversity protection and genetic modification.  Second, the the aims and objectives of IAIA are outlined, then section representatives will be invited to talk to the participants, to discuss the aims and activities of their respective sections within IAIA.  Finally, the course addresses the major themes covered in the conference sessions, in the context of the material presented earlier in the course.

Relationship to the conference theme
The training course will provide people new to IA with a basic framework of ideas and a familiarity with the field of IA, thereby facilitating their involvement in the conference.  This is capcity building in action.

Learning objectives
1.	An understanding of the main purpose(s) of impact assessments and who benefits from the process.  
2.	A basic appreciation of the role of IA information in decision-making processes, at both the policy and project levels.
3.	A recognition of the main steps in an impact assessment and of the principles that guide good IA practice.
4.	An appreciation of the diversity, but also the essential unity, of the various types of impact assessment.
5.	An understanding of the international context of impact assessment, in relation to major contemporary issues.
6.	An improved understanding of the role of IAIA in supporting the development of impact assessment.

Outline of the course
Day 1:
1.	Introduction: 
v	Why do we need impact assessments?  
v	Who do they serve, who benefits?  
v	The use of IA information in decision-making: 
•	problems 
•	implications for IA information (esp. quality)
2.	The EIA process: 
v	What are the main steps in an impact assessment? (brief review only)
v	What are the guiding principles of good practice?
•	distillation of IAIA principles
•	importance of adaptive, coherent approaches to IA methodology
3.	Forms of IA: an overview
v	strategic vs project level IA
v	ecological, social, health IA
v	impact assessment in related areas (development studies; programme evaluation)
v	links to risk and technology assessment, policy analysis, etc.
v	integrated models of IA
v	shared concepts and principles....but different practical problems and challenges

Day 2   
4.	Impact assessment at the international level
v	institutional contexts, key organisations
v	some contemporary issues
5.	Individual section presentations 
v	about the respective IAIA section: activities, conference sessions planned, etc.
v	opportunity for discussion 
6.	Consolidation (course co-ordinator)

The first part of the course will be conducted through a series of short modules, with discussion of key principles, and the use of short practical activities, probably based on a running example (one example that is returned to several times to illustrate different points or themes).  Question/discussion periods will be included to provide an opportunity for participants to raise other issues of interest to them, or to explore themes from a session more fully.
The second part of the course will partly consist short presentations from other contributors, representing their respective IAIA sections (about 20 mins ecah?).  My task as co-ordinator of that day is to develop the overall framework, and work with individual contributors to minimise duplication and overlap of material, develop a consistent approach and scope for the contributions, but maximise the opportunity for each person to discuss specific issues of interest to the group.
The overall purpose is to stimulate thinking about the purpose and nature of impact assessment as a tool to aid decision-makers, the public and other stakeholders.  I approach such training sessions as a partnership: participants bring their professional expertise and I contribute my expertise on EIA principles.  My task is to help each person take something from the course that will be useful to their work practices.

Language:   
English
Target audience
The course is intended for conference participants requiring a broad understanding of aims, principles, and types of impact assessment as a broad field of inquiry, and a better understanding of the purpose and operations of IAIA.  
Level
Introductory

Minimum number of participants
10

Materials
The intention would be to produce a loose leaf folder with course notes, key resource materials, etc.   At this stage I would prefer that such materials not be sold separately by IAIA.

Main instructor
Assoc.Prof.. Richard K. Morgan

Short CV
I am currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at University of Otago, with teaching and research interests in environmental impact assessment, and also in the scientific study of human impacts on soil and vegetation systems.  I am also President-Elect of IAIA.
Since 1980, I have been researching EIA in New Zealand, and overseas, and this has become major research and teaching focus in last few years. Each year I teach a post-graduate paper on EIA and in 1998 had an international text, "Environmental Impact Assessment: a methodological perspective", published by Kluwer Academic Publishers; I established the Centre for Impact Assessment Research and Training (CIART) in early 1999.  In 1998-9, I was involved with an NZODA project in Samoa, to develop a workable EIA process in Samoa, review official regulations for EIA, prepare guidelines to assist government officers and others to use EIA properly, and conduct basic training in the use of the guidelines.  Other work in the Pacific has focused on strategic environmental assessment, and a variety of training activities.
Recent training activities in New Zealand include: pre-conference courses at NZAIA conferences; half day and full day training sessions with regional authority staff in 2000; training session with Department of Conservation staff, August 2001; full day training for staff of forestry companies, April 2001 and October 2001. I ran a 2 day course on EIA for a group from the State Bank of Vietnam in early December 2001, and a related pre-conference course at IAIA'02 in the Hague..

Course evaluations
Evaluations of the course I ran at IAIA'02 were very good: I assume the TPCD has copies of these.

Contact details: 
Assoc. Prof. Richard K. Morgan
CIART
Department of Geography,
University of Otago,			tel: 03-479-8782 (office, direct line)
P.O. Box 56 				fax: 03-479-9037 (work)
Dunedin					email: rkm@geography.otago.ac.nz