Case study of an integrated assessment: Shell's North Field Test in Alberta, Canada

Abstract

There is growing recognition of the positive role that integrated assessments (IAs) can play in improving decision-making processes for public and private sector projects. Because IAs can help secure both the regulatory and the 'social' license to operate, an increasing number of companies, including Royal Dutch Shell, now require their undertaking for major projects. There are, however, limited published case studies to test IA theory and execution, and to provide practical lessons for others. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the undertaking of an IA for a heavy oil pilot project proposed by Shell in northern Alberta and to identify critical success factors. The paper explores key innovations in: (1) the organizational approach to the IA; (2) the scoping and impact evaluation processes; and (3) external communication of results and internal integration of the findings. The paper also provides lessons for industry, regulators, consultants and communities.

Arguments for a co-production approach to community flood protection

“…The benefits of the participatory model include: identification of the needs and values of the community (Faehnle et al, 2014;Few et al, 2007;O'Riordan and Stoll-Kleeman, 2002); fostering a trusting partnership (Bickerstaff et al, 2010;Young et al, 2013); good future working relations (Orenstein et al, 2010); positive reputational benefits for industry (Wong et al, 2012); reduction of conflicts of interest (Fordham et al, 1991); and avoidance of planning delays (Ledoux et al, 2005). However a participatory process also poses many challenges for industry professionals, including: incorporating the plethora of values, interests, opinions and knowledge (Cleaver, 2001;Moon et al, 2017); financial, time and resource pressures (Correia et al, 1998); managing conflicts of interest between stakeholders (Fordham et al, 1991;Moon et al, 2017); and risking the technical success of a scheme (O'Brien, 2009).…”

Does the integration of enviromental impact assessment and mine closure planning deliver effective mine closure plans in Western Australia?

“…In theory, integration of EIA with other forms of impact assessment or environmental management processes has the potential to improve environmental outcomes and better inform the decision-making process (Scrase & Sheate 2002). A multi-disciplinary approach can provide a holistic view and improve the identification of knowledge gaps, alternatives and cumulative impacts (Duncan 2008;Orenstein et al 2010;Geneletti 2014). Potential pitfalls to integration result from the complexity of integrating multiple assessments, poor collaboration and potentially unbalanced results whereby important issues are masked by the promotion of others.…”

Incorporating health into environmental assessments in Canada

“…The incorporation of health into EA remains a challenge; however, there are some examples in Canada where EA has begun to include a wider scope of health and address the interactions between the social and physical environments and human health and well-being (Kwiatkowski and Ooi, 2003;Orenstein et al, 2010). One such example is a federal integrated environmental impact assessment of a diamond mining project in a northern Canadian community.…”

“…The recommendations comprised a broad range of considerations relevant to health including Aboriginal rights, traditional knowledge, monitoring of environmental and socioeconomic programs, environmental management, site security, air quality, water quality, wildlife, employment, and compensation (Kwiatkowski and Ooi, 2003). Another example in Alberta used a multidisciplinary team of consultants with expertise in the environment, social, and health disciplines as well as two community-based coordinators to examine the potential impacts of a heavy oil pilot project (Orenstein et al, 2010). The consultants worked together to develop the initial conceptual models of potential impacts and collaborated with the community coordinators through the entire assessment.…”