Quality control and the substantive influence of environmental impact assessment in Finland

Pölönen, Ismo

doi:10.1016/j.eiar.2005.11.005

Cited by 27 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Steinemann, 2001). Polonen (2007Polonen ( , 2006 studied the issue in the Finnish system from the point of view of legal requirements and concluded that in Finland the developer has a rather large role and power to determine alternatives from his or her own initiative, which may constrain the search for appropriate and best Table 3 for grade descriptions solutions. Polonen (2006: 487) also considered the Finnish requirement concerning the study of the alternatives rather loose.…”

Section: Consideration and Comparison Of Alternativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality of Environmental Impact Assessment: Finnish EISs and the opinions of EIA professionals

Jalava¹,

Pasanen²,

Saalasti³

et al. 2010

Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article presents and compares findings of two EIA quality studies conducted in Finland. First a survey was targeted at competent authorities and environmental consultants to investigate their perceptions of the quality of Finnish EIAs. Second, 15 EISs were considered using the European Commission's guidance on review criteria. The results show that the EIA professionals generally consider the quality as good, though they also recognized that the quality varies and suggested certain areas for improvement. In the professionals' opinion the performance of Finnish EIAs could be enhanced, especially with more profound alternative considerations. Based on the results it is also suggested that more efforts should be aimed at increasing the communicativeness of EISs.

show abstract

Section: Consideration and Comparison Of Alternativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality of Environmental Impact Assessment: Finnish EISs and the opinions of EIA professionals

Jalava¹,

Pasanen²,

Saalasti³

et al. 2010

Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Even if most of the scholars generally agree that EIA plays an important role in environmental decision-making, the effectiveness, accessibility and influence of EIA, and specifically the accuracy and the methods of the assessment can be openly questioned and criticized. The field scholars attempt measuring the EIA effectiveness either through the quality of EIA report and EIA procedural implementation or relate it to the viability and the role of EIA in factual development planning (Bailey, 1997;Baker and Wood, 1999;Simpson, 2001;Ogunba, 2004;Sakalauskiene et al, 2004;Pinho et al, 2006;Pölönen, 2006).…”

Section: Eia Concept and Legal Basis In Nigeriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Environmental Impact Assessment System in Nigeria

Nwoko¹

2013

GJEMPS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) came into being in Nigeria with promulgation of the Act establishing three independent EIA systems-the EIA Decree 86 (1992), the Town and Country Planning Decree 88 (1992) and the Petroleum Act (1969). Despite a sound legal basis and comprehensive guidelines, evidence suggests that EIA has not yet evolved satisfactorily in Nigeria, as the current system amounts to duplication of efforts and cost. An evaluation of the EIA system against systematic evaluation criteria, based on interviews with EIA approval authorities, consulting firms and experts, reveals various shortcomings of the EIA system. These mainly include inadequate capacity of EIA approval authorities, deficiencies in screening and scoping, poor EIA quality, inadequate public participation and weak monitoring. Overall, most EIA study rarely meets the objective of being a project planning tool to contribute to achieving sustainable development and mitigate impact from development project. The work concludes on the suggestions to involve in EIA process relevant authorities and to increase the competence of EIA consultants.

show abstract

“…However, argues that apart from securing traditional environmental knowledge, there is little evidence that EA in the Arctic has influenced decision making. In the Finnish context, Hildén and Jalonen (2005) report limited influence of EA on decision-making and development choices, and Pölönen (2006) concludes that both the EU Directive and the Finnish EA legislation fail to guarantee the successful transfer of assessment results to decision making. Hokkanen (2001) reports that a significant amount of raw information is generated through Finnish EA, but there is insufficient time to use the resulting knowledge; and Jalava et al (2010) report that Finnish EAs suffer from irrelevant information reported in a lengthy way, which may serve to confuse and obscure essential points.…”

Section: Impact and Influencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, in addition to projects listed under the EU EIA Directive, the Finnish EIA Decree (713/2006) lists further types of projects that must always be subjected to EA; however, EA may also be required for any projects that the responsible regional Finnish environment authority views as likely to have adverse environmental impacts (Jantunen, 2011). The EU directives do not prescribe how EAs should be completed, nor do they contain requirements related to their quality (Pölönen, 2006).…”

Section: Environmental Assessment and National Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Assessment in the Arctic: A Gap Analysis and Research Agenda

Noble¹,

Hanna²

2015

ARCTIC

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT. Environmental assessment (EA) is employed across the Arctic to assess, mitigate, and monitor the impacts of resource development. Despite the increasing pressures of resource development on Arctic communities and ecosystems and the growing demands for more efficient and effective EA processes, little is known about the needs and priorities of research that will help us to understand and improve EA and its relevance to Arctic communities. A gap analysis of EA research across eight Arctic nations, based on a review of the scholarly literature, government research and policy documents, and a questionnaire survey of Arctic EA scholars, addressed both project-based EA and strategic EA that focused on policy, planning, and regional assessment. Results indicate seven priority research themes: understanding community and stakeholder expectations about EA; assessing the efficiency and responsiveness of EA to rapidly changing socio-ecological and regulatory environments; examining the influence of EA on development decisions; addressing the capacity for meaningful engagement in EA; strengthening the relationship between EA and land-use planning and Arctic science programs; demonstrating the value of regional EA; and assessing the ability of EA to respond to the reality of climate change. These are not the only areas where further EA research is needed, but they are critical to the effectiveness of EA in the Arctic and to ensuring its relevance to Arctic communities.Key words: environmental assessment; Arctic environmental assessment; gap analysis; environmental assessment effectiveness RÉSUMÉ. Des évaluations environnementales (EE) sont réalisées à l'échelle de l'Arctique dans le but d'évaluer, d'atténuer et de surveiller les incidences de l'exploitation des ressources. Malgré les pressions accrues qu'exerce la mise en valeur des ressources sur les communautés et les écosystèmes de l'Arctique, et malgré la demande croissante pour des processus d'EE plus efficaces, nous en savons peu sur les besoins et les priorités de recherche qui nous aideront à comprendre et à améliorer les EE et leur pertinence dans les communautés de l'Arctique. L'analyse des écarts en matière de recherche sur les EE dans huit nations de l'Arctique, analyse fondée sur des articles scientifiques, des travaux de recherche réalisés par les gouvernements, des documents de politiques et un sondage auprès de spécialistes des EE dans l'Arctique, a porté tant sur les EE de projets que sur les EE stratégiques axées sur les politiques, la planification et les évaluations régionales. Les résultats de cette analyse ont fait ressortir sept thèmes de recherche prioritaires : comprendre les attentes des communautés et des parties prenantes en matière d'EE; évaluer l'efficacité et la réactivité des EE vis-à-vis des milieux réglementaires et socioécologiques évoluant rapidement; examiner l'influence qu'exercent les EE sur les décisions en matière de mise en valeur; déterminer la capacité d'une participation significative dans les EE; renforcer la relation e...

show abstract

Quality control and the substantive influence of environmental impact assessment in Finland

Cited by 27 publications

References 2 publications

Quality of Environmental Impact Assessment: Finnish EISs and the opinions of EIA professionals

Quality of Environmental Impact Assessment: Finnish EISs and the opinions of EIA professionals

Evaluation of Environmental Impact Assessment System in Nigeria

Environmental Assessment in the Arctic: A Gap Analysis and Research Agenda

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About