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Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is one of the most used tools for environmental management since its introduction in 1970s in the United States of America. Being a systematic process that examines the environmental consequences of development actions in advance, it is perceived as one of the tools which can help different nations to achieve sustainable development because of its capabilities to provide necessary information for decision-makers in order to balance economical, social and ecological paradigms of sustainable development in development projects. This research aims to assess the practice of the EIA processes in Rwanda and specifically seeks to identify the major challenges faced by environmental officers in this process. Given the nature of this research, policy review and desktop research methods have been used to study the current EIA procedures in Rwanda while a quantitative survey method was used to collect data and assess the practices of EIA process as well as the challenges faced by environmental officers in Rwanda. All environmental officers (8) who were dealing with EIA in Rwanda before the transfer of the EIA department to the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and all consultant companies which have been approved and which have at least done an EIA study in Rwanda (19) were targeted and received questionnaires via emails. All the environmental officers and 12 (63%) of the consultants responded to the questionnaire. The data was captured in the Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) template after being coded and has been analysed thematically. The policy review reveals that the current procedures are being developed given that the EIA process started in 2005. Like many developing countries, implementation remains a key challenge. Institutional arrangements remain to be finalised. In terms of the survey findings, even if EIA officers are more experienced than EIA consultants both have some skill gaps including using Geographical Information System (GIS) and remote sensing, understanding project management and customer care skills. Additionally, they receive very little training and capacity-building opportunities, although they desire these. The main challenges identified related to insufficient baseline data, funding, shortage of staff, lack of adequate resources, instilling environmental awareness among developers (developers perceive EIA as a barrier) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) which is not conducted. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.

The macro-environmental factors of an organization are external environmental factors, which are largely uncontrollable by an organization. This study analyses the macro-environment in which Chinese enterprises in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) operate in order to identify the factors that have influenced the development of these enterprises in the past ten years. Today’s companies are evolving in turbulent and equivocal environments. Although most of the Chinese enterprises cannot control these macro- environment factors, they need to be aware of them and identify those factors that could constrain their future development. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

This thesis extends the literature on trade-linked international environmental policy by quantifying the effects of collective taxes on polluting intermediate inputs under varying trade, market structure and labour market assumptions. Using a CGE model augmented to include emissions from intermediate inputs, I simulate the effects of coordinated and harmonized environmental taxes on output, trade, and market structure. The main objectives are to ascertain whether free trade improves regulatory policy outcomes, and to demonstrate how market structure and the relative size of trading partners affect policy responses. To this end, I consider three cases: (a) asymmetric regions competing under perfect competition (b) asymmetric regions competing under imperfect competition and (c) symmetric regions competing under imperfect competition. Using Canada-EU and NAFTA-EU trade to represent asymmetric and symmetric trade ties, the results reveal the following: When regions are asymmetric, free trade unambiguously improves regulatory outcomes for the EU, but yields mixed results for Canada. In addition, regulatory costs are lower when trading partners are symmetric. However, free trade can result in perverse outcomes. For asymmetric regions, output and market structure changes are stronger under imperfect competition, and in the presence of real wage unemployment. Results also suggest that aggregate trade flows are not very sensitive to environmental taxes but are sensitive to changes in border taxes. Finally, welfare effects do not follow a predictable pattern because they partly depend on market structure changes.

Ecological restoration has been identified as an increasingly important tool in environmental policy circles, from reversing species loss to mitigating climate change. While there has been a steady rise in the number of research projects that have investigated social and ecological values that underpin ecological restoration, scholarship has predominantly been carried out at the theoretical level, to the detriment of engaging with real-world ecological restoration projects. This has resulted in generalised and speculative accounts of ecological restoration values. This thesis seeks to address this research gap through a critical analysis of the roles of aesthetic values in the creation and implementation of restoration policy, using three different case studies of ecological restoration at the landscape level in the United Kingdom. I employ interdisciplinary research methods, including semi-structured interviews, interpretive policy analyses, still photography, and sound recording techniques, to better understand the multi-sensorial qualities of ecological restoration. I trace the role of aesthetic value from the initial development of restoration policy through to the management of the post-restoration landscape, considering along the way how aesthetic values are negotiated amongst other types of social and ecological values, how aesthetic values are measured, articulated, and projected onto the landscape by restoration policy makers, and the ways in which aesthetic values are applied through design and management strategies across each site. Throughout the thesis, I engage with a number of current research themes within the ecological restoration literature that intersect with aesthetic value, such as the use of ‘native’ and ‘non-native’ species in landscape restoration, and the procedure through which landscape reference models are selected. I also address hitherto unasked spatial questions of ecological restoration, including an examination of the aesthetic relationships between a restoration site and adjacent landscapes, and the application of spatial practices to regulate certain forms of post-restoration landscape utility. I demonstrate that aesthetic values play a multitude of different roles throughout the restoration process, and ultimately show that as aesthetic values are captured and put to use to different ends through policy, they are inherently bound up with competing ethical visions of society-nature relationships.

A demonstration session for a proposed environmental studies school in the Four Corners Region of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona was conducted in June and July of 1971. The project was conducted by the San Juan School District of Utah. The detailed evaluation of the demonstration session and the curriculum is available through the San Juan School District, Monticello, Utah.Three extensive field trips, named "environmental expeditions," were conducted with 32, 15-18 year old boy and girl participants, three full time instructors, and guest instructors from government agencies and businesses of the area. Studies of a broad interdisciplinary nature, including geology, biology, and archaeology were devoted to investigating environmental problems in the Four Corners Area.Activities of the curriculum were completed in 14 days and included such events as a river boat ride on a remote section of the San Juan River, a two day back pack hike down a remote desert wilderness canyon, the study of the ruins and the culture of the ancient Anasazi Indians of the area and studies of alpine ecological conditions in the San Miguel Mountains of Colorado. The curriculum was designed around the assumption that learning is an emotional as well as an intellectual experience. Exciting and memorable events were combined with planned discussions and student investigations.Three program goals were stated. The school will:1) provide the student with basic information so he may better understand the total environment.2) help the individual student develop a concern for environmental quality that will motivate him toward solving environmental problems.3) provide the student with information necessary for him to play an effective role in solving environmental problems. The degree of achievement of the goals was determined by measuring student attainment of stated performance objectives. Evaluation involved (a) the use of taped oral interviews with participants prior to and following the school experience; (b) a multiple choice test on ecological and environmental management principles; and, (c) a questionnaire mailed to parents of participants. Also the success of the school was judged by the following criteria:1) The success of the school as an institution. Parents were requested to make written comments about the school. Statements with regard to strong and weak points and recommended changes were made by the staff.2) Student perceptions of the school. In pre-school interviews, views, students were asked to state specific outcomes that they expected from the school. In post-school interviews, students were asked to analyze the achievement of their expectations, to point out the highlights and the low points of the school and to recommend changes in the program.The evaluation of the school indicates that the program goals 1 and 2 were achieved to the expectations of the designers of the program. Goal 3, to provide the student with information necessary for him to play an effective role in solving environmental problems, was not fully achieved.The study indicates that these changes and additions may further the success of the school.1) Emphasis needs to be placed on teaching students personal and group actions to help solve environmental problems.2) Emphasis should be added in enumerating the causes of the environmental crisis.3) More of the program should be student planned.4) A greater effort should be made to understand environmentally responsible industry.5) The multiple-choice test, used to evaluate environmental management principles and ecological relationships learning, should be used in future sessions.6) The session should be lengthened, by at least one day, with out including more activities.These recommendations have been incorporated into the revised curriculum for the school.

Our planet is currently in the midst of a mass extinction event. Plants and animals are dying off at a rate undocumented since the dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago. Unlike earlier extinction events, however, the current ecological crisis is primarily being driven by a single species – homo sapiens. Although a seemingly overwhelming issue, environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) have dedicated themselves to ensuring strong species protection. In Canada, these interest groups launched and sustained a successful national campaign for federal endangered species legislation that culminated in the enactment of the Species at Risk Act (SARA). While ENGOs‟ campaign for protective legislation has been well-documented by scholars, there is a dearth of research regarding ENGOs‟ strategies following the passage of SARA. In order to address this knowledge gap, this thesis examines and compares the strategies employed by interest groups in both the pre- and post-passage stages of the Act. After conducting qualitative interviews with seven representatives of Canadian-based ENGOs, this study finds that following the passage of SARA interest groups, dissatisfied with the government‟s weak implementation of the Act, decided to overhaul their strategic approach and shifted the species at risk issue to three new institutional venues: the boardrooms of private corporations, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), and the domestic judicial arena. The thesis concludes that, despite inherent challenges, shifting institutional venues can be a successful strategy for ENGOs faced with a government reluctant to implement the hard-won legislative commitments. This work may prove to be particularly pertinent for other non-governmental organizations facing similar obstacles. / Graduate