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Lic.-avh. Uppsala Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet. / Härtill 2 uppsatser.

One of the major tools for assisting in the implementation of sustainable development is environmental assessment (EA). This thesis has sought to develop a model and associated techniques required to provide an effective and efficient EA of projects in the water environment. The challenge has been to integrate a number of disparate elements into a cohesive model that provides workable procedures and outputs. The conceptual elements of the EA process have included the needs of environmental ethics and values; the political decision-making processes; current legislation and policy; the communication of infonnation for a range internal and external stakeholders and decisionmakers; the links with technical and economic issues; and The Environmental Agency's project management systems.

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Summary in English. / The purpose of this report is to present an impact assessment of two possible access routes to the Mohale Dam in Lesotho, namely the Western Access Road and the Least Cost Alternative Route. It is an academic work to demonstrate an adequate grasp of principles, methods and techniques appropriate to the assessment, termed LHDA 1000. The water resources of Lesotho are being exploited to augment the current supply to the PWV industrial area of the Republic of South Africa, in terms of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. This project is being implemented in phases. Phase lA, currently being constructed, involves the damming of the Malibamatso River at Katse in the Maluti Mountains (Figure1), a transfer tunnel through the mountains, a hydroelectric power station at 'Muela in Lesotho, and a delivery tunnel under the Caledon River to the Ash River (a tributary of the Vaal River which feeds the primary PW impoundment, the Vaal Dam) in the South Africa.

Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is the process of assessing the social consequences that are likely to follow specific policy actions or project development. SIA has not been widely adopted and is said to be the orphan of the assessment process. Using Environmental Assessment (EA) however, there are two primary limitations to EA: first, EA is inherently biased toward the biophysical environment, and social impacts, when considered, are only considered in an indirect or secondary manner; second, EA is targeted at the project level, where many alternatives that may have met the larger goals have been rejected. These limitations are reflected in Canadas agricultural sector where SIAs are rarely, if ever, undertaken. Agriculture is responsible for approximately ten percent of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Canada, and several better management practices (BMP) have been suggested for managing these emissions in Canadian agriculture. However, there has not been a strategic assessment of the on-farm socioeconomic effects of such programs, nor the geographic implications of a one-size-fits-all policy solution. <p>This paper presents a higher level strategic assessment of alternative policy options for managing greenhouse gas emissions in Canadian agriculture. Data are collected using a stakeholder survey assessment, and the process is guided by a seven-phase strategic environmental assessment framework. Using this strategic framework, the on-farm social impacts of alternative greenhouse gas mitigation programs are assessed. Data are aggregated using multi-criteria weighting techniques. Stakeholder preference structures for the alternatives set are identified as well, the results of the SIA identified adoption of zero till practices as the most socially acceptable alternative. The research results suggest that a one-size-fits-all GHG mitigation policy would not be acceptable from a social perspective. The implications of include such issues as: the applicability of regional policies based on soil zone, alternatives to governmental top down hierarchical policies, and the necessity for collaboration and meaningful dialogue between on-farm individuals and policy makers. Adoption of a GHG mitigation policy in Canada will require education and collaboration between all affected stakeholders and decision makers. The application of a strategic framework illustrates how the SIA process is enhanced when an assessment is completed at the plan, policy, and program level it enables proactive consideration of the social effects on par with the biophysical effects, and it facilitates consideration of a broad range of alternatives, in support of sustainable development principles.

Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is the process of assessing the social consequences that are likely to follow specific policy actions or project development. SIA has not been widely adopted and is said to be the orphan of the assessment process. Using Environmental Assessment (EA) however, there are two primary limitations to EA: first, EA is inherently biased toward the biophysical environment, and social impacts, when considered, are only considered in an indirect or secondary manner; second, EA is targeted at the project level, where many alternatives that may have met the larger goals have been rejected. These limitations are reflected in Canadas agricultural sector where SIAs are rarely, if ever, undertaken. Agriculture is responsible for approximately ten percent of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Canada, and several better management practices (BMP) have been suggested for managing these emissions in Canadian agriculture. However, there has not been a strategic assessment of the on-farm socioeconomic effects of such programs, nor the geographic implications of a one-size-fits-all policy solution. <p>This paper presents a higher level strategic assessment of alternative policy options for managing greenhouse gas emissions in Canadian agriculture. Data are collected using a stakeholder survey assessment, and the process is guided by a seven-phase strategic environmental assessment framework. Using this strategic framework, the on-farm social impacts of alternative greenhouse gas mitigation programs are assessed. Data are aggregated using multi-criteria weighting techniques. Stakeholder preference structures for the alternatives set are identified as well, the results of the SIA identified adoption of zero till practices as the most socially acceptable alternative. The research results suggest that a one-size-fits-all GHG mitigation policy would not be acceptable from a social perspective. The implications of include such issues as: the applicability of regional policies based on soil zone, alternatives to governmental top down hierarchical policies, and the necessity for collaboration and meaningful dialogue between on-farm individuals and policy makers. Adoption of a GHG mitigation policy in Canada will require education and collaboration between all affected stakeholders and decision makers. The application of a strategic framework illustrates how the SIA process is enhanced when an assessment is completed at the plan, policy, and program level it enables proactive consideration of the social effects on par with the biophysical effects, and it facilitates consideration of a broad range of alternatives, in support of sustainable development principles.

People with disabilities are a ‘disadvantaged’ group, not only due to their impairment, but also due to the formal and informal institutional inertia that they contend with in Western Societies. This disadvantage has been recognised and acknowledged in the social model of disability. This model understands that disability is a social construction placed on people with impairments. The Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a tool which identifies inequities in policy, and is potentially a useful tool to aid the response of policy makers to the needs of people with disabilities. Arguably, the New Zealand HIA guidelines reflect the underlying principles of the social model of disability. Using a mixed methods research strategy, this thesis sets out to understand in a global context using a top-down quantitative analysis, to what extent the New Zealand HIA guidelines which acknowledge the social model of disability are translated into practice. It then subsequently investigates from a bottom-up qualitative perspective, what factors influence this relationship. It is argued in this thesis that there are barriers to translating the rhetoric about people with disabilities found in the HIA guidelines into practice. Three sets of inter-related barriers identified include attitudinal barriers to people with disabilities, generic HIA barriers, and barriers related to the feminist interpretation of the construction of disability. In this thesis, the research findings conclude that it is difficult to operationalise the disability awareness present in the HIA guidelines due to barriers which are related to the ‘othering’ of people with disabilities. This is discussed in relation to feminist analyses of the construction of people with disabilities, and it needs to be addressed by wider societal reforms. The thesis makes the recommendation that a national awareness-raising campaign about people with disabilities be undertaken in New Zealand in an attempt to rectify this situation.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Timothy D. Keane / Visual Resource Management practices are relatively new, dating back to the late 1960’s and early 1970’s (Litton, 1984; USDA Forest Service, 2010). At the conception of visual resource management practices, computers were not prominent in everyday life. As computing tools advanced along with easier access to technology, a perceived surge of research emerged within the VRM field in the 1990’s. Since that time, it appears that few landscape architects have continued to research how modern technological advancements, specifically the recent expansion of virtual reality, could be used in predicting the visual impacts of proposed development. This report aims to compare virtual environments to existing methods for assessing the visual impacts of development in the Texas prairie ecoregion. New reliable tools at the hands of experts could lead to more accurate and more understood consequences of development on the visual landscape. Following precedents set forth in similar research studies, participants will view photographic and rendered images of scenes before and after development projected through a digital display. Potential development will be analyzed through a comparison analysis in which multiple visualization methods (Google Earth and photo sphere images) are compared to industry standards of two-dimensional images and renderings. The comparison analysis will survey experts and ask them to rate certain views before and after development through multiple visualization methods. Results from the study show a high similarity in perceived impacts between 2D images and Google Earth assessments. However, photo sphere images were rated consistently lower than their counterparts. Image resolution and detail could have led to the lower ratings in photo sphere images. Overall, participants felt that immersive visualization media will soon replace the use of 2D images for conducting visual impact assessments.

Bibliography: pages 56-7. / De Beers Namaqualand Mines (DBNM) have appointed the Environmental Evaluation Unit to undertake an impact assessment of mine closure. According to recent estimates DBNM anticipate that their diamond mining operations in Namaqualand will have to be closed in approximately ten years time. DBNM requested that the study focus on the socio-economic implications of mine closure within the regional context of Namaqualand and not the broader context of South Africa. It is anticipated that the results and recommendations of the study will be used by DBNM in planning for mine closure. The aims and objectives of the study are: 1) To assess the socio-economic consequences of future mine closure. 2) To recommend actions that will mitigate the impacts of mine closure. The aims and objectives of this report are to: 1) Fulfil the academic requirements of the degree. 2) Assess and evaluate information collected during the data collection phase of this project (contained in the Baseline Information Report) and to present these findings clearly and concisely, highlighting significant impacts and options for mitigation. 3) To communicate these findings in a way as would make them useful to both the client as the decision-maker and the interested and affected parties.