Meaningful public engagement is a challenging, but promising, feature of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in developing countries such as Kenya. This research examined completed Kenyan SEA and compared procedures to standard practice, with particular emphasis on public participation. Two selected SEA case studies explored the extent of participation, learning outcomes of participation, and whether the learning outcomes lead to social action for sustainability at the community level. Document reviews, participant observation, a focus group, and semi-structured interviews with environmental practitioners, government officials, and community members provided data for the thesis. The study revealed that public participation is variable amongst the completed SEAs and shows that the ideal conditions for learning in public participation were not completely fulfilled, resulting in a greater abundance of instrumental than communicative or transformative learning outcomes. Nonetheless, individual and social actions that contribute to sustainability have been taken based on the learning outcomes.

Meaningful public engagement is a challenging, but promising, feature of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in developing countries such as Kenya. This research examined completed Kenyan SEA and compared procedures to standard practice, with particular emphasis on public participation. Two selected SEA case studies explored the extent of participation, learning outcomes of participation, and whether the learning outcomes lead to social action for sustainability at the community level. Document reviews, participant observation, a focus group, and semi-structured interviews with environmental practitioners, government officials, and community members provided data for the thesis. The study revealed that public participation is variable amongst the completed SEAs and shows that the ideal conditions for learning in public participation were not completely fulfilled, resulting in a greater abundance of instrumental than communicative or transformative learning outcomes. Nonetheless, individual and social actions that contribute to sustainability have been taken based on the learning outcomes.

The pursuit of efficiency and effectiveness in environmental assessment (EA) processes has prompted the introduction of a promising, second-generation process: Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). In order to learn about SEA practice and identify opportunities for improvement of SEA, this research examined the ongoing Western Newfoundland Offshore Area SEA. Analysis was conducted on data obtained from documents, observations, and interviews with participants in the case study SEA to determine if meaningful participation had occurred, participants’ learning outcomes, and recommendations for future practice. The results show that the principles of meaningful public consultation were not in place, resulting in dissatisfaction with the participatory process and limited learning amongst participants. The meetings also veered from some of the important elements of a SEA (e.g., examining broad alternatives). Variance from the basic principles of SEA and meaningful public consultation demonstrated a lack of commitment to conducting an effective and influential strategic assessment.

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has a prominent position in the ongoing search for instruments that can help governments and other organizations to pursue the goal of sustainability. SEA is presented here as a decision-making supportive approach that is meant to improve strategic initiatives, rather than just analysing them. As an approach to planning (as opposed to a mechanical technical instrument that is done on the side and ‘might’ inform the big decisions), SEA has been promoted as a promising instrument expected to be able to provide better informed, more credible and more broadly beneficial strategic initiatives, as well as more timely and clearer guidance for subsequent undertakings. As such, by adjusting and improving planning, governance, and decision-making processes, SEA has a major role in contributing to sustainability. One of the many different planning and decision-making contexts in which SEA can be used is growth-related planning – the object of interest of this research. Planning in a growth context is typically driven by a mix of biophysical, social and economic concerns, and is unavoidably complex, with many independent agents interacting with each other in many ways, all of this involving the full range of intersecting sustainability issues. In this research I explore the concept of sustainability as an overall planning goal, as it relates to a particular approach to planning, i.e., strategic environmental assessment. In addition, this research acknowledges the importance and need to address the context in which SEA applications occur, and therefore, it highlights the need to specify the application for particular areas. This research was guided by an interest in improving understanding of how SEA can help to contribute to sustainability through planning/EA processes and activities, especially in the context of growth-related planning. Above all, this research addressed how SEA best practices can be used to improve regional planning and decision making, including its link to the project level, and how regional planning experience can help illuminate possible means of strengthening SEA practice. As such, this research presents how a sustainability-based SEA approach could contribute to growth-related planning in a rapid growth setting, using York Region, Ontario as the empirical case study. While York Region was not using the SEA nametag, some essential characteristics of SEA were found in a few planning initiatives, in accordance with what some scholars have called a SEA-type approach, i.e., an approach that does not meet formal specifications or definitions of SEA, but which has some of the SEA characteristics or components. This research presents three main scholarly contributions. First, it develops a SEA best practice framework based on the international literature and, as a result, it provides SEA practitioners with a useful generic framework that they can use as guidance and a starting point for SEA studies. In addition, this research brings to light the importance of paying attention to contextual issues in order to make successful use of SEA best practice frameworks. The context of application will always be unique, so the particularities of the case will still need to be carefully considered and incorporated, so that application can be customized to the particular case. Second, this research further develops the discussion about what SEA can achieve, or more specifically, how SEA can help to contribute to sustainability. As such, this research contributes to the discussion about how SEA can help planning and decision-making approaches through a more in depth look at three main components of SEA: sustainability-centred decision making, tiering and communication. The third contribution relates to how SEA adoption becomes a priority or how governments become interested enough in SEA application to actually give it a shot. The concept of a policy window was borrowed from the policy sciences field to provide the framework of analysis for this part of the research, and shows how problem, policy and political streams converged to provide the necessary conditions for the adoption of an SEA-type approach in York Region. In sum, the results of this research suggest that SEA has potential to play an important role in planning and decision making, with particular attention to growth-related planning. In this context, SEA can contribute to planning and decision making that is more integrated, farsighted, open, efficient, credible and defensible, and ultimately brings desirable and durable benefits. Moreover, by providing clearer guidance to the subsequent undertaking, SEA has potential to serve as a bridge to the planning of project-level undertakings.

Water quality is a critical component of aquatic ecosystems, and impairments caused by the cumulative effects of human activities can threaten water security, ecosystem health and biodiversity, and ecosystem services that support human livelihoods, health, and well-being. Protecting water quality and managing the human activities that can contribute to cumulative effects remains the most important, though poorly understood and under-researched problem facing sustainable water quality management in Canada (Johns & Sproule-Jones, Schindler & Donahue, 2006) and around the world (Patterson, Smith, & Bellamy, 2013; UN-Water, 2011). For decades, federal and provincial governments in Canada have introduced, and experimented with, policy tools that are intended to assess and manage cumulative effects, yet, point source management approaches remain by far, the preferred policy tool. The results of this study indicate that part of the reason why cumulative effects assessment and management approaches have not evolved is because policy tools intended to address questions about environmental governance are being implemented as environmental management tools. Questions of environmental governance should be inclusive and focused on how the environment is used now and in the future for societal benefits. Conversely, management questions are narrower in scope and serve to operationalize these goals. This research highlights the challenge with identifying and developing critical relationships between the array of agencies and institutions responsible for governing and managing water quality, as well as the need to devise strategies to ensure these relationships are maintained over time if progress towards managing cumulative effects to water quality can be achieved. / Graduate

Contributing to sustainable development is commonly noted as an overall goal for both Sustainability Appraisal (SA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). Over a decade ago, EU Directive 2001/42/EC (SEA Directive) reinforced the need for strategic assessment of plans and programmes in the UK. However, the SEA Directive does not stipulate the methodological approach and, as environmental matters are devolved to the individual nations of the UK, implementation is varied. This research considers strategic assessment processes in England and Scotland and the implications of system variation upon the contribution made to sustainable development. Attention is paid to the purposes expressed for strategic assessment, the roles and relationships between actors and organisations involved and also the processes, practices and outcomes of SA and SEA. Two case studies of SA in England and two of SEA in Scotland as applied to development plans are analysed. A range of purposes for both SA and SEA are identified, including; regulatory compliance, identifying and documenting impacts, considering options and alternatives, allowing consultation, and informing and influencing plans. This research concludes that there exists variation between cases in the ambition held for strategic assessment, ranging from basic compliance to influencing plans. This research then focuses on the relationships between actors and organisations involved in SA and SEA with particular attention given to the role of assessment practitioners, planners and consultees. It is found that independence or ‘distance’, to provide legitimacy, and ‘closeness’, to enable influence, are both considered desirable features of the relationship between planning and assessment. In addition, overlap between consultation on both plans and assessment reports adds complexity to the role of consultees. Finally, this research concludes that strategic assessment influence is largely limited to marginal modifications to policy wording and explanatory text, including; strengthening language, increasing clarity, cross referencing to other policies and plans, and requiring lower tier assessments. Thus, strategic assessment fails to achieve more substantial influence, significantly limiting its ability to contribute to sustainability transition in development planning. A number of institutional barriers to increasing strategic assessment influence and contribution to sustainable development or sustainability are identified.

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) has the potential to improve strategic planning. However, meeting this expectation is a major challenge since SEA practice still constraints itself to assess the impacts of strategic planning initiatives. To advance the role of SEA beyond impact assessment, it has been argued that SEA needs to adapt to strategic planning contexts. Yet, there is a lack of consensus on how SEA should adapt to strategic planning contexts as these are complex, vary considerably and carry high levels of uncertainty. Against this background, the aim of this thesis is to contribute to the development of SEA by creating knowledge on ways in which it can be contextualized to different strategic planning situations. Three case studies addressing different values and strategic planning contexts were designed from which experiences on SEA conceptualization were drawn. The results show that developing strategic focused SEA frameworks that enhance dialogue, collaboration and knowledge generation on multiple values can address issues such as: the lack of data and objectives in developing planning contexts; gaps in knowledge and uncertainty associated to environmental monitoring in transboundary contexts; and the recognition of the importance of ecosystem services and their needed green qualities in urbanizing contexts. Based on the gained case study experiences, it is argued that SEA contextualization can mean addressing strategic planning intentions, identifying and engaging actors, deriving and prioritizing key values, collaborating to generate knowledge on key issues, and using this knowledge to shape strategic planning. Due to the complexity of the issues involved, contextualizing SEA is considered to be challenging to achieve and requires time and resources. However, based on the SEA case studies, it can be argued that the value added to strategic planning outweighs these requirements. Continuing to study the practice of context adaptable, strategic focused and participatory based SEA processes may contribute to advance SEA’s role beyond impact assessment and enable reaching its expected potentials. / <p>QC 20150525</p>

Tendo em vista a emergência do turismo como atividade de significativo impacto econômico e, conseqüentemente, de potencial impacto negativo ao meio ambiente, o presente trabalho avalia as perspectivas de aplicação da avaliação ambiental estratégica como instrumento de consideração e ponderação das questões ambientais na tomada de decisão e planejamento do turismo no Brasil. Por meio de revisão bibliográfica e de análise da prática internacional, discute a relação turismo e meio ambiente, os instrumentos utilizados para a gestão ambiental da atividade e as experiências de aplicação da avaliação ambiental estratégica em turismo. Além disso, o trabalho traz um estudo de caso no município brasileiro de Bueno Brandão, no estado de Minas Gerais, com o intuito de apresentar o cenário político e institucional local e avaliar as condições e os desafios para uma possível inserção da avaliação ambiental estratégica no plano municipal de desenvolvimento turístico. Conclui-se que, apesar de já existir certo consenso no que diz respeito a princípios e boas práticas de AAE, as experiências internacionais em políticas, planos e programas de turismo ainda apresentam uma série de imprecisões em termos de metodologia, formas de participação e abordagens. Entende-se que, no Brasil, ainda existe uma série de desafios, metodológicos e políticos, para garantir a inserção do meio ambiente na tomada de decisão de forma participativa. Esse fato ficou claro com as questões identificadas no estudo de caso, especialmente aquelas relacionadas aos mecanismos de participação da sociedade, capacitação do corpo técnico, ações de planejamento integradas e articuladas, e produção, sistematização, democratização e monitoramento de informações ambientais, de forma a orientar o planejamento e a tomada de decisão. / Considering the raising of the tourism sector as an activity of significant economic impact and, consequently, potential negative environmental impacts, the present work evaluates the perspectives for application of strategic environmental assessment as a tool which can integrate environmental issues into tourism planning in Brazil. Using bibliographical research and analysis of the international practice, this work discusses the relationship between tourism and environment, the environmental management tools used and the practical experiences of strategic environmental assessment in the tourism sector. Beyond that, the work presents a case study in Bueno Brandão, a brazilian town located in the state of Minas Gerais, in which it discusses the political and institutional setting and evaluates the conditions and challenges for a possible insertion of the strategic environmental assessment in the local tourism development plan. Although it already exists certain consensus in strategic environmental assessment principles and good practices, the international experiences in SEA for tourism planning still presents some imprecisions in methodology, public participation and approaches. It is clear that in Brazil there are still challenges in methodological and political approaches to guarantee the insertion of environmental concerns in the decision making and public participation contexts. This fact was confirmed by the issues identified in the case study, mainly, failures related to the mechanisms of public participation, the qualification of the technical staff, integration of planning actions, and the production, systematization, democratization and monitoring of environmental information, in a way to guide the decision making and local planning.

A definição e o estabelecimento da matriz de transportes de um país são desafios que acarretam implicações ambientais além das sociais e econômicas. No contexto brasileiro existem previsões de incorporar a dimensão ambiental no processo de tomada de decisão no Plano Nacional de Logística e Transporte em consonância com os pressupostos do desenvolvimento sustentável. A Avaliação Ambiental Estratégica (AAE) é um instrumento utilizado internacionalmente para propiciar essa inserção e facilitar a tomada de decisão mais estratégica. Assim, o objetivo da dissertação foi discutir e estabelecer critérios conceituais de boas práticas de AAE, as possíveis contribuições da aplicação de uma AAE nos Planos de Transporte e aplicar no caso brasileiro Plano Nacional de Logística e Transporte (PNLT). Para a consecução do objetivo proposto, o presente trabalho estabeleceu critérios e formulou uma diretriz teórica de boas práticas de AAE a partir da Diretiva Européia 42 de 2001, que trata da implantação e procedimentos de AAE, e de experiências de países como a Escócia, País de Gales e Inglaterra. Esse quadro conceitual foi aplicado no caso brasileiro do Plano Nacional de Logística e Transporte. Os resultados obtidos mostram um fraco compromisso do Plano Brasileiro com um efetivo envolvimento da dimensão ambiental no processo de tomada de decisão, evidenciando um descompasso entre o que é preconizado e a prática. A principal conclusão é que o Plano Nacional está direcionado para o crescimento econômico sem a devida inserção da dimensão ambiental. / The definition and the establishment of transport matrix of a country challenges that cause environmental implications as well as social and economic. In the Brazilian context, there are predictions of incorporating environmental considerations into decision-making in the National Plan of Logistics and Transport in line with the assumptions of the sustainable development process. The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a tool used internationally to provide this integration and facilitate more strategic decision making. The aim of the thesis was to discuss and establish conceptual criteria of good practice SEA, the possible contributions of applying SEA in Transport Plans and apply the Brazilian case - National Plan of Logistics and Transport (NPLT). To achieve the proposed objective, this paper established criteria and formulated a theoretical guideline of best practices from the European SEA Directive 42 of 2001 that deals with the establishment and SEA procedures, and experience of countries such as Scotland, Country Wales and England. This conceptual framework was applied in the case of Brazil\'s National Plan of Logistics and Transport. The results show a weak commitment of the Brazilian Plan with an effective involvement of the environmental dimension in the decision-making process, showing a gap between what is recommended and practice. The main conclusion is that the National Plan is directed to economic growth without proper integration of the environmental dimension.

A consideração da variável ambiental nos processos decisórios do planejamento tem sido um desafio para diversos países. Nesse sentido, a Avaliação Ambiental Estratégica (AAE), instrumento que tem por objetivo inserir questões ambientais no planejamento de políticas, planos e programas, vem se consolidando no cenário internacional e tem sido cada vez mais praticada, inclusive em países em desenvolvimento como o Brasil. Nesse contexto, essa dissertação compara a situação atual da AAE no Brasil em relação à situação apresentada em México, Espanha, Inglaterra, África do Sul e Brasil. Para isso, foi utilizado o método comparativo qualitativo, que avaliou cada um desses sistemas com base em categorias descritivas e seus respectivos critérios de análise. As categorias selecionadas para caracterizar os sistemas de AAE foram Formal/legal, Institucional, Acadêmica e Prática. Os resultados demonstraram que os sistemas de AAE estudados apresentaram padrões diferentes de desenvolvimento e evolução ao longo do tempo. África do Sul, México e Brasil apresentaram evidências de experiências práticas e também interesse institucional que têm motivado a implementação formal desse instrumento nesses países. Contudo ainda apresentam lacunas em relação à estruturação formal e institucional desta ferramenta, afetando a qualidade de suas experiências práticas. Por outro lado, apesar de algumas limitações, os sistemas de AAE de Espanha e Inglaterra se apresentaram mais estruturados e desenvolvidos, fornecendo evidências empíricas sobre a relevância das esferas institucionais e acadêmicas para o seu desenvolvimento. De maneira geral, a comparação realizada nesta pesquisa demonstrou que existem diferentes formatos de sistemas de AAE, de acordo com o país ou contexto no qual é aplicada. / The insertion of environmental issues in decision-making has been a challenge in many countries. Therefore, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), an instrument that aims to embed environmental issues in the planning of policies, plans and programs, has now been consolidated and increasingly practiced in the international arena, including developing countries, like Brazil. In this context, this dissertation compares the current status of SEA in Brazil in relation to the situation presented in Mexico, Spain, England and South Africa. A qualitative comparative method, which evaluated each system based on descriptive categories and their criteria was used for the analysis. The categories selected to characterize the SEA systems were formal/legal, administrative/institutional, academic/conceptual and practical/applied. The results have showed that the SEA systems studied present different patterns of development and evolution along time. South Africa, Mexico and Brazil have showed evidence of different practical experiences and also institutional interests, which have motivated the formal reception of this instrument in those countries. However they still present some gaps in relation to formal and institutional structure of SEA, which affect their practical experience. On the other hand, despite some limitations, the SEA systems of Spain and England are more structured and developed, providing empirical evidence of the relevance of institutional and academic spheres to their development. In general, the comparison conducted in this research has showed that there exist different system formats to SEA, depending on the country or context in which it is applied.