IAIA Virtual Symposium
Our Interconnected World: Impact Assessment, Health, and the Environment.
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Climate Change
Keynote: An Interconnected Planet – Taking (Very) Large-Scale, Long-Term, Tightly Linked Impacts Into Account
Today’s actions entail irreversible losses of Earth’s living beings, greater climate forcing than in 3 million years of Earth history, and disruptive social-ecological dynamics that span the world. Worldwide, people’s health and wellbeing increasingly depend on planetary health. We now need to discuss and explore much better ways of working with the connectedness.
PRESENTER: Dr. Sarah Cornell is Associate Professor in Sustainability Science at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, an international research centre at Stockholm University. Since 2011, she and her team have worked on issues where the global perspectives of Earth system science meet the complex dynamics of social-ecological systems. The scientific development and critique of the Planetary Boundaries framework and its real-world application in policy and business has become a long-term research activity, but current interests and projects also deal with circular and bio-based economy, sustainability metrics and targets, and goal-seeking scenarios for the 2030 Agenda. Her research background is in environmental chemistry (PhD 1996 from the University of East Anglia’s School of Environmental Sciences), but the main idea that links all her interdisciplinary and integrative work is the question ‘Where’s the human?’ in these scientific understandings of global environmental change.
Session 2: Fires, Floods and Heat Waves: The Social Side of Preparing for Climate Change
We appear to be experiencing an increasing number of extreme weather events resulting from climate change. Across North America, regional and municipal governments are charged with preparing for these events, and responding in times of crisis.
Extreme heat events are (so far) the most lethal impacts of climate change. Professor Gerrard's presentation on how impact assessment should consider these impacts and ways to mitigate them.
PRESENTER: Michael B. Gerrard is Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia Law School, where he teaches courses on environmental and energy law and founded and directs the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. He is also a member and former Chair of the Faculty of Columbia’s Earth Institute. Before joining the Columbia faculty in January 2009, he was partner in charge of the New York office of the Arnold & Porter law firm; he is now Senior Counsel to the firm. He practiced environmental law in New York City full time from 1979 to 2008. He was the 2004-2005 chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy and Resources. He has also chaired the Executive Committee of the New York City Bar Association, and the Environmental Law Section of the New York State Bar Association.
Since 1986, Gerrard has written an environmental law column for the New York Law Journal. He is author or editor of thirteen books, two of which were named Best Law Book of the Year by the Association of American Publishers: Environmental Law Practice Guide (twelve volumes, 1992) and Brownfields Law and Practice (four volumes, 1998). Among his other books are Global Climate Change and U.S. Law (with Jody Freeman) (2d ed. 2014); Law of Clean Energy (2011); Climate Engineering and the Law: Regulation and Liability for Solar Radiation Management and Carbon Dioxide Removal (with Tracy Hester 2018); and Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States (with John Dernbach 2019).
He received his B.A. from Columbia University and his J.D. from NYU Law School.
Session 4: Environmental Governance in Canada
This session contains two presentations.
Relaxing environmental governance in northern Alberta poses a serious cumulative health risk to First Nations (Peter Croal; starts at 00:10): This presentation discusses how residential school legacy, climate change, oil sand operations, COVID-19, and relaxed environmental governance seriously jeopardize the health of northern Alberta’s First Nations.
The duty to consult in Canada (Dan Stuckless; starts at 29:39): The duty to consult in Canada is not a one-way street and due to unilateral decisions, political interference or dismissal of asserted section 35 rights, will continue the mistrust of the crown and regulators.
Dan Stuckless: Environmental management, regulatory coordination and administration, as well as communication, consultation and relationship building are the cornerstones of his career as an environmental steward, consensus builder and leader. With over 15 years’ experience working in the Alberta oil sands region for industry, indigenous communities and regional multi-stakeholder groups, he brings an acute awareness and insightful appreciation of the issues and dynamics at play amongst the diverse stakeholder groups and communities involved in—and affected by—industrial development in northern Alberta. His work has comprised of managing environmental and multi-stakeholder programs, including environmental projects involving air quality and industrial odours, traditional resource surveys, and traditional ecological knowledge projects. Daniel has also been involved in developing and evaluating government policies, regulations, land management initiatives, providing strategic and technical advice for establishing and pertaining to IBA agreement negotiations. In addition, Daniel’s work over the years has included receiving, reviewing and responding to oilsands, forestry, quarry, pipeline and other resource development-related applications to multiple provincial and federal regulatory authorities. Throughout his career, Daniel has attained progressive leadership experience in the areas of environmental management, regulatory affairs and stakeholder relations. Currently, as the Director of the Fort McKay Metis Sustainability Centre, his work includes facilitating strong, positive relationships between Aboriginal community stakeholders, industry, government and regional groups through timely and transparent communication and meaningful consultation.
Health
Over the past two decades there have been significant developments in the formulation of HIA policies. Yet hurdles remain on the interface between policy and practice, which can be of a political, governance, institutional, professional, economic and human resource nature. In the application of HIA policies, tensions remain between the environment and health sector about who has the ultimate mandate with respect to HIA. In countries where HIAs are put to practice, hurdles remain as well in the operational phase. Having an HIA report on the shelf of a project manager is not enough to protect vulnerable communities. Public health management plans may lack the teeth to ensure that development partners comply with the actions required from them. Ministries of health may siphon of financial support for a public health management plan to focus on strengthening medical infrastructure. For lack of clear institutional arrangements there may be misconceptions about roles and responsibilities, and gaps in essential public health functions to be performed. With the health sector itself often ambivalent about the role of HIA in a health systems approach, what are the mechanisms to overcome these hurdles and to ensure HIA is used as a development planning tool to its full potential? This keynote presentation will be followed by a panel discussion with time for Q&A.
PANELIST: Dr. Martin Birley (HonMFPH) has over 35 years of Health Impact Assessment experience worldwide. He co-founded the HIA section of IAIA as well as the annual international HIA conference. He has written many books, research papers, and reports on HIA. He has acted as consultant/adviser to organizations such as WHO, DFID, World Bank, ADB, AfDB, FAO, as well as private companies and governments. He has advised on HIA and run training courses in many countries of the world. He was senior health adviser on HIA for Shell corporate from 2003-2005. He has written many HIA guidelines and been a reviewer of many others. He was instrumental in bringing the discipline to the UK and set up the Liverpool Health Impact Assessment Consortium (IMPACT) with Alex Scott-Samuel in 1997. His latest book 'Health Impact Assessment: Principles and Practice' was published in 2011 by Earthscan/Routledge and was highly commended by the British Medical Association in 2012. It is also available as an ebook. It was published in Chinese in 2017. He was principal author of the Asian Development Bank’s Good Practice Sourcebook, published 2018. Recent HIA projects were in Nigeria and Scotland. Current projects are in Oman and Ecuador.
PANELIST: Francesca Viliani is the Director of Public Health and Sustainability at International SOS and a Chatham House fellow. She is a specialist in public health and sustainable development, with over 25 years of work experience across the globe. She has been working on pandemic preparedness and response with public and private organizations.
PANELIST: Gene Peralta has 40 years of experience working on environment and health with government, academic and international institutions. She is a retired senior environmental safeguard specialist (2015) from the Asian Development Bank and currently a senior consultant on health and the environment at WHO Western Pacific Regional Office. For 27 years, she has been involved intermittently on Health Impact Assessment with ADB since 1991 with latest role as HIA adviser (2016-2018) and with WHO on various assignments including climate change and health. Gene has worked in more than 30 countries in Asia and the Pacific and collaborated with global and country experts on EIA and HIA. She would like to continue promoting capacity development and application of HIA in multilateral finance institutions and member countries as well as in nurturing networks.
PRESENTATION #1: Introduction to HIA, mega projects, and pandemics. (Francesca Viliani; starts at 00:15) An introduction to HIA and experiences in addressing risk factors for emerging infectious diseases and pandemics.
PRESENTATION #2: Biodiversity aspects of impact assessment to limit risk of exposure to zoonoses following land use change. (Dr. Jo Treweek; starts at 11:10) Takeaways from this presentation: Land use change is the primary transmission pathway for emerging infectious diseases. Impact assessment can play an important role in guiding land use decisions to “build back better” in the face of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, especially where development proposals affect wildlife rich habitats such as intact tropical forest. Robust consideration of biodiversity aspects is key, as well as deliberate efforts to maintain ecosystem integrity and health. Mitigation is needed through specific actions related to illegal wildlife trade, agri-business, tourism, and transport infrastructure planning amongst others. Human rights aspects of ecosystem exploitation also need much stronger emphasis.
PRESENTATION #3: Health at a project vs. health of a project vs. health from a project: Compatible? (Dr. Philippe Guibert; starts at 26:39) Takeaways from this presentation: It is not enough to have a doctor on site to think health issues are all sorted out; a much broader agenda needs to be anticipated by projects to tackle workforce and community’s health prevention and protection intertwined agendas. The COVID-19 pandemic has epitomized the interconnectedness between all the determinants of health, and the criticality of assessing them holistically in the context of development projects. From evidence gathering to capacity building, they are some fundamentals mega projects shall systematically consider, to meet their duty of care obligations.
PRESENTATION #4: Social risks of emerging infectious diseases: Perspective from a public lender. (Mariana Ruiz Alvarado; starts at 42:20) The risk of emergence of an infectious disease can give rise to a series of additional social risks and impacts; ranging from challenges in the undertaking of stakeholder engagement to worsening of labour conditions, and violations to data protection rights. This presentation will highlight some of these social risks and discuss the importance of their due identification and management from a public lender perspective.
PRESENTATION #5: Conclusion. (Dr. Osman A. Dar; starts at 1:00:15) This presentation pulls together conclusions on linkages between project and global efforts in pandemic preparedness and response.
Dr. Philippe Guibert is a Regional Medical Director at International SOS offices. He is an international health consulting expert with more than 26 years’ experience in the private sector. His main areas of expertise are in pandemic planning, disease outbreaks, infectious diseases, risk and crisis management.
Mariana Ruiz Alvarado is a Senior Social Development Specialist at the European Investment Bank (EIB) where she is the lead expert on Labour Standards, Health and Safety and Human Rights. She is an economist and finance expert with over 15 years of international experience. Before joining the Bank, she was Advisor to the President of Spain and two Ministers of Housing.
Dr. Osman A. Dar is a medical consultant at Public Health England where he works to support low and middle income countries build core capacities under the International Health Regulations and in the design and implementation of their broader Health System Strengthening initiatives. Osman is also the Chatham House director of the Global Health Programme's One Health project, an umbrella term referring to the programme's work on zoonotic diseases, emerging infections, antimicrobial resistance, and food security.
Societal responses to the pandemic have varied across the globe with both intended and unintended consequences. This panel-type session will present case studies on how HIA and HIA methods and tools have been used to inform private sector responses to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, assist Indigenous People in Canada navigate the response the pandemic, and assess the intended and unintended consequences of government policies in Wales.
PRESENTATION #1: The value of HIA processes and tools in preparing Indigenous communities for the COVID-19 pandemic: A Canadian case study. (Dr. Janis Shandro; starts at 05:15)
PRESENTATION #2: COVID-19 Framework for Community Response Planning - WeCare Programme. (Dr. Mark Divall; starts at 23:42)
PRESENTATION #3: HIA on the ‘Staying at Home and Social Distancing Policy in Wales’ in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Liz Green; starts at 37:37)
PANEL DISCUSSION: Chaired by Yina Xiao, featuring the session presenters Dr. Janis Shandro and Dr. Mark Divall, plus Laura Morgan. (Starts at 1:11:38
Dr. Janis Shandro has a co-disciplined PhD in mining engineering and population health. She is a mother, a community health and safety practitioner and researcher and a vocal advocate for the health and well-being of vulnerable populations. For over 15 years, she has worked extensively on community health and safety issues with international finance institutions, private sector clients, governments and communities. She has direct project experience in over 30 countries. In Canada, Janis has worked in partnership with over 40 Indigenous Nations on HIA related projects and co-leads a research program focused on Indigenous health surveillance systems as part of the HIA/EIA process. She has been the lead author on recent topic specific HIA guidance including HIA for industrial zones in Asia, HIA for Indigenous People in Canada, and community health and safety/emergency preparedness and response guidance for a major mining company. She was a lead contributor to recent COVID-19 guidance for infrastructure and agricultural projects supported by IDB Invest and the Terron Group for Latin America.
Dr. Mark Divall is a medical doctor with post-graduate qualifications in anaesthesia, occupational medicine, environmental medicine and tropical medicine and hygiene. He has been involved in various aspects of health consultancy for the past 19 years with a focus on low and middle income countries. He specialises in health impact assessment and has conducted over 95 assessments in over 29 countries across four continents in the energy, mining and infrastructure sector. He supports a number of large multinational mining organisations in general health risk management from an occupational health and community health perspective, including part time roles as the Group medical consultant to First Quantum Minerals and as a community health and safety specialist to Anglo American Group Social Performance. He is the immediate past co-chair of the health section for the International Association for Impact Assessment.
Liz Green is a Public Health Specialist, the Programme Director for Health Impact Assessment at Public Health Wales, and the Director of the Wales Health Impact Assessment Support Unit (WHIASU). She is also a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and Visiting Professor at the WHO Collaborating Centre for 'Healthy Urban Environments' at the University of West of England, UK. Liz has extensive knowledge, understanding, and practical application of HIA, ‘Health in All Policies’ (HiAP) and spatial planning and provides training, advice, and guidance about the HIA and other IA processes. As part of a HiAP approach to policy making, much of the work Liz leads on takes place in non-heath sectors including spatial planning. Liz has published several journal papers and directed, and was the lead author for, influential HIAs such as the ‘The Public Health Implications of Brexit: A Health Impact Assessment (HIA) approach’ (PHW, 2019). Most recently, she directed and wrote the ‘Staying at Home and Social Distancing HIA in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales’ which looked at impact of ‘Lockdown’ in Wales. She is also the lead author of the only broad critical appraisal review tool for HIA ‘A Quality Review Framework for HIA’ (WHIASU, 2018).
Yina Xiao is currently working as Eni regional global health reference in Central Asia and Far East region and Eni Foundation Myanmar project team leader, based in Milan, Italy. She is specialized in public health project management and HIA in developing country setting.
Laura Morgan works for Public Health Wales where she has participated in a number of Health Impact Assessments. She has over twenty years’ experience in research, policy and communications across the public, private and voluntary sectors. Her work has played a key role in influencing government policies and initiatives in areas including health, social justice, housing and education.
Session 4: Better Methods and Tools: Emerging Guidance on Health and Impact Assessment
The societal value of impact assessments, from the strategic to the project level, is well established. While human health has been a key consideration since the inception of impact assessment in the 1970’s, its practical inclusion in impact assessment processes has not been optimal. This session will explore historical shortcoming and emerging guidance on the inclusion of Human Health in SEA and EIA via multiple presentations.
PRESENTATION #1: Better methods and tools guidance in health and impact assessment. (Ben Cave; starts at 00:15)
PRESENTATION #2: Addressing Health Impact in Strategic Environmental Assessment. (Thomas Fischer; starts at 25:29)
PRESENTATION #3: Addressing Human Health in EIA across the EU – the IAIA-EUPHA guidance on Human Health in EIA. (Odile Mekel and Ryngan Pyper; starts at 45:12
Ben Cave, Director, BCA Insight Ltd, Ireland and United Kingdom. Visitor, Environmental Assessment and Management Research Centre and WHO Collaborating Centre for Health in Impact Assessments, University of Liverpool, UK; and Centre for Health Equity Training, Research and Evaluation (CHETRE) and Health Equity Research Development Unit, University of New South Wales, Australia.
Thomas Fischer (PhD, Dipl-Geogr, FIEMA, FHEA) is Professor and Director at the Environmental Assessment and Management Research Centre and WHO Collaborating Centre for Health in Impact Assessments at the University of Liverpool, UK; and at the Research Unit for Environmental Science and Management, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North West University (Potchefstroom Campus), South Africa.
Odile Mekel, Dr., MPH, NRW Centre for Health (LZG.NRW), Head Division Healthy Settings, Germany; President European Public Health Association HIA Section
Ryngan Pyper, Director, BCA Insight Ltd, Ireland and United Kingdom.
Resilience
Tune in for this engaging panel all about resilience and impact assessment. The session will begin with opening remarks and an introduction to IAIA’s agenda for resilience in impact assessment, followed by 10 panelists discussing and debating resilience. Q&A time with these experts will wrap up this live session.
OPENING REMARKS: Stephen O’Driscoll was appointed as Head of Environment, Climate and Social Policy at the European Investment Bank (EIB) in March 2020. He joined the EIB in 2008 and was previously the Head of the Air, Maritime and Innovative Transport Division. He is overseeing policy development, standards and the application of procedures at a time when the Bank is evolving into the Climate Bank of the European Union.
INTRODUCTION: Jiri Dusik (INTEGRA Group, Czech Technical University, Prague) has over 20 years of experience in integration of environmental issues into planning and policy-making processes. He has co-authored the EC Handbook on SEA in EU Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 and the European Commission’s Guidance for Integrating Climate Change and Biodiversity into SEA and EIA processes. He is also a co-author of the UNECE manual for the Practical Application of the SEA Protocol to the Convention on EIA in a Transboundary Context.
PANELIST: Mike Jones has over 40 years of experience as an ecosystem manager including planning, impact assessment and policy development and five years’ experience teaching resilience thinking for sustainable development at Master’s level to international students. He has four publications on the application of resilience thinking to impact assessment.
PANELIST: Michael Schoon is a professor in Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability (USA). His dissertation, under Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom, was on institutions and governance in southern African conservation. His work primarily examines collaboration to improve governance outcomes of social-ecological systems in southern Africa, Ecuador, and at home in Arizona.
PANELIST: Lindsay J. Robertson (FIMechE, FIPENZ) received his PhD from Wollongong on the theme of technological risk, exposure, and resilience. He held positions with the New Zealand Government (1976-1987), with Fonterra Research Centre (1990- 2007), as principal engineer at Parsons Brinckerhoff (2007-2016), and at Massey University. His ongoing research interest is in technological vulnerability and exposure.
PANELIST: Dr. Miltos Ladikas is senior researcher at the Institute of Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany. He has studied Social Psychology and has held research positions in the UK and Germany specializing in science and society issues. He has coordinated a number of international projects in the areas of science and technology policy and advises a number of International and National Research Funding organizations on social-ethical issues in STI developments. His current work focuses on Global aspects of Technology Assessment, Responsible Innovation, Ethics in Science and Technology Policy, as well as Science Diplomacy. (See http://www.itas.kit.edu/english/staff_ladikas_miltos.php.)
PANELIST: Lilly Lim-Camacho is Research Group Leader of Climate Smart Agriculture at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency. She is a value chain scientist focused on supporting industry in an era of global change, through applied systems approaches. Her expertise is in value chain management and analysis, which she applies in a range of challenges including climate adaptation, sustainable development and social inclusion. Lilly utilizes strong science communication and engagement techniques in her research, working with a wide range of stakeholders both in the public and private sectors. She is currently involved in a range of national and international projects aimed at harnessing value chain analytics to build sustainable, resilient and competitive global value chains.
PANELIST: Pieter van Boheemen is a Digital Society researcher at the Rathenau Instituut. He is one of the authors of the reports “Cyber resilience with New Technology” (2020), “Digitalisation of the News” (2018), and the forth-coming report “Disinformation and New Technology” (2020).
PANELIST: David Yu researches the resilience of coupled systems (socio-technical, socio-hydrological, or social-ecological) in the face of novel change and uncertainty associated with globalization and climate change and how biophysical and institutional (rules, norms, and procedures) factors affect the long-term trajectories of individual and system-level responses. David uses systems modeling, case study analysis, and behavioral experiments to conduct the research. David received a B.ASc. in Engineering Science at the Simon Fraser University and his M.P.P at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. His Ph.D. is in Sustainability Science from the School of Sustainability, Arizona State University.
PANELIST: Bryan Jenkins is a sustainability strategist. He is the President of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand and an adjunct Professor at the University of Adelaide. Previously he was Professor (Strategic Water Management) at the Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management, Chief Executive of Environment Canterbury, and Chief Executive of the Department of Environmental Protection in Western Australia. Prior to that, he had more than 20 years’ experience in environmental management consulting throughout Australia, Southeast Asia, India, and China. He has a PhD in environmental planning from Stanford University, a masters and first-class honours degrees in civil engineering from Adelaide University, and a master of administration from Monash University.
PANELIST: Florian Roth is a Senior Researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI in Karlsruhe, Germany, focusing on transformation processes in support of socio-technical resilience and innovation. Before joining Fraunhofer ISI in 2019, he was part of the CSS Risk & Resilience Team at ETH Zurich.
The first step to understanding resilience is to know what kind of system is being managed and what kind of resilience is appropriate. The second step is to recognize that for impact assessment the living environment is a self-organizing system that generates unexpected impacts.
PRESENTATION #1: Introduction to resilience in socio-ecological systems (Mike Jones; starts at 02:36)
PRESENTATION #2: Resilience case study: COVID-19 (Dr. Alan Bond and Mike Jones; starts at 18:39)
PRESENTATION #3: Perspectives on case studies from different stances (Francesca Viliani, Dr. Juan Palerm, and Angelo Jonas Imperiale; starts at 36:03)
Angelo Jonas Imperiale has a PhD in rural sociology and disaster risk reduction from the University of Groningen, Netherlands. His expertise is social impact assessment, community resilience, and sustainable development in vulnerable regions. In 2015, he was the first recipient of the Rita Hamm IA Excellence Scholarship of the International Association for Impact Assessment.
PRESENTATION #1: Roots of resilience thinking and its convergence with other fields: General principles for resilience seen from the fields of social-ecological systems and resilience engineering. (Michael Schoon and David Yu; starts at 00:15) Having worked as engineers, these presenters’ emphasis is on taking concepts from studies on the resilience of social-ecological systems and applying this to socio-technical systems in ways that expand and build upon traditional engineering design approaches and understanding of resilience in engineering.
PRESENTATION #2: Design principles for reduced-exposure systems, contributing to long-term resilience. (Lindsay J. Robertson; starts at 56:27) Future risks and hazards are unknowable, but dependency upon large technological systems creates large and increasing population vulnerability. Long-term resilience requires systems with low technological exposure, which can be measured and verified, and does not depend on problematic assignations of 'risk'. A theoretical basis, practical examples, and general principles are presented.
PRESENTATION #3: Resilience considerations related to water resource management. (Bryan Jenkins; starts at 1:16:12)
Michael Schoon is a professor in Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability (USA). His dissertation, under Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom, was on institutions and governance in southern African conservation. His work primarily examines collaboration to improve governance outcomes of social-ecological systems in southern Africa, Ecuador, and at home in Arizona.
David Yu researches the resilience of coupled systems (socio-technical, socio-hydrological, or social-ecological) in the face of novel change and uncertainty associated with globalization and climate change and how biophysical and institutional (rules, norms, and procedures) factors affect the long-term trajectories of individual and system-level responses. David uses systems modeling, case study analysis, and behavioral experiments to conduct the research. David received a B.ASc. in Engineering Science at the Simon Fraser University and his M.P.P at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. His Ph.D. is in Sustainability Science from the School of Sustainability, Arizona State University.
Lindsay J. Robertson (FIMechE, FIPENZ) received his PhD from Wollongong on the theme of technological risk, exposure, and resilience. He held positions with the New Zealand Government (1976-1987), with Fonterra Research Centre (1990- 2007), as principal engineer at Parsons Brinckerhoff (2007-2016), and at Massey University. His ongoing research interest is in technological vulnerability and exposure.
Bryan Jenkins is a sustainability strategist. He is the President of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand and an adjunct Professor at the University of Adelaide. Previously he was Professor (Strategic Water Management) at the Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management, Chief Executive of Environment Canterbury, and Chief Executive of the Department of Environmental Protection in Western Australia. Prior to that, he had more than 20 years’ experience in environmental management consulting throughout Australia, Southeast Asia, India, and China. He has a PhD in environmental planning from Stanford University, a masters and first-class honours degrees in civil engineering from Adelaide University, and a master of administration from Monash University.
Session 4: Key Resilience Considerations in Engineered Systems
This session will be comprised of multiple presentations. See the summaries of each presentation below.
PRESENTATION #1: Current thinking about resilience of technological systems in technology assessments. (Dr. Miltos Ladikas and Florian Roth; starts at 00:16) Technology Assessment (TA) deals with impacts of STI as a service to policy making whereby the concept of Resilience needs urgent attention. Resilience in TA analysis requires new methodologies and the creation of indicators with direct input in sectoral policy making. The globalTA network aims at standardising this type of TA on the global scale.
PRESENTATION #2: Resilience considerations in system transformation studies conducted by Fraunhofer Institute for Innovation and System Research. (Florian Roth; starts at 20:00)
PRESENTATION #3: Resilience considerations in cybernetic systems. (Pieter van Boheemen; starts at 35:23) Novel hybrid threats are emerging due to the systemic vulnerabilities in our digitalized society. In anticipation of the disruption of vital infrastructures and manipulation of democratic processes governments, private actors and citizens have to build capacity to harness and guide technological developments and prevent risk.
PRESENTATION #4: Measuring resilience in Australian food supply chains: Friend or foe? (Lilly Lim-Camacho; starts at 50:38) Measuring resilience in supply chains is a first step to understanding resilience, and we now have different angles by which such measurements can be taken. But care needs to be taken so that it is not the only step taken in the effort to strengthen our chains, and help them adapt to a changing world.
PRESENTATION #5: Resilience and Participatory Technology Assessment: Rising sea level and the future cities in Danish coastal area. (Mie Thomsen; starts at 1:15:44) The climate is changing and consequently sea levels will rise and more frequent floods will become a reality for Danish coastal cities in the future. Both climate and cities are dynamic which makes it vital to discuss the future of coastal cities; how do we want to live in them, how do we want to use them and how do we make them climate resilient
Dr. Miltos Ladikas is senior researcher at the Institute of Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany. He has studied Social Psychology and has held research positions in the UK and Germany specializing in science and society issues. He has coordinated a number of international projects in the areas of science and technology policy and advises a number of International and National Research Funding organizations on social-ethical issues in STI developments. His current work focuses on Global aspects of Technology Assessment, Responsible Innovation, Ethics in Science and Technology Policy, as well as Science Diplomacy. (See http://www.itas.kit.edu/english/staff_ladikas_miltos.php.)
Key Issues
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us that our own health is inextricably linked to the health of ecosystems. This comes at a time when countries are set to adopt new international goals under the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. However to achieve these goals there is an urgent need for effective spatial planning and regulation of major development, which relies on available, accessible, and reliable biodiversity data. Global initiatives have been developed to improve biodiversity data availability through collating national sources, deriving new data using remote sensing technologies, and encouraging data-sharing among government departments and non-government institutions (e.g. universities, NGOs, operating companies). This session will explore the varying ways through which biodiversity data can inform impact assessment processes and spatial planning, at different scales and by different actors, and the barriers and opportunities for mobilizing data and promoting its use in decision making to preserve and restore healthy ecosystems.
PRESENTATION #2: VR and serious gaming to improve assessment of critical infrastructure (Birgitta Liljedahl; starts at 19:54) This presentation will address some lessons identified, regarding the potential of VR and serious gaming to improve assessment of critical infrastructure in crises and conflict.
PRESENTATION #3: The need for digitalisation of impact assessment and monitoring (Louise Kjølholm; starts at 37:14) The next stage of digital impact assessment and monitoring: a presentation of EKF’s innovative digital monitoring process and how it is used in practice, and a discussion on benefits and challenges for consultants performing digital impact assessments.
PRESENTATION #4: Digital reporting: Its promises and success factors for implementation (Paul Eijssen; starts at 52:50) RHDHV has taken the initiative in 2016 to conduct a pilot project to create the first digital interactive EIS. Now, more than 4 years later, a variety of projects examples are available that have started to apply a digital form of reporting. Sometimes only as a website that refers to PDF documents, but also fully digital EISs. A couple of examples will be shown in this presentation. We show the progress that has been made since the pilot project. We will briefly look at what has been achieved over the years regarding digital EIA and we will consider the wishes that still exist and the developments that are going on.
PRESENTATION #5: Digital business activities, rightsholders, and meaningful participation (Emil Lindblad Kernell; starts at 1:02:26) The session will provide the viewer with an overview of a methodology for human rights impact assessment (HRIA) of digital technologies, with a specific focus on the challenges and opportunities around direct rightsholder engagement.
Michèle Laflamme is a senior project manager specialized in client focused web-based business solutions. With WSP, she leads a team dedicated to the deployment of innovative solutions. She is known to have a strong capacity to bridge business needs, technologies and clients. Michèle has worked on many projects at an international level mainly in Australia and Africa. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMI) and has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in geomatics (GIS). Her technical expertise helps project stakeholders & clients communicate through user-friendly solutions, streamlined data processing and multi-platform data access. She worked several years delivering solutions specialized in stakeholder engagement. With WSP she is a part of a worldwide team working on digital environmental impact assessments deployment. She also worked several years as a land manager for a large timber land holder.
Birgitta Liljedahl is a senior analyst currently focusing on transforming lessons learned from numerous international missions into a serious gaming concept, with use of VR (virtual reality).
Louise Kjølholm is working with environmental and social risk at a project guaranteed by EKF. She has a master's degree in environmental engineering and more than 20 years years’ experience in performance of due diligence. Louise is Chief Advisor for Environmental and Social Risk at EKF Denmark and specializes in projects involving mining and heavy industry.
Paul Eijssen is a strategic consultant with 30 years of professional experience in impact assessment and a strong focus on innovation. He has been involved in a large number of EA projects in the field of infrastructure and waterways, spatial planning, flood relief, aviation, waste management and industry. As a strategic consultant, he is focused on complex and strategic projects, knowledge exchange and innovation. To make the accessibility of information optimal in the future, he has a strong focus on innovation so that products and services meet the expectations of our time. As Leading Professional information management, he is the initiator of digital interactive reporting, and he implement a program within RHDHV to make reporting more accessible and transparent.
Emil Lindblad Kernell is an Adviser in the Corporate Engagement Programme at the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). At DIHR Emil works directly with companies within the Corporate Engagement Programme’s partnerships as well as on other projects focusing on the corporate responsibility to respect human rights. As part of his role he conducts human rights impact assessments and other bespoke human rights advisory services related to corporate human rights due diligence. Emil leads the programme’s sector priority on digital technologies and human rights, as well as the programme’s projects on strategic capacity-building on business and human rights for management and staff. Emil has a legal background and before joining DIHR in 2018, he worked in the compliance group at a Swedish law firm. He has extensive research experience on business and human rights from his work with the Harvard International Human Rights Clinic and from his work as a research assistant at the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, at Monash University in Melbourne. Emil holds a Law Degree from Uppsala University in Sweden (2016) and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Harvard Law School (2017).
Session 3: Interconnectedness Through Spatial/Urban Planning
PRESENTATION #1: The role of neighbourhood environment on mental health: Strategic assessment (Adriana Loureiro; starts at 00:16) This presentation aims to contribute to advance knowledge on strategies to be adopted for the development of neighborhood environments that can promote mental health at the local level. Through a case study in four municipalities in the Lisbon Region (Portugal), the main objective is the definition of a strategic assessment framework based on the impact of the neighborhood environments on the mental health of the population.
PRESENTATION #2: From regional planning to local projects: Designing green infrastructures (Mariana Rodrigues Ribeiros dos Santo; starts at 15:07) This presentation will discuss the opportunity of bringing regional guidelines and factors found in Ecological-Economic Zoning plans, capable of guiding the design of green infrastructures in municipal plans/scale, promoting connectivity and establishing linkages between different levels of planning.
PRESENTATION #3: Local Economic Development and Community Driven Development for Livelihoods (Varalakshmi Vemuru; starts at 43:57) Supporting inclusive pro-poor job and income generation especially for the vulnerable and marginalized groups requires a robust Community Driven Development (CDD) approach with communities at the core of the process. A Local Economic Development (LED) approach to economic development can support the CDD approach wherein other stakeholders, including governments, public, business, financial institutions, and the non-governmental sector (social enterprises, foundations, and universities), work collectively around shared economic goals, capitalizing upon the strengths of a specific region or area to advance its economic interests and create better conditions for an enabling ecosystem for the vulnerable and marginalized communities.
PRESENTATION #4: Community based governance in informal settlements in Trinidad and Tobago (Wayne Chaman Huggins; starts at 57:02) Governance and provides us with a framework and clearer understanding of how we can operate more effectively to make impact assessment more relevant
Adriana Loureiro, Geographer. PhD student in Human Geography at the University of Coimbra (research theme: Strategic assessment of neighbourhood environmental impacts on mental health in Portugal), funded by a doctoral fellowship of the Portuguese national funding agency for science, research and technology. Member of the Health Geography Research Team at the CEGOT (Centre of Studies in Geography and Spatial Planning), University of Coimbra. Consultant of the municipal program 'Figueira, Healthy City' developed by the Municipality of Figueira da Foz (Portugal). She has participated in several research projects focusing on geography of health, healthy urban planning and health impact assessment.
Mariana Rodrigues Ribeiros dos Santo is Prof. Dr. at the School of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urban Design – UNICAMP in Brazil. Her background is in Architecture and Urban Design, with MSc. and PhD degrees in Environmental Engineering Sciences. Her topics of interest, teaching and research are: environmental planning and management; regional, rural and urban spatial planning; planning tools (environmental and urban); impact assessment; environmental policies; nature based solutions; green infrastructure; basic sanitation in urban and rural areas.
Varalakshmi (Vara) Vemuru is the Practice Manager for the Social Sustainability and Inclusion Global Practice in the Europe and Central Asia region of the World Bank. Till recently she was leading the World Bank’s development response to address impacts of forced displacement in the Horn of Africa region through operations and analytics. She also led operations on women’s economic empowerment in Nigeria and India. Vara has worked extensively in the South Asia and Africa regions on broad ranging social development issues including inclusion, women’s empowerment, disability inclusion including addressing mental health issues, conflict sensitive development and social accountability. Her recent work has focused on Fragile and conflict affected contexts in Africa. Vara has been with the World Bank since 2000.
Wayne Chaman Huggins is a Ph.D. Student in Urban Planning at the Faculty of Engineering, University of the West Indies, Trinidad.
Session 4: Interconnectedness Through Networking, Culture, and Education
PRESENTATION #1: Invoking nature-culture linkages to strengthen EIA implementation (Dr. Sonali Ghosh; starts at 00:16) Human interpretation of nature is fundamental to cultures. The session will focus on conceptual framework on 'multiple values' that form the basis of natural and cultural world heritage sites. It will build on global best-practises and case studies to emphasise on the need to engage and empower local communities as actors for better conservation, and where relevant, recognize the rights communities have in relation to world heritage sites thereby strengthening the tools for heritage impact assessment.
PRESENTATION #2: How COVID-19 is changing Impact Assessment (C. Kelly; starts at 17:13) The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected our interconnectedness - how we work, play, and engage as parts of local and global society. The pandemic has profoundly challenged how impact assessment professionals work. This is particularly true with the use of physical distancing to slow the pandemic, leading to significant changes to normal work routines but also, to the core of impact assessment, the work of collecting field data and meeting those who will be impacted by projects, programs or policies. The presentation will review the results of two recent surveys on how impact assessment has been affected by the pandemic and how professionals and the profession are adapting as a result.
PRESENTATION #3: Passing the Baton: Developing E&S skills for Early Careers Profession (Gemma Holdsworth & Pete Gabriel; starts at 34:36)
PRESENTATION #4: Assessing impacts on Indigenous well-being and way of life (Mark Cliffe-Phillips; starts at 54:09) The resource management system in Northwest Territories (NWT) in Northern Canada is the result of modern land claims processes and reflects the shared values of the Inuit, Dene, and Metis. The land claims and subsequent resource management legislation highlight the importance of understanding how proposed developments may impact on Indigenous well-being and way of life and that it should be a primary focus of any environmental impact assessment. This approach reflects a more holistic world view and lends itself to better inclusion of Indigenous “knowledge” and “ways of knowing”. Case studies on how well-being was considered in recent environmental impact assessments on resource development projects in the NWT will be presented.
Dr. Sonali Ghosh is an Indian Forest Service officer with more than 20 years of work experience in the field of forest and wildlife conservation in India. As part of her job, she has worked as a field manager in UNESCO designated World natural heritage sites of Kaziranga and Manas. She has traveled extensively and written about forest and people’s livelihood issues in northeast India. She has a dual master's degree in Wildlife Science and Forestry and a PhD degree in Physical Geography from United Kingdom. She has served as a founding faculty at the C2C on World Natural Heritage Management and Training for Asia and the Pacific Region- Wildlife Institute of India (under auspices of UNESCO), where she co-edited 2 books; Cultural Landscapes of Asia and Wild Treasures- reflections on natural heritage in Asia, an Anthology. In the interim she also had a stint of over two years to be part of India’s largest ever behavior change and sanitation program as Director Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen. She is currently serving as Deputy Inspector General of Forests, Central Zoo Authority.
Charles Kelly has been involved in the recent IAIA surveys of the impact of COVID-19 on impact assessment practice and professionals. Mr. Kelly has over 40 years of field experience in disasters, including compound disasters, droughts, food insecurity, earthquakes, insect infestation, hurricanes, epidemics, floods, war and other emergencies, predominantly in developing countries. In addition to responding to disasters, Mr. Kelly contributed to the Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment process, the Green Relief and Recovery Toolkit, and the Natural and Nature-Based Flood Management: A Green Guide and other tools for bridging the humanitarian-environment nexus. Mr. Kelly provides environmental support capacities for the Global Shelter Cluster and via the WWF Environment and Disaster Management Help Desk. Mr. Kelly co-chairs the International Association of Impact Assessment Disasters and Conflict Section.
Gemma Holdsworth, Arup, United Kingdom
Pete Gabriel is a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) with over ten years’ experience in the environment sector, specialising in the management, development and coordination of Environmental and Social Due Diligences (ESDDs), Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs) and Environmental and Social Management Systems (ESMSs). Pete has experience in planning and implementing environmental/social national legislation and international guidelines (i.e. IFC Performance Standards, Equator Principles, World Bank Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESSs) and World Bank EHS Guidelines), for energy (wind, hydroelectric, biomass, geothermal, coal fired, gas), major infrastructure (roads, rail and bridges) and climate change resilience developments. He has worked on projects in Africa, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, South-east Asia, the Caribbean, South Pacific Islands, Australia, NZ and the UK.
Mark Cliffe-Phillips is currently the Executive Director of the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board, which is an independent co-management Board responsible for the environmental impact assessment process in the Northwest Territories. Prior to joining the Review Board, he was the Executive Director of the Wek’èezhì? Land and Water Board in Yellowknife from 2010 to 2014, which conducts preliminary screenings of developments and provides regulatory permits to Canada’s largest diamond mines. Mark has been working in the resource management sector in the Northwest Territories since 2003. He is currently the interim Vice-Chair of the recently formed Indigenous Centre for Cumulative Effects and is an alumnus of the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference, where he is a currently a Regional Chair.
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