The published Environmental Assessment (EA) literature provides an account of the development of EA over five decades of evolving theory and practice, focussing particularly on how EA works and on ...how it could improve in the pursuit of (greater) effectiveness. This paper explores the idea that unintended bad, abnormal or inadequate consequences or effects may have occurred during EA's evolution, affecting the way in which it has evolved and the shape and direction of EA's evolutionary path. To assist in this exploration, three concepts are analysed: “mala-effectiveness”, “maladaptation” and “maladjustment”. The focus of the paper then shifts to exploring what might determine EA's evolutionary direction, and the role that unintended bad, abnormal or inadequate effects might play in shaping, constraining or adjusting EA's evolutionary path, loosely drawing on ideas from evolutionary thinking and from new institutionalist debates within planning theory. Building on the analysis of the three concepts and on new institutionalist perspectives, a conceptual framework is then proposed to explore EA's evolutionary direction, acknowledging the role of design and evolution dimensions.
•EA process- and system- improvements can lead to unintended negative consequences.•Maladjustments can affect the direction and shape of EA's evolution.•EA can be viewed as an institution.•It recognises EA as an institutionalised practice and as a factor of institutionalisation.•Maladjustments can occur when both roles of the institution are not balanced.
This paper aims to explore the evolution of EA as a concept and as a tool through the thoughts, perspectives and reflections of those who have lived-through 50 years of EA practice. It presents ...findings from research informed by interviews through storytelling with 12 longstanding practitioners and scholars who have engaged with EA over five decades. The narratives collected and the emerging discourses provide useful insight into the “story” of the evolution of EA thus far, reflecting on the internal and external motivations driving EA’s evolution, and looking to where EA might go next, and how it might continue to evolve. The findings call for a return to more holistic conversations about the environment, and for greater advocacy at the heart of decision-making and institutional structures to enhance the influence of EA.
•The evolution of EA has been characterised by incremental process adjustments to ensure responsiveness to system changes.•Internal and external forces and motivations shaped the evolution of EA;•Longstanding practitioners call for greater advocacy at the heart of decision-making and, care in everyday EA practice;•The findings signal that EA may have reached its maturity•Storytelling can be useful in providing a basis for reflecting on system changes
Piecemeal changes to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process have to date not fully delivered EIA's normative goals and met today's environmental challenges. By regarding the to date ...approaches to change-making as a problem requiring a solution, this paper applies critical analysis to reflect upon current change-making based on England's EIA system as a case study. The analysis identifies a lack of innovative ideas and sound evidence-based approaches to inform and support the change-making process. Consequently, we argue for an epistemology of change-making (changeology) so that the entire approach can be based on an empirically informed framework, to inform the journey (process) and destination (fit-for-purpose EIA) and make the EIA process fit-for-purpose and aligned to future expectations. Changeology should be viewed as more than informing one-time change-making but as a framework of well-studied practice for changing (or improving) EIA in the long term.
The book is specifically dedicated to a broad spectrum of aspects of landscape impact assessment in the process of strategic planning and decision-making. It aims to show the required standard ...process, content and scope of assessment of impact on the landscape and to present the main principles to ensure their integrity and consistency.
The accumulation of B lymphocyte clones in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and patients with other neurological disorders was investigated using PCR ...technologies. Oligoclonal B cell accumulations were detected in 10 of 10 MS patients, but only in 3 of 10 of the patients with other neurological disorders. Analyses of the Ig V(D)J sequences on the CSF from MS patients disclosed that VH3 and VH4 genes were extensively mutated compared with germline sequences. Moreover, a substantial proportion of the molecular clones analyzed shared the same third CDR of the H chain variable region gene (HCDR3) and the same VH genes, albeit with different numbers and locations of point mutations, thus indicating an ongoing process of intraclonal diversification. A larger number of clonally related VH sequences could be obtained by using a VH3 gene-specific PCR so that genealogical trees depicting the process of diversification could be drawn. Analyses of the Ig V(D)J from the CSF of a patient with viral meningitis and oligoclonal B cell accumulations revealed that VH3 genes were extensively mutated. However, no intraclonal diversification could be observed even using VH3 gene-specific PCR methodologies. Clone-specific PCR and sequencing was used to detect the V(D)J found in the CSF of one MS patient in the PBL of the same patient. Only 1/3 of the V(D)J sequences investigated could be demonstrated in the PBL, indicating that the V(D)J genes utilized by B cells in the CSF are much less represented in the PBL. Collectively, the data suggest that in MS there is a compartmentalized clonal expansion.
Though still relatively new, the development of marine spatial planning has been based on the on the premise that as a rational planning process, it can be applied following universal principles and ...steps informed by land-based inspired theoretical underpinnings. However, within this process, differences between marine and terrestrial environments are being overlooked, potentially affecting the way in which the marine environment is understood and valued, and the development of a culture of practice for, and specific to, marine spatial planning. By framing planning as a cultural construct, this paper aims to explore the extent to which land-based rationales are affecting the development of a marine spatial planning culture of practice, with its own ethos and shared values. A culturalised planning model adapted from Knieling, J. and Othengrafen, F. (2015). Planning culture-a concept to explain the evolution of planning policies and processes in Europe? European Planning Studies, 23(11), 2133-2147 is used as a framework. Whilst acknowledging the importance of the contributions from land-based planning and the ecological sciences, the findings suggest that those unconscious beliefs and perceptions affecting society's understanding of the marine environment should contribute to informing shared values for marine spatial planning practice.
The issue of mainstreaming has witnessed a revival over the last few years, not least because the latest financial crisis has triggered a renewed enthusiasm and a remarkable comeback amongst ...policy-making and environmental appraisal (EA) communities. Traditionally, environmental mainstreaming is linked to ideas of (environmental) integration and to the ‘greening’ of public policies. Yet, more recent mainstreaming efforts are building on the idea that the achievement of economic growth and of social well-being is not only dependent upon the protection of the environment, but on the fact that the environment should be valued as a source of goods and a provider of services, as well. In this context and despite the many shortcomings that EA has experienced as a mainstreaming tool over the last two decades, calls for EA to engage with ecosystem services and incorporate pricing valuations in its approach to mainstreaming are emerging, raising questions about the role and purpose of EA as an environmental mainstreaming tool.
This paper aims to reflect on the role of EA as a mainstreaming tool, in terms of the extent to which it is mainstreaming the environment into policies for sustainable development and changing ‘the mainstream’ by breaking down the false dichotomy of environment and (economic) development. If mainstreaming through EA was to incorporate both greening and pricing logics, could EA be more effective in reframing the environment and development as correlated variables rather than competing variables?
► Mainstreaming is witnessing a revival over the last few years and a comeback amongst environmental appraisal communities. ► Mainstreaming efforts through environmental appraisal have failed to challenge the deeply rooted belief in economic growth. ► Recent mainstreaming efforts are incorporated in “green deals” following ecological modernisation discourses. ► Environmental appraisal is urged to embrace ecosystem service approaches prompting a rethink of its advocacy role and purpose.
To date, sustainable development has been the most important discourse informing planning, a powerful rhetoric for solving environmental problems that shows confidence in human ingenuity and ...technological advancements. However, recent advances in information and communication technologies, are prompting the development of smart(er) approaches to (sustainable) development, which might be signifying a departure from the more traditional, or perhaps earlier, greener narratives underpinning sustainable development. Within this context and informed by analysis of the literature, this paper aims to reflect on the extent to which ideas of going green and going smart are converging or diverging from the path towards sustainable development. This is done using convergence theory and Bennet's typology (1991) of similarities as an analytical framework. The findings suggest that the convergence of greening and smart ideas for sustainable development might be better achieved if smart-centric approaches to policy- and planning are subsumed in the overarching vision of environmental quality and resilience, with green approaches to urban development setting the path and driving decisions towards a sustainable future.
•Climate risk and innovations in practice are suggesting a move away from greening efforts in planning for sustainable development.•In the name of resource and efficiency use, cities are responding by adopting smart(er) approaches to development.•This paper explores whether green and smart approaches converge, diverge or diffuse in their sustainable development quest.•Greater convergence could be achieved if smart = centric approaches were subsumed in green approaches.
Since its very inception in the late decades of the twentieth century, environmental assessment (EA) has been imbued with a complex interplay of power, knowledge and values. Despite instrumental ...rationality seemingly dominating current practices, actors are faced with growing relational complexity and seem to be slowly becoming increasingly mindful of political, social and cultural implications of EA. Within this context, this paper explores the role of statutory environmental consultees in strategic environmental assessment (SEA), by reflecting on issues of power among the different actors involved, the handling of values and the generation, use and exchange of knowledge in SEA processes. The authors adopted a framework for contemporary environmental governance to map actors’ strategies onto a conceptual space stretching along two directions: the polarization between confrontational and collaborative attitudes, and the tendency to underpin knowledge claims with factual evidence or subjective considerations. By dwelling on a case study concerning the SEA of a national programme to promote sustainable urban development in metropolitan areas in Italy, the use of objectivity to support either neutrality- or advocacy-oriented approaches is contrasted with the use of strategies where statutory consultees have shown more adaptive and confrontational behaviours – that hinge upon both political and scientific legitimacy – to pursue their particular organizational strategies agendas.
•Statutory environmental consultees hold political and scientific legitimacy.•They adopt different policy influencing strategies within SEA.•They adapt their behaviours, roles and position to whom they are engaging with.
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