Case  studies  on    “Public  Par2cipa2on  in  EIA  in  Other  Countries  Outside  the  Mekong  Region”  and  “Public  

Par2cipa2on  in  Various  Domains”      

Is  Meaningful  Public  Par1cipa1on  in  EIA  Possible  in  the  Mekong  Region?  

   

2015  Greater  Mekong  Forum  on  Water,  Food,  and  Energy  21  –  23  October  2015,  Phnom  Penh,  Cambodia  

 AECEN  Secretariat/Mekong  Partnership  for  the  Environment  

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Why  Focus  on  Public  Par2cipa2on?  

Key questions: •  What is the optimal level of public participation in

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)?

•  Does increased public participation in decision making through the EIA process lead to improved project outcomes?

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What  is  Public  Par2cipa2on? “involving those who are affected by a decision in the decision-making process. It promotes sustainable decisions by providing participants with the information they need to be involved in a meaningful way, and it communicates to participants how their input affects the decision.”

International Association for Public Participation 3  

Who  is  the  public?

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How  much  public  par2cipa2on  is  enough?     Inform   Consult   Involve   Collaborate   Empower  P u b l i c  par1cipa1on  goal  

To  provide  the  public  with  balanced  and  objec2ve  informa2on  to  assist  it  in  understanding  the  problem,  alterna2ves,  opportuni2es,  and/or  solu2ons  

To  obtain  public  feedback  on  analysis,  alterna2ves,  and/or  decisions  

To  work  directly  with  the  public  throughout  the  process  to  ensure  that  public  concerns  and  aspira2ons  are  consistently  understood  and  considered  

To  partner  with  the  public  in  each  aspect  of  the  decision  including  the  development  of  alterna2ves  and  the  iden2fica2on  of  the  preferred  solu2on  

To  place  final  decision-­‐making  in  the  hands  of  the  public  

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In the EIA process, should public participation: inform stakeholders, consult with affected people, involve the community in finding solutions, collaborate with the public to identify acceptable alternatives, or empower the public to make the final decisions? Perhaps some examples of public participation in other domains might provide an answer on how much public participation should be expected in the EIA process.

Public  Par2cipa2on  in  Health  Sector Canadian Blood Services – after a series of scandals regarding tainted blood, the public was involved through standing committees of external stakeholders, open board meetings, consultations, roundtables, advisory committees, consensus conferences, and public polling. As a result “trust in the blood system has grown from 56% in 1998 to 82% in 2010”.

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Public  Par2cipa2on  in  Educa2on  Sector  Australia’s Stakeholder Engagement Framework for the education sector states that “to achieve a high-quality, coherent, birth-through-adulthood learning and development system, the Department must work collaboratively and form and maintain inclusive relationships with its stakeholders.” Principles for engaging with stakeholders are (i) responsive & reciprocal; (ii) inclusive; (iii) impartial & objective; (iv) open, transparent & trusting; and (v) respectful. Such engagement was critical in ensuring the success of the smarter schools partnership.

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Public  Par2cipa2on  in  Waste  Management  In Cape Town, South Africa, public participation was used as part of a legal review of the city’s waste management strategy, in the face of organized labor and alienated hostile civic groups. Participation plans had in-depth stakeholder analysis and strategic clustering of stakeholder groups, followed by customized communication and outreach tools for each stakeholder cluster. A comprehensive range of communication tools ensured better buy-in, information sharing, and feedback from the stakeholder clusters.

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Public  Par2cipa2on  in  the  Mining  Sector  

On traditional lands, international law requires indigenous participation in decision making. Companies are increasingly finding participatory models that facilitate operations. For example: (i) participation agreements between a mining company and aboriginal people in Canada; (ii) local agreements between the Flambeau open pit mine in the US and government and community representatives; (iii) future act agreements between a mining company and aboriginal people in Australia; and (iv) corporate social investment in South Africa.

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Public  Par2cipa2on  in  Urban  Development  

For Calgary Transit in Canada’s 30 year strategic plan, public participation involved a twitter town hall, customer-to-customer world café, public engagement bus, surveys, website, blog, online commenting, online budget allocation tool, crowdsourced mobile engagement, community events, and staff and citizen engagement. More than 4,000 face-to-face engagements and over 1,000 online submissions. Stakeholder input drove the development of the strategic plan, transit networking decisions, urban transit corridors, and customer experience programs.

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What  can  we  learn  from  public  par2cipa2on  in  other  domains?  

•  Agencies which provide “more” public participation tend to have more successful outcomes, but care needs to be taken that scarce public resources are not being wasted;

•  Agencies that ask the “right” questions about where participation is really needed, how it will be used, and how involvement is best structured, tend to have greater success;

•  Agencies that genuinely value public participation (and avoid tokenism) tend to have greater success;

•  Agencies that are more open and transparent and make all information easily accessible (and understood) tend to have more success; and

•  Agencies that understand, partner with, and empower communities will have greater success.

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Turning  Our  AUen2on  to  EIA  

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What  is  the  op2mal  level  of  public  par2cipa2on  in  EIA?  

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•  Tokenism is the most common form of public participation in EIA – typically no more than informing and consulting, and sometimes placation after the damage is done.

•  Leading companies and project

proponents are beginning to realize that participation at the EIA stage is the first step in building a lasting, cooperative partnership with the project affected community.

What  are  the  Benefits  of  Public  Par2cipa2on  in  the  EIA  Process  

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•  Fewer conflicts and delays improves profitability for investors;

•  Governments improve decision making and secure greater transparency and accountability;

•  Public agencies and NGOs gain credibility;

•  Affected people influence the project to reduce adverse impacts, maximize benefits, and ensure appropriate compensation;

•  Vulnerable groups given special attention, equity issues considered, needs of the poor receive priority;

•  Environmental management plans are more effective.

Barriers  to  Effec2ve  Public  Par2cipa2on  in  EIA  Process  

•  Lack of clear regulations •  Late involvement of the public •  Lack of responsiveness towards participants •  Provision of unsuitable information •  No room for discussion between public, decision-makers and

proponent •  Attitude of participants •  Lack of capacity on the part of participants •  Lack of institutional capacity of government agencies •  Poor environmental awareness of officials and proponents •  Lack of commitment to EIA and public involvement among

government officials and proponents •  Political pressure and interference •  Lack of trust in government institutions 15  

Best  Prac2ce  Checklist  Value adding Approach public participation so that it adds value to the

environmental impact assessment

Inclusivity Include all relevant stakeholders in the process Accessibility Give stakeholders easy access to the process Early engagement

Give stakeholders the opportunity to participate from the earliest stage possible

Transparency Make sure the process is transparent and gives access to information Fairness Treat all stakeholders in a fair and unbiased way Accountability Be accountable and seek accountability from all stakeholders Cooperative Seek to manage conflict Equity & justice Seek to redress inequity and injustice through the process Capacity development Seek to develop the capacity of all stakeholders in the process

Flexibility Design and implement process to adapt to changing needs, conditions

Excellence Strive to constantly reflect on and improve the public participation process 16  

Final  Words  •  Public participation in EIA is believed to improve project outcomes,

but often not in developing countries. •  In strong participatory democracies, public participation has been

shown to improve project quality and sustainability. •  Major donors also show improved project outcomes from mandatory

public participation rules. •  In developing countries, public participation requirements have often

been initiated by donors, an approach not matched by domestic demands for improved environmental outcomes from major development projects.

•  Barriers for effective public participation in developing countries are numerous and, to over-simplify, public participation can be characterized as tokenism rather than a genuine commitment to empower the public in decision-making.

•  A regional guideline on public participation in EIA should be a useful tool to help overcome these barriers. 17  

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