News

The Secrétariat international francophone en évaluation environnementale (SIFÉE which is like IAIA but for french speaking EIS practitioners from around the world) will hold its annual conference and training session in Montréal from March 27 to 31st 2023.

These events are funded by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) and are co-organized by AQÉI and the Environment Science Institute of Université du Québec à Montréal.

Participants from Canada, Europe and Africa are expected.

The conference main theme will focus on the latest environmental regulations changes and its effects on the practice. 

The training session will focus on the issue based approach in EIA.

For more information visit the SIFÉE web site at sifee.org 

Impact Assessment (IA) needs to get better at dealing with diverse knowledge, perspectives, and experiences. So, our team is working to create a best practice toolkit for use by anyone involved in IA to help them apply qualitative methods. This project has the not-so-snappy title “Qualitative Study Design for the Next Generation of Impact Assessment.” This project is housed at the University of Manitoba and is being led by a team of 11 international IA researchers and practitioners, including:

·       John Sinclair, Professor, University of Manitoba, Canada

·       Alan Bond, Professor, University of East Anglia, UK

·       Alan Diduck, Professor, University of Winnipeg

·       Angus Morrison-Saunders, Professor, Edith Cowan University, Australia

·       Francois Retief, Professor, North West University, South Africa

·       Glen Koroluk, Executive Director, Manitoba Eco-Network, Canada

·       Jenny Pope, Director, Integral Sustainability, Australia

·       Meinhard Doelle, Professor, Dalhousie University, Canada

·       Richard Roberts, President, The Praxis Group, Canada

·       Heidi Walker, Research Associate, University of Manitoba, Canada

·       Brendan Middel, Student, University of Manitoba, Canada

As an early component of this study, we are conducting an online survey to explore what qualitative methods are currently used in IA and how they are being applied. We expect that the survey should take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete and it can be accessed here:

https://surveys.ddlanalytics.com/uom_qualitative_survey

Please review the consent page at the beginning of the survey for additional details about the project and procedures. We would appreciate your response by April 29, 2022.

This study has received ethics approval through the University of Manitoba Research Ethics Board.  

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this project. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Best wishes,

John Sinclair

Professor and Director

Natural Resources Institute

University of Manitoba

Canada

Uncertainties in Impact Assessment: Past experiences and future directions

Hosted by NEDIA (The Network for Expertise and Dialogue on Impact Assessment)

Friday, January 14, 2022 at 12pm PST, 1pm MST, 2pm CST

Attendance is free but registration required HERE

Although uncertainty has always been an unavoidable aspect of impact assessment, which scholars and practitioners have found different ways to manage, uncertainty is increasingly on our radar. There are several reasons for this, but two stand out. First, the expanded scope of impact assessment mandated by the Impact Assessment Act (2019), which calls for acknowledgment of a broader scope of impacts, and the inclusion of wider forms and sources of knowledge. Second, external events, of a social and economic nature, and extreme events, and rapid changes associated with climate change, have heightened attention on uncertainty, with implications for the assessment of potential impacts of industrial development.

What are the implications, and how do we approach decision-making in this context? First, we need to acknowledge that efforts to address uncertainties have been in practice for some time. In this webinar, we seek to create space for delving into the challenges that uncertainties of various types pose for impact assessment. We have brought together a panel of leading scholars, policymakers, and practitioners, who will address key questions including:

• Given the central role played by uncertainty in risk-based decision-making, how has uncertainty been characterized in IA to date?

• What are the many forms of uncertainties that arise in the context of impact assessment, from lack of information to the uncertainties that emerge with differences in value sets and linguistic ambiguities?

• What is the relationship between uncertainty and significance determinations?

• What are the political implications of the presence of uncertainty, particularly from the perspective of affected communities?

Panelists:

• Scott Findlay (Institute of Environment, Univ. of Ottawa; Researcher in Residence, Office of the Chief Science Advisor, Cana)

• Bram Noble (Dept. of Geography, Univ. of Saskatchewan)

• Alan Ehrlich (Manager of Environmental Assessment, Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board)

• Gwen Blue (Dept. of Geography, University of Calgary

IAIA-WNC invites you to our online AGM on April 15. The AGM will be immediately followed by a presentation by Dr. Glenn Brown on organized reasoning in impact assessment (more details to follow). Please see below the AGM notice and call for nominations to the IAIA-WNC Board. Please contact us with any questions.

Thursday, April 15, 2021 at 11:30 am Pacific Time, 12:30 pm Mountain Time

(presentation follows the AGM at 12pm PST, 1pm MST)

TAKE NOTICE that a meeting of the members of the International Association for

Impact Assessment - Western and Northern Canada Affiliate (the "Organization") will

be held by teleconference on Thursday, April 15, 2021 at 12:30 PM Mountain time

(11:30 AM Pacific time, 1:30 PM Central time).

The agenda will include:

1. Annual report from the President

2. Financial report

3. Board election

4. Other business

You can attend the meeting and presentation by registering at:

https://wnc-agm-and-talk.eventbrite.com

Interested in attending the presentation but not the AGM? Register at the above link and log on to the event at 12pm PST, 1pm MST.

Members, if you want your vote to count but can't make the AGM, then please complete a proxy form and send to info@iaiawnc.ca.

By order of the Board of Directors.

Matt Hammond

President

Hello IAIA-WNC members!

Do you have a timely IA topic you’ve been wanting to present but don’t have a venue for? Or, are you interested in re-purposing your Seville IAIA 2020 presentation?

IAIA-WNC is going to be hosting a series of online presentations (on Google Meet) and we are reaching out to you to see if you, or one of your colleagues, is interested in taking the stage! We also invite you to co-host a talk or series of talks on a topic.

This is a great opportunity to continue the dialogue on innovative IA topics while in-person sessions are on hold.

If you are interested, please send an email with your proposed topic and preferred presentation date to:

Pascalemera@gmail.com

The summer 2020 issue of WNC Impact is now available! Click on the link below or 'copy and paste' it into your browser to read about the latest news on environmental management and EIA.

WNC Impact Spring 2020 

We hope you enjoy it!