Script

Intro Page (slide 3)

When we talk about EIA. We keep thinking about maximizing the benefits and minimizing the impact.
Why do we think so? And why are we concern about the environment so much?

Because we want to provide a better future for the people. It's the public who are the main objective of
a project. So today we're going to talk about public participation in environmental impact assessment.

To begin with it can be accounted that Environmental issues are best handled with the participation of
all the concerned citizens which has been profoundly indicated on the (NEPA). The proponents may
know more about the project but the public knows much more about the place and the culture. By
involving public, we can create a good communication bridge between proponents and the general
public. Thus, public involvement is one of the key parts of EIA.

2nd Page (slide 4)

What is public participation in terms of EIA?

Public participation is a sort of consulting with the stakeholders about the pros and cons of project. By
public involvement the project gets a healthy environment to proceed without any conflicts with the
locals.

What are the objectives of public participation?

According to this paper, it is stated that different authors addresses the different goals of public
participation without getting fully involved to the perspective and how they relate to into the EIA. To
make the objectives much clearer, it has been divided into 3 underlying rationale such as

(1. Normative rationale,2. Substantive rational,3. Instrumental rationale).

The whole objectives are better discussing on the upcoming slides of the presentation/

Then if we discuss about the objectives of public participation, the first thing is obtaining local and
traditional knowledge and ensure that no impacts are overlooked and we get the maximum benefit of
the project. Also, the motive is to avoid conflict and create a better understanding.

Now who should participate in EIA and why?

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The people who are most likely to be affected by the project should be participating in EIA. In other
words, the main stakeholders, interest groups should participate in EIA.

Slide (5)
Before beginning with this slide, we take a look at the pictorial diagram. There it is exemplify by a
pictorial analysis that how the public would involve . The flowchart starts from screening, scoping,
investigation and report preparation to review, decision making and monitoring of the ways being
implemented.

As we have discussed earlier that public participation would play a crucial role in decision making
process at EIA activities. It also enhances the transparency and accountability of the decision making
process. Then if we discuss about the objectives of public participation, the first thing comes (conflicting
of opinions)

During participations, there might be conflicting of opinions due to different perspectives but we need it
take the positives from here which would help us to take better ideas from there and come up with a
mutual solution.

Secondly, (confusion between the terms participation and consulting) sometimes it might be created.
There is a distinct difference between these two. Participation provides interactive exchange of point of
view and consulting is a two way flow in between the proponent and public where public get the
opportunities to express their view.

Thirdly, other different forms of participation as mentioned in the slides. The forms of participation are
defined into four steps : Informing , Consulting, Participating, Negotiating

Slide (6)
In this slide, we are discussing about the normative rationale which is derived from the normative ideas
and principles.

i. Influencing decisions (the individual has the right to be informed, to be consulted and to
express his or her own decision so that the decision maker could not underestimate the
publics opinions and could not impose their decision)

ii. Enhancing democratic capacity Take accounts of the information and views of the public in
the EIA and decision making

iii. Social learning (Hence, in the context of EIA, social learning is geared towards “and identify
opportunities acceptable strategies to mitigate impacts and identify opportunities. Not only
that, the notion of social learning is connected with the concept of deliberative democracy
meaning it adopts elements of both consensus decision-making and majority rule.)
iv. EMPOWERING AND EMANCIPATING MARGINALIZED INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS :Obtain
local and traditional knowledge that may be useful for decision making

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 Now I’m going to pass on my presentation to my fellow group
member to continue

Slide (7)
Thank you fellow group member. I’m going to continue from where he finished off.

Substantive rationale, That is, public participation in EIA is supposed to

lead to ‘better’ decisions. “in this approach public participation is designed essentially to ensure that all

relevant information, including input from those affected, is available so that the decision-maker can
make the most informed and well-considered decision. In this regard, different objectives are
mentioned.

1) Harnessing local information and Knowledge-It provides an opportunity to decision-makers to

fill (technical) information gaps by trying to retrieve environmentally and/or socially relevant
information from local stakeholders which then further improve the accuracy of decision making.

2)Incorporating experimental and value-based knowledge-The objective of public participation in

EIA is to complement cognitive knowledge with experimental and value-based knowledge that is based
on the premise that the “subjectivity and value-laden nature of all ‘scientific’ inputs which then further
leads to transparency and accountability of the project.

3) Testing the robustness of information from other sources-one objective of public involvement in
EIA is to enhance the quality of the decision output by testing the robustness or strength of information
that public officials have obtained from other sources especially from (EIS), so that the project which is
going to be approved might get ignore or slow down due its impact or risk as it is known by the public
analysis and their opinions.

Slide 08

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Now, let us talk about Instrumental Rationale.

Generating legitimacy:

Generating legitimacy is one of the most important objectives of the EIA process. The idea is that when
people participate in the process of impact assessment, it creates a sense of 'ownership' among the
participants, and thus they take the process as a more legitimate one. The proponent should make sure
that the participants can influence the decision making to make the project more legitimate.

Resolving conflict:

Usually there are conflicts in any big projects among the proponents and the affected People. These
conflicts must be resolved before the final decision is taken. Rather than being a destructive one, the
conflict resolution process should be a productive one. So, the aim is not necessary to avoid the conflict,
but the public and the proponent should be given opportunities to resolve the conflicts among
themselves. Resolving conflict is favorable to the proponent as it prevents any oppositions to rise and
helps further legislation

Slide 09:
WHOM DOES THE AUTHOR REFERS TO WHEN THEY SAY "THE PUBLIC"?

In the paper, we often see the phrase "the public”. So, what does the public refers to?

The public is those people or groups or organizations who are directly affected by the proponents'
decision.

IS THE DEMOCRATIC POINT OF VIEW APPROPRIATE IN THIS CONTEXT?

In Big projects, the list of the affected people is a massive one.

Though everyone affected should be invited in the participation process but inviting all of them might be
proven as a hassle for the proponents. The more people there are, there must be more opinions and
Expectations; it would be impossible to meet all of their expectations and to listen to all of their
opinions. Thus, the proponent should choose carefully whom to invite for the participation and whom
not to usually choosing the ones who would represent the mass people or selecting certain interests
groups with ample knowledge regarding the matter.

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 Conclusion (Last slide)

To conclude, it can be again said that public participation will definitely play a key role in the decision
making process of an EIA assessment. Also, from the paper it is assumed that there is no consensus or
unanimity regarding the meaning and adequate or ample breadth as well as the objectives of public
participation in EIA. Along with this, to capitalize the different ideas and thoughts and to advance the
research agenda, an importance should be given to the difference between definitions and
expectations from the public approaches.

Through this paper there is sheer intention to take the primary step by providing scholars with a
systematic overview of the debate on public participation in EIA complemented with insights into
the practice of public participation in EIA.

Finally, for EIA practitioners this paper may opt as a starting point for determining the role of
public participation in concrete EIA projects.IT also provides an overview of the range of possible
objectives of participation in EIA and it helps the EIA practitioners,
competent authorities and stakeholders to elect upon the specific goal(s) and form of public
participation in EIA prior to the assessment process, and casually exclude or fall apart the
objection and negative drawbacks of decision making without public involvement.

That’s all for this presentation, thank you for bearing with us.

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