Doing things right - Engineering emphasis

•Safe
•Properly designed and built
•Efficient
•Cost effective

Doing the right thing - Planning emphasis

•Consistent with long-range plan
•Reflective of community values
•Public acceptance and “ownership”
Public acceptance and “ownership”
derives from public involvement.

Who is the “public”

 Who are the Public?
✓ “The public” means broadly as including all individuals
or groups who are potentially affected by development
activities.
✓ This includes anyone who resides in, has interest in, or
does business in a given area that may be affected by
development decisions.
✓ The public includes both individuals and organized
groups.
✓ a catch-all to describe those with an interest in a
decision, other than a proponent, operator, or responsible
authority. They may become involved due to their
proximity, economics, social or environmental issues,
values, etc.
✓ A person doesn’t have to be a citizen to be a member of
the public
 Identifying the Public
✓ In practice there are as many publics as there are
different people who care, positively or negatively,
about a project.
✓ Who they are may depend on their ethical, moral,
interest, welfare etc. viewpoints.
Other reasons the public may be affected include:
✓ Proximity – Pollution, Property values, Employment.
✓ Economics – Landowners, House-owners.
✓ Use – Amenity value, rights of way, vista.
✓ Social and Environmental Issues – Justice and Risk.
✓ Values – Animal Rights, Ecology, Religion.
 Stakeholders
✓Stakeholders, of which the public is one, are
literally those with a stake in an issue and may
include non-governmental organizations
(NGO’s), government or its agents, industry,
individuals, communities etc.
✓Stakeholders do not always want to be
involved in an environmental decision-making
process, but they have the right to know, if their
interests are affected.
✓They may also want to become involved at
different stages of the process
 What is Participation?
✓Public participation or Public Involvement,
means different things to different people.
✓The level at which the public is involved
varies with the relevant legislation, and the
attitudes of the other stakeholders.
✓Simply stated, to participate is to take part,
to share and act together.
✓Participation is an essential part of
developing a sustainable future.
 Public involvement
• A fundamental principle of EIA.
• Timely, well planned and appropriately
implemented public involvement programmes
will contribute to the successful design,
implementation, operation and management of
proposals.
• Helps to ensure the decision making process to
be equitable and fair;
 Purpose of public involvement
• inform the stakeholders about the proposal
and its likely effects;
• canvass their inputs, views and concerns;
and
• take account of the information and views
of the public in the EIA and decision
making.
 key objectives
• obtain local and traditional knowledge that may be useful for
decision-making;
• facilitate consideration of alternatives, mitigation measures and
trade-offs;
• ensure that important impacts are not overlooked and benefits
are maximized;
• reduce conflict through the early identification of contentious
issues;
• provide an opportunity for the public to influence project design
in a positive manner (thereby creating a sense of ownership of
the proposal);
• improve transparency and accountability of decision-making;
and
• increase public confidence in the EIA process.
 Levels of public involvement
Information: one way flow from proponent to public
Information and notification are preconditions of meaningful
public involvement.
Consultation: two way exchange of information
canvass the views of stakeholders on a proposal and its
impacts.
Participation: interaction with the public
establishing areas of agreement and disagreement and
trying to reach common positions
Negotiation: face to face discussion
alternative dispute resolution (ADR)
 Degrees of Citizen Power
Arnstein’s Ladder
8 Citizen Control Degrees of
7 Delegated Power Citizen Power
6 Partnership
5 Placation Degrees of
4 Consultation Tokenism
3 Informing
Increasing 2 Therapy Non-
Public Participation.
Power
1 Manipulation

13
Stages of Public Involvement (From the lowest
level to the highest, 8 levels of citizen power)
1. Manipulation – People are placed on rubber stamp
advisory committees or advisory boards to “educate”
them or to engineer their support. The public involvement
process is molded into a public relations vehicle.
2. Therapy – The focus of the response to a citizen’s concern
or idea is to “cure” the person instead of addressing the
concern.
3. Informing – A one-way flow of information from officials
to citizens with no channel provided for feedback and no
power for negotiation.
4. Consultation – Citizens provide input during the public
involvement process, but the input is restricted.
14
 Cont.…
5. Placation – During the public involvement process, a few
people represent a constituency in the community on an
advisory board or committee, but they do not hold the
majority of the votes.
6. Partnership – The decision-making power is distributed
through negotiation between citizens and officials.
7. Delegated Power – Negotiations between officials and
citizens result in citizens achieving dominant decision-
making authority. To resolve differences, officials need to
start the bargaining process rather than respond to pressure
from the other end.
8. Citizen Control – This situation exists when there are no
intermediaries between a group of citizens and a source of
funds. 15
 Key Stakeholders
local people affected by a proposal
Individuals or groups in the affected community will want to know
what is proposed; what the likely impacts are; and how their
concerns will be understood and taken into account.
proponent and project beneficiaries
to shape the proposal to give it the best chance of success
government agencies
to have their policy and regulatory responsibilities addressed in
impact analysis and mitigation consideration
NGOs
provide a useful policy perspective on a proposal
others, e.g. donors, the private sector, academics, experts in particular
fields
The benefits of effective participation for different groups
The proponent
Raises the proponent's awareness of
the potential impacts of a proposal on
the environment and the affected
community
Legitimizes proposals and ensures
greater acceptance and support
Improves public trust and confidence
Assists by obtaining local
information/data
Avoids potentially costly delays later
in the process by resolving conflict early
The decision-maker
Achieves more informed
and accountable decision-
making
Provides increased
assurance that all issues of
legitimate concern have been
addressed
Demonstrates fairness and
transparency, avoiding
accusations of decisions
being made 'behind closed
doors'
Promotes good relations
with the proponent and third
parties
Avoids potentially costly
delays later in the process
by resolving conflict early
Affected
communities
Provides an opportunity to
raise concerns and influence
the decision-making process
Provides an opportunity to gain
a better understanding and
knowledge about the
environmental impacts and
risks that may arise
Increases awareness of how
decision-making processes
work, who makes decisions
and on what basis
Empowers people, providing
the knowledge that they can
influence decision making and
creating a greater sense of
social responsibility
Ensures all relevant issues and
concerns are dealt with prior to
the decision
 Guiding Principles for Participation
✓ Plan early for public participation - resources needed to
support the process, and identify the limitations of finances.
✓ Identify stakeholders and their legitimacy and/or
representativeness.
✓ Make it clear at the outset just how much influence the
public can have
✓ Identify the appropriate techniques to be used for each stage
of the process
✓ Provide information in a form that the recipients can
understand
✓ Hold events at a time and venue to suit all participants.
✓ Allow sufficient time for assimilation and response to
information.
✓ Ensure inputs of stakeholders are integrated into any
decisions made as well as feedback on all issues raised.
 Principles of public involvement
• inclusive – covers all stakeholders
• open and transparent – steps and
activities are understood
• relevant – focused on the issues that
matter
• fair – conducted impartially and without
bias toward any stakeholder
• responsive – to stakeholder
requirements and inputs
• credible – builds confidence and trust
 Project Concept

Annex I Project Annex II Project

No EIS Required

EIA Application of
Thresholds Sub-Threshold
Under Articles 103,109 & 120
of SI 600 of 2001.

SCREENING EIS Required

Public Involvement

Public SCOPING Establish TOR and

Public Involvement Significance of Impacts
Involvement ALTERNATIVES
Public Involvement
Examination of
Alternatives

In the phases of BASELINE

STUDY
Assess environmental
setting

The EIA process MITIGATION Measures to Avoid, Reduce or

Offset impacts

WRITING EIS Proponent Prepares EIS

REVIEW Public Review

Public Involvement

EIS &Submissions
DECISION Reviewed by Competent
MAKING Authority
Decision Made By
Competent Authority

FOLLOW UP & MONITORING Public Involvement

20
 Michael Ewing, Environmental Pillar of
19/05/2022 21
Social Parnership, Ireland
 Public involvement in key stages of the
EIA process
Screening: determining the need for, and
level, of EIA
Scoping: identifying the key issues and
alternatives
impact analysis: identifying the significant
impacts and mitigating measures
Review: commenting on/responding to the
EIA report
implementation and monitoring
checking EIA follow up
 Planning for Participation
• Objectives of the Process
– Set by discussion with stakeholders
– Clear understanding of the limitations
– Objectives change during the stages of a
process
– Select techniques for each stage to achieve the
objectives
Important Factors in Objective Setting

✓Environmental Protection
✓Legal Requirements
✓Proponent Objectives vs Public Objectives
✓Two Way Communication
✓Experts vs. Public
✓Levels of Participation
Dialogue Planning

26
 Which method to use?
• How complex is the issue to be discussed?
• What processes are already in place for resolving the
issue and how well are they working?
• What processes have been tried previously and how
well did they work?
• What is the geographical scale of the issue?
• At what levels of societal structure is the process to
operate?
• What resources are available in time, money and in-
house skills?
• Will external professional facilitators or consultants
need to be employed?
• What is the Timescale? 27
 Developing a public involvement
program typically involves:
➢ determining its scope
➢ identifying interested and affected public
➢ selecting appropriate techniques
➢ considering the relationship to decision-
making
➢ providing feedback to stakeholders
➢ undertaking the analysis of stakeholder
inputs
➢ keeping to budget and time lines
➢ confidentiality
 Methods of public involvement
• tailored to suit the social environment and,
wherever possible, targeted specifically at
particular groups.
• Limitations and constraints (identified
previously) should be taken into account
Public involvement techniques *
• the degree of interaction required between
participants;
• the extent to which participants are able to
influence decisions;
• the stage(s) of the EIA at which public
involvement will occur;
• the time available for involvement;
• the likely number of participants and their
interests;
• the complexity and controversy of the issues
under consideration;
• the consideration of cultural norms
 Factors affecting the effectiveness of
public involvement
✓ poverty
✓ remote and rural settings
✓ illiteracy
✓ culture/local values
✓ language
✓ legal systems override traditional systems
✓ dominance of interest groups
✓ proponent confidentiality
Principles for successful application of
public involvement techniques
➢ provide the right information
➢ allow sufficient time to review and respond
➢ provide appropriate opportunities/means for
stakeholder involvement
➢ respond issues and concerns raised
➢ feed back the results of public input
➢ choose venues and times of events to suit
stakeholders
 Principles for minimising conflict
✓ involve all stakeholders
✓ establish communication channels
✓ describe the proposal and its objectives
✓ listen to the concerns and interests of
affected people
✓ treat people fairly and impartially be
empathetic and flexible
✓ mitigate impacts and compensate for
loss and damage
✓ acknowledge concerns and provide
feed-back
 Common reasons given for avoiding
public involvement
✓it’s too early
✓it will take too long and will cost too
much
✓it will stir up opposition
✓we will only hear from the articulate
✓we’ll raise expectations
✓people won’t understand