Advanced introduction to environmental impact assessment 

A mandatory reading for the serious EIA apprentice

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is one of those policy tools that are at the same time easy and difficult to explain. EIA’s main objectives and administrative processes can be easily grasped from documented policies and regulations. A plethora of case studies can also illustrate its practical implementation on the ground. However, it takes way more than that to realize EIA’s hidden benefits, persistent challenges and unfulfilled potential. This multifaceted decision-making process touches on intricate concepts that can puzzle even the most seasoned practitioners and policy-makers.

While introductory books abound in the EIA literature, very few of them are able to deliver in-depth and thoughtful introductions to the field. Fortunately, 2018 witnessed the publication of Advanced Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment, a book whose contents deliver what the title promises. As many introductory books, this one explains EIA history, concepts, forms and stages; however, it does so with great care for the key ideas and tensions underlying both theory and practice. The result is a concise, accessible, and yet thought-provoking introduction to EIA that is likely to stimulate critical thinking in anyone who is interested in the fuzzy side of EIA.

The book content is structured in six parts and 15 chapters that resemble a sonata, in the sense that they follow an exposition, development and recapitulation format. The exposition (Parts 1 and 2) sets the scene by carefully explaining and contextualizing definitions and terminologies, as well as by framing EIA and its key stages (e.g. screening, scoping, assessment, decision, follow-up, etc.) as an attempt to make people ‘think before they act’. The development stage (Parts 3 and 4) explains how the various forms of EIA can be applied to different levels of development. It also emphasizes the challenges and best practice associated with the hierarchies of alternatives and mitigation, baseline studies, and stakeholder engagement. Finally, Parts 5 and 6 explore the roles of science, uncertainty, and cumulative effects in EIA; and reflect on the current status and future of EIA through the lens of effectiveness.

The contents also cover Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). But, unlike other introductory books that bring explicit chapters devoted to this topic, this one addresses SEA while explaining different levels or scales of developments. An emphasis is put on how the ‘strategicness’ of developments affects EIA. While uncommon, this explanatory approach resulted in a clear and concise presentation of SEA.

The book was written by Angus Morrison-Saunders, one of the world’s leading EIA scholars, who has been teaching and researching EIA for over 20 years in Australia and in several other global jurisdictions. The author adopted a scholarly approach to writing the book. Content is supported by almost 300 references from the very early days of EIA to the most recent peer-reviewed journal publications. The author cites not only well-known sources, but also obscure, but extremely relevant grey and academic literature. In doing so, the author ended up providing not only an introduction to the field, but also the state of the art of EIA research.

While there is an inherent bias in book, as the author is known in the field for advocating EIA as an important sustainability tool, the book exposes with remarkable balance to the opposing views that exist on a number of controversial topics. Moreover, the book provides a truly global introduction to EIA, covering issues that have long been debated in different parts of the world (e.g. JEAPM 2012, 2014, 2016; UVP Report 2016). Examples and best practices are drawn not only from the European Union and Anglophonic countries, like United States, Canada, and Australia, but also from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

This book is intended to open up one’s mind to the richness and complexity of EIA. Therefore, it is not recommended for those who want to learn the practicalities of EIA in a particular jurisdiction. Graduate students, professors, senior practitioners, policy-makers, and anyone who is seriously interested in learning EIA are likely to perceive great value in this book.