Assessing Social and Environmental Impacts

This three- week short course gives participants a foundational understanding of impact assessment approaches – in particular ESIA and SEA as well as the role of law in environmental protection. Impact assessment is introduced as an integrated and interdisciplinary process that can help support sustainable development by informing stakeholders about the trade-offs among (negative) impacts and benefits expected from human interventions on the environment and their consequences on people.

Knowledge about impact assessment is developed through interactive lectures during the first week of the course by academics and practitioners from the fields of law and impact assessment.

Topics that are covered include: international and national water & environmental law; ESIA concepts, methods and practice; SEA concepts, methods and practice; Economic aspects of Impact Assessment; and ESIA follow-up and monitoring.

Participants are encouraged to share their own insights about the legal instruments and/or impact assessment practices from their own countries during the course. Lectures are complemented by practical skills where participants will have the opportunity to apply the methods through a ESIA role-playing game that is played by participants and a group project where participants apply the Impact Assessment framework in a real-world case study from Cameroon.