Course #9.  Quality assurance in EIA: Guide and review

 

 

 

This course will combine lectures, general discussions, and individual and group work.  It will have two main parts: the first will provide participants with insights into how the EIA process should be guided.  This will include aspects such as writing terms of reference, adjudicating proposals from consultants, and how to provide oversight to the whole EIA process.  Examples from recent projects will be used to highlight the learning points. The second part will deal with review.  This will include methods and frameworks that can be used to review scoping, EIA and EMP reports; key questions to be asked and how to make decisions on the information provided in the documentation.  Again, we will use examples from some of the many projects we have been involved with over the past few years.

The learning outcomes will include:

  • Participants will have a better appreciation and confidence about how to guide and review large and small EIAs;
  • Participants will be provided with some tools (templates, criteria, frameworks, decision-trees) to write ToRs, run a tendering process, adjudicate proposals, manage the entire EIA process and review the documentation; and
Participants will be made aware of common pitfalls and how to deal with them.
Level: Intermediate to advanced
Prerequisites: This course is primarily aimed at decision makers and corporate EIA managers who are responsible for setting Terms of Reference, adjudicating EIA proposals, and reviewing the final documents.  The participants must be in positions where they carry out these tasks and must understand the EIA process and legal requirements.
Language: English
Duration: 2 days (2-3 April)
Price: US$475
Min/Max: 15-35
Instructor(s): Peter Tarr, Executive Director, Southern African Institute for Environmental Assessment (Namibia)
Special Note:

Each participant must bring a laptop

 

Peter Tarr is a southern African with over 27 years experience, first as a conservationist and later an environmentalist involved in Environmental Assessment. For the past fifteen years, he has been the Executive Director of the Southern African Institute for Environmental Assessment (SAIEA). He has conducted, guided and reviewed over 100 EIAs, SEAs and EMPs for development initiatives in various sectors throughout sub-Saharan Africa. He is also involved in a number of capacity building initiatives, including developing a capacity building strategy for the pan-African network of EA professionals, conducting training needs assessments and developing and delivering a variety of training courses, mostly in African countries. He has a PhD in Environmental Management and Planning from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.