Training Courses

IAIA pre-conference training courses are presented primarily by IAIA members. The courses are open to all participants but require advance registration and payment.

IAIA12 pre-conference training courses will be held from 09:00 - 17:00 on Sunday, 27 May, and Monday, 28 May. The courses will be held at the congress center.

IAIA's courses cost US$395 for the 2-day courses and US$225 for the 1-day course. This fee includes course materials, light lunches, and coffee breaks. Participants in the training courses who are not registered for the IAIA conference will be assessed an additional US$75 fee. Course fees must be paid in full before you will be enrolled in the training course.

Please register early! Courses will be cancelled if they do not reach the minimum number of paid participants by 31 March 2012.

Minimum/maximum class sizes are noted. If the training course for which you have registered does not meet the minimum number by 31 March, IAIA HQ will notify you and provide refund information or offer to transfer you to another course. Course registration after 31 March is possible but is subject to availability, instructor consent, and receipt of payment.

If you must cancel, your course registration fee will be refunded minus a US$75 administration fee and contingent upon a written notice of cancellation received in HQ by 30 April 2012. After 30 April, no refunds will be issued.

A limited number of free training course registrations are available to student participants of IAIA12 once courses reach their minimum paid enrollments. If you are interested, please send your name, a 300-word statement of interest explaining how the chosen training course could contribute to your research or student career, and first and second course choices to (impact@iaia.org) by 23 April. Allocations of the free training course slots will be made by 30 April 2012, based on the order in which the requests were received and subject to instructor approval.

Check-in for the training courses will be at the IAIA registration desk in the lobby of the convention center at the following times.

• Saturday, 26 May | 15:00-17:00
• Sunday, 27 May | 08:00-10:00, 14:00-17:00
• Monday, 28 May | 08:00

Name tags will be distributed at check-in and are required for admission to courses.

Check-in the day before your course begins is encouraged.

ACHIEVING THE FULL POTENTIAL OF SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

This intermediate course provides an overview of current leading practice of SIA in industry and that is consistent with IAIA's International Principles for Social Impact Assessment. We address current issues and topics that are relevant to the business of managing of social impacts of planned interventions. The trainers include a person with considerable consulting experience in industry and a leading academic in the field of SIA. The course goes well beyond traditional approaches which saw SIA as only occurring in project settings driven by a legislative framework. In the understanding being advanced, SIA is much more than the ex-ante prediction of social impacts, it is the process of managing the social issues and a mechanism to ensure beneficial outcomes are achieved.

This course will appeal to early career SIA practitioners, people who commission SIAs, people who would like to do them, people who are involved in assessing them, and people with a general interest in the field. Specific course objectives are to:

• Increase awareness of new developments in SIA thinking and practice.
• Create awareness of the benefits to proponents of seeing SIA as a process of engagement rather than being limited to a point-in-time assessment.
• Strengthen understandings of the social nature of impacts on communities.
• Build practical knowledge in how to conduct an SIA.
• Increase ability to critically evaluate an SIA.
• Increase awareness of approaches to ensure SIA commitments are implemented.
• Provide tools to realise the potential of proponents to contribute to longer term sustainability outcomes.
• Increase comprehension of the ethical, human rights and legal issues in SIA practice.

The course provides frameworks and tools to consider issues such as social impact management plans, sustainable livelihoods, human rights, gender, free, prior and informed consent, agreement-making with Indigenous peoples, cumulative impacts, social investment partnerships, grievance mechanisms, and highlights emerging trends.

The course is mindful of the conference "Energy" theme in that one of the case study exercises deals with the social impacts associated with the use of "fracking" methods to extract gas for energy purposes.

THE CULTURAL HERITAGE COMPONENT OF IMPACT ASSESSMENT: CLASS ROOM AND FIELD TRAINING IN METHODS AND ISSUES

This two-day course presents general guidance on strengthening the cultural heritage component of EIA and SEA and prepares participants to conduct and review the cultural heritage component of impact assessment. In keeping with the theme of IAIA12, the course includes a detailed case study on the issue of proposed transmission lines in the Alto Douro Wine Region, a World Heritage Site, and a field trip to the site with a related exercise to be completed by course participants. This case study also will be the subject of a proposed session as part of the program of IAIA12, featuring presentations by major stakeholders and discussion of the issues.

The rationale for inscription of this site on the World Heritage List in 2001 as a "cultural landscape" was its "outstanding beauty that reflects its technological, social and economic evolution." However, transmission lines on the landscape compromise these values, thus possibly jeopardizing the region's status as a World Heritage Site.

The course covers the various definitions and aspects of culture and cultural heritage. An interactive format provides for discussion of the value placed on both cultural practices and material culture by diverse stakeholder groups involved in the development process. Policies, standards and guidance materials for covering cultural heritage in EIA are presented and discussed, with reference to several guidance documents, including the detailed World Bank Physical Cultural Resources Safeguard Policy Guidebook, the Physical Cultural Resources Country Profiles, and a compendium of additional references on techniques and tools. A step-by-step discussion of the cultural heritage component in the EIA process, including creation and monitoring of the Environmental Management Plan (EMP), indicates the considerations, actions, and methods required at each step. A brief presentation on SEA highlights the importance and rationale for including culture and cultural institutions in this investigative and planning process, and a discussion of cumulative effects encourages participants to consider long-range impacts of development projects on cultural heritage.

CUMULATIVE EFFECTS AND FOLLOW-UP IN IMPACT ASSESSMENT

This intermediate/advanced level course has five purposes:

1. To summarize the state of professional practice regarding the conduct of the fundamental requirements of CEA within Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) processes.
2. To plan the accomplishment of the fundamental requirements for an actual proposed project from a European country.
3. To illustrate the use of environmental sustainability considerations in determining the significance of cumulative effects.
4. To discuss adaptive management(and monitoring) as follow-up activities in CEAs for large-scale proposals
5. To summarize policy choices and collaboration approaches for the development of local and regional cumulative effects management initiatives.

The premise of this course is that CEA should be an integral part of, and not separate from, both in-country and international EIA processes. The fundamental requirements are focused on stepwise procedures associated with international best practice principles that guide the professional practice of EIA and CEA. These procedures and principles are addressed by identifying key valued ecosystem components (VECs), focusing on those for which CEA is appropriate; delineating spatial and temporal boundaries for each of the VECs; describing historical baseline conditions and trends; establishing cause-effect linkages between past, present, and future actions and VECs; determining the significance of cumulative effects via the use of environmental sustainability principles; development of follow-up adaptive management programs based on six common elements; and development of project mitigation and regional management programs, as appropriate.

Attention will be directed toward practical approaches for management of cumulative effects, including the use of emissions trading, collaborative planning, and appropriate institutional policies and programs. Practical processes for both preparing and reviewing CEA-related documents will be emphasized, along with presentations on (energy) case studies, and workshop sessions involving interactive groups. A central feature of the course will be group activities related to the development of a CEA plan for a proposed energy project from a European country (Portugal if possible). Interchange of information and experiences by the participants will be encouraged within all methods of presentation. The anticipated learning outcomes are achieving a better understanding of the principles and practices of CEA, and the ability to effectively apply them in study planning and review.

INCREASING TANGIBILITY IN SEA THROUGH VALUATION OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

The course's main purpose is to lead participants to understand

1. How they can value ecosystem goods and services using a broad valuation concept.
2. How they can strategically use valuation of ecosystem goods and services to increase tangibility in SEA.

Often SEA has been criticized for being too general and qualitative. While that is a matter of fact in many circumstances, there are approaches that help improve the role of SEA for strategic decisionmaking. This course will introduce participants to the valuation of ecosystem services, as a means to improve the added value of SEA. Valuation of ecosystem services is encouraged by the Convention on Biological Diversity through its ecosystem approach (a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources). In SEA the valuation of ecosystem services in financial terms is not always possible, and often neither is it needed. The role of ecosystem services in SEA can range from simple recognition of services to quantification of services, societal valuation, or ultimately to economic valuation. But even if broad strategic decisions do not need an economic approach, politicians often like, or need, figures and statistics to support and reinforce their decisions. In other words, economic valuation is not indispensable; it can be done in other terms, but it can be a powerful advocacy tool to assist decision makers. For all these reasons it makes sense to address this theme in an SEA perspective and context.

The course will use a case application approach led by Maria Rosário Partidário and Roel Slootweg. It will involve short presentations, case examples, and group exercises. Participants attending this course are required to have a good background on SEA to enable advanced workshop discussion. The course will not go into the details of economic valuation. Moreover, it presents a broad overview of valuation techniques and a stepwise approach to identify ecosystem services and their stakeholders and to define the best approach to valuation of these services for any specific situation.

Learning Outcomes

• How to value ecosystem goods and services using a broad valuation concept;
• How to increase SEA tangibility using integrated valuation of ecosystem goods and services;
• How to strategically contribute to improve decision

INVOLUNTARY RESETTLEMENT: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE

This two-day program is designed to provide a forum for intermediate-level resettlement practitioners to resolve practical issues and problems that arise in resettlement operations and to build their confidence to move toward a more advanced level of understanding and practice in this field. The organizers will structure their presentations, but the discussions—both during and after each presentation—will focus on the participants' experiences and questions.

The fundamental organizational premise of this workshop is that practitioners in the field work in relative isolation. Often their decisions are correct, but there is nowhere to vet their thinking or their approach. Consequently, workshop goals and learning outcome include:

• Provide an opportunity for intermediate resettlement practitioners to review best practice resettlement planning and implementation guidance.
• Increase the level of confidence that participants have with more complex multi- component development projects requiring resettlement.
• Through case studies and other participant questions, expose participants to a variety of different resettlement scenarios, challenges, and solutions.
• In view of the one-off nature of professional development courses, establish (among participants) the foundation for a professional network that will enable participants to continue this knowledge-sharing after they complete the workshop.

The workshop is premised on—and designed to take full advantage of—the participants' own broad range of sectoral and geographic experience through a balanced mix of instructor presentations and sessions (moderated discussion, group work and presentations) designed to enable participants to put the principles described in the presentations into practice ("Principles into Practice Sessions"). Broadly, the workshop is divided into two days, with the first day principally focusing on resettlement planning and the second on resettlement implementation.

MAINSTREAMING BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN ENERGY PROJECTS: WHAT CAN IMPACT ASSESSMENT OFFER?

Developments in the energy sector are essential components for economic growth that can have a significant bearing on the global economy. At the same time, energy security depends on healthy and diverse ecosystems. Rivers, coastal lands, croplands and forests deliver a range of ecosystem services that support energy production and are also fundamental to human well-being. In an ideal world, a sound solution to the energy crisis would not conflict with simultaneous efforts to promote the conservation agenda as both play an essential role in human development. Yet experience reflects that biodiversity and ecosystem services are seldom factored into decisions on energy investments and are most often compromised.

Considering that no source of energy is truly green, the best development models are undoubtedly those that perceive the optimal complementarities between economic development and biodiversity conservation. Considerations of least impacts and possibly, even neutral impacts on biodiversity and other key elements of nature sensitive areas should guide the decisions on which energy options (bio-fuel, coal, hydropower, solar power or wind) or combinations to promote. Biodiversity-inclusive impact assessment can offer the planning and decision support for encouraging the greener energy projects.

The mainstreaming tools are gradually evolving and needs to be popularised through capacity development initiatives like this course for delivering the benefits of sustainable energy development. This two-day course is an intermediate level course for mid career EA professionals, business groups, decision-makers, government officials, donor agencies and economists.

This course aims to encourage the impact assessment professionals to think "out of the box" for evolving "win-win" opportunities for both development and biodiversity. For decision-makers, it will help encourage developments that are environmentally benign and socially acceptable. For donors and those in the government, the course will instill a greater sense of urgency and responsibility for investing in sustainable green energy development plans.

PLANNING FOR EFFECTIVE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

The International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) strives to present high-quality training that promotes the use of public participation as a value- added element of decision-making. The IAP2 Certificate Programme aims to assist participants in developing and refining existing skills in:

• Establishing a baseline of knowledge about the practice
• Promoting rigorous, goal-driven, values-based and decision-oriented public participation activities
• Creating and reinforcing a universal lexicon for the work of public participation
• Promoting new and emerging tools, approaches and applications of public participation in diverse situations
• Providing opportunities for more experienced practitioners to share knowledge, mentor newer practitioners and increase collective wisdom of practice.

This course is the planning module, a prerequisite for other modules of the IAP2 Certificate Programme, provides the foundations of effective public participation programs. IAP2 has worked with practitioners from around the world to develop foundational tools that transcend national and cultural boundaries. From beginning to advanced levels, practitioners find the training useful in assisting their working with the public and clients to establish effective public participation. These tools are presented in an interactive and experiential learning environment, providing students with opportunities to explore their own public participation challenges with their instructor and peers.

This course is mindful of the conference's energy theme in use of case studies and instructor experience in this sector.

Content

• Course overview: Objectives, defining "public participation" and "the public," when and why do public participation
• Introduction to IAP2's Foundations of Public Participation
• IAP2's Five Steps for Public Participation Planning. Anticipated learning outcomes

Enable participants to:

• Define public participation and what distinguishes it from related fields
• Apply a systematic, rigorous planning process to public involvement
• Identify and understand the IAP2 Foundations of Public Participation and apply these to public participation planning
• Apply tools to public participation planning including IAP2 Core Values, Code of Ethics and Spectrum
• Identify and write public participation objectives that clarify the role of the public
• Develop public participation plans including evaluation

QUALITY ASSURANCE IN EIA: GUIDE AND REVIEW

This 2-day course will combine lectures delivered by the trainers, general discussions and individual and group work. It will have two main parts: the first will provide the delegates 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 typical energy sector 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 energy projects we have been involved with: hydro-electric projects, gas and coal fired power plants, wind energy and transmission line studies.

The learning outcomes will include:

• Better appreciation and confidence about how to guide and review large and small EIAs
• Tools (templates, criteria, frameworks, decision-trees) to write ToRs, run a tendering process, adjudicate proposals, manage the entire EIA process and review the documentation
• Awareness of common pitfalls and how to deal with them

Theory and practice of multicriteria analysis for environmental impact assessment of projects and plans

Consideration of different alternatives is one of the fundamental requirements of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) procedures. The analysis and comparison of different alternatives (both at the strategic and project level) implies balancing different impact types, reaching an understanding of the merits of each option, and eventually establishing a preferability ranking. This calls for a framework to integrate factual information on effects and impacts, with values and preferences of decision-makers and stakeholders.

Multicriteria analysis (MCA) techniques offer such a framework, and for this reason they are increasingly used in EIA and SEA. This intermediate-level course aims at providing theoretical insights and hands-on experience on the application of MCA to EIA and SEA. More specifically, the course will address the following topics:

1. Basic concepts of decision theory (definition of objective, criterion, decision tree, etc.)
2. Structuring a decision problem
3. Introduction to the philosophy of multicriteria analysis for environmental decision-making
4. Methodological steps in multicriteria analysis: value functions, weight assessment aggregation techniques, sensitivity analysis, and presentation of results
5. Working with a Decision Support System (DSS)
6. Application example in the realm of EIA and SEA (using MCA to compare alternative infrastructure developments and spatial plan policies)
7. GIS-based MCA: Dealing with the spatial component of environmental decision-making problems.

The teaching method is based on theoretical lectures, group discussions and hands-on exercises using specific software (DSS) that implements MCA. This will allow participants to gain insights on the usefulness of MCA, and on its potential applicability in their field of work.

Expected learning outcomes:

• Understanding the advantages and limitations of MCA
• Structuring a decision problem requiring multiple criteria
• Understanding the differences between main MCA techniques;
• Familiarizing with approaches for weight assessment and sensitivity analysis
• Skills in using a DSS to conduct MCA
• Understanding the role played by technical experts, stakeholders and decision-makers in MCA-based decision-making processes
• Gaining first-hand experience by analyzing real-life (though simplified) case studies

The target audience of this course is represented by practitioners, international agency personnel, public officers, and students interested in environmental decision-making and in the comparison of options in impact assessment procedures.

UNDERSTANDING IMPACT ASSESSMENT: PRINCIPLES, METHODS, AND EMERGING TRENDS

This course is aimed at individuals who have recently started to work with some form of impact assessment, or will be doing so in the near future, and need to learn more about the nature of the process. These may be people using impact assessments to help with their decision-making or having to provide information or other forms of input to an impact assessment process. One key purpose of the course is to broaden participants' understanding of the impact assessment process as a whole, and to appreciate the breadth of application, and what constitutes good practice impact assessment. In particular it aims to show that the basic principles of impact assessment are shared across all forms of the approach, and in different decision- making contexts (policies through to projects).

A second important aim is to highlight significant emerging trends in impact assessment, both in specific forms of impact assessment (such as health impact assessment), but also in newer applications of impact assessment. The latter category would include, for example, the consolidation of the Equator Principles among private sector financial institutions, the increasing recognition of post- disaster and post-conflict strategic environmental assessment, and the steady expansion of climate change impact assessment.

The first part of the course sets the scene, addressing the purposes and benefitsof well grounded impact assessment. A generic model of impact assessment is then employed to explore the broad methods and approaches of IA. That model underpins the consideration, in the second part of the course, of the various forms of impact assessment: from social, cultural, and health, to ecological/biophysical; and from strategic assessment of policies to project level IA. The generic model emphasises an integrated perspective of impact assessment, and the various forms of IA are seen as being interdependent. This platform is then used to explore some of the more important trends in impact assessment.

As the course progresses, I try to link key themes to topics being addressed in the IAIA conference itself. This helps participants derive greater benefit from the conference, especially for those relatively new to the field.

ISSUES IN HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENT FOR THE ENERGY INDUSTRY

This foundation--level course is intended to introduce participants to the value and use of Health Impact Assessment within the energy sector. Energy industries—such as oil production, natural gas development, wind energy and hydroelectricity—are essential components of our economies. However, energy developments are also often contentious and companies face increasing challenges in making their activities sustainable and socially responsible. Large--scale energy industry projects may impact community health through activities such as construction, transport of materials, importing migrant workers, causing changes to the biophysical environment and other factors that directly or indirectly influence health.

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) has been recommended as a way to assess and mitigate negative impacts of projects on community health, safety and security and to enhance potentially positive impacts. The recommendation to use HIA comes from resource development industry associations, finance institutions, some national authorities and the World Health Organization.

In this training workshop we will explore a broad range of issues related to the use of HIA for energy projects, including how to define health; the value that HIA generates for stakeholders and project proponents; HIA methods; guidance for conducting, commissioning and evaluating HIAs; the benefits of stand--alone HIA vs. integrated assessment; and issues specific to indigenous populations. The course will draw heavily on case studies from the literature and from the trainers' own experience.