Complexities of managing multiple forms of development projects and plans, ascending economic trajectory, climate change issues, and impacts of growing demands from nature for resources and ecosystem benefits make the science and practice of impact assessment most challenging. Therefore, evolving more sophisticated impact assessment approaches to promote inclusive developments is genuinely needed in the digital age.
'The purpose of biodiversity conservation is to provide the greatest good to the greatest number of people for the longest time' observed Gifford Pinchot, the eminent conservationist. Impact assessment practice should therefore, project and resolve the conservation issues associated with development plans and proposals. Development of enabling tools for mainstreaming biodiversity and ecosystem benefits in impact assessment has accordingly emerged as a priority for a range of beneficiaries.
Trainers need to enrich the knowledge and improve their competence to advance impact assessment practice.  Practitioners have to be on the lookout for robust and recent methodologies for raising the profile of biodiversity to aid good assessments and to fast track the process. Decision-makers need to have better negotiating tools for biodiversity gains from development.  Policy makers must encourage best options for achieving the win-wins to resolve the dilemmas of conservation and development.  Business groups need to understand why they must pay for biodiversity conservation as a debt for destruction from past actions and as dues for drawing from the nature in future. Donors require greater level of insight and trust for investing in sustainable and responsible development.
Novel ideas, new tools, digital data sources, technological choices and innovative thinking can improve EA practice. This course provides an opportunity to a range of target groups-trainers, practitioners, development planners, business groups, conservation community, decision-makers, donor agencies and economists to take home adequate guidance for steering development towards greater convergence of economic well-being and ecological sustainability goals.

Course description
Complexities of managing multiple forms of development projects and plans, ascending economic trajectory, climate change issues, and impacts of growing demands from nature for resources and ecosystem benefits make the science and practice of impact assessment most challenging. Therefore, evolving more sophisticated impact assessment approaches to promote inclusive developments is genuinely needed in the digital age.
'The purpose of biodiversity conservation is to provide the greatest good to the greatest number of people for the longest time' observed Gifford Pinchot, the eminent conservationist. Impact assessment practice should therefore, project and resolve the conservation issues associated with development plans and proposals. Development of enabling tools for mainstreaming biodiversity and ecosystem benefits in impact assessment has accordingly emerged as a priority for a range of beneficiaries.
Trainers need to enrich the knowledge and improve their competence to advance impact assessment practice.  Practitioners have to be on the lookout for robust and recent methodologies for raising the profile of biodiversity to aid good assessments and to fast track the process. Decision-makers need to have better negotiating tools for biodiversity gains from development.  Policy makers must encourage best options for achieving the win-wins to resolve the dilemmas of conservation and development.  Business groups need to understand why they must pay for biodiversity conservation as a debt for destruction from past actions and as dues for drawing from the nature in future. Donors require greater level of insight and trust for investing in sustainable and responsible development.
Novel ideas, new tools, digital data sources, technological choices and innovative thinking can improve EA practice. This course provides an opportunity to a range of target groups-trainers, practitioners, development planners, business groups, conservation community, decision-makers, donor agencies and economists to take home adequate guidance for steering development towards greater convergence of economic well-being and ecological sustainability goals.
The course will cover the following main elements:

• Encourage thinking ‘out-of-the-box’ for evolving ‘win-win’ opportunities for biodiversity conservation, development and well being goals.
• Benefits of digital biodiversity data for improving the efficiency and quality of impact assessment
• Revisiting the EA framework for integrating ecosystems and economic valuation approach in impact assessment
• Incentivizing biodiversity conservation for development through offsets
• Introduction to a range of next generation impact assessment tools for assessing the ‘big picture’  impacts of multiple projects and plans
• Sharing of  global experiences of successful biodiversity planning and mainstreaming in key sectors
• Facilitate sharing and peer-based learning among IA professionals

The training course will consist of a series of presentations by experienced instructors for sharing of practical experience in the subject area. The training sessions will include formal presentations, and participatory learning sessions. The role-plays and film show have been incorporated in the proposed course plan with an objective of simulating real life situations for better understanding of the role of different stakeholders in impact assessment and the varied and complex dimensions of environmental decision-making.
            Description of the materials participants will receive prior to or during the course.

• IAIA’s best practice principles for integrating biodiversity and impact assessment.
• Copy of the “Best practice guidance for biodiversity-inclusive impact assessment: A manual for practitioners and reviewers” CBBIA-IAIA publication and co-authored by the trainers
• Promoting biodiversity data inclusive EIA: Best Practice Guide for publishing primary biodiversity data coauthored by the trainers and published by Global Biodiversity Information Facility in 2012
• Case study of cumulative impacts assessment of the hydroelectric projects on aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity in two river basins in India (as an aid to guidance on methodology)
• A CD containing power point presentations from course instructors
• A range of  other e-learning resources and relevant best practice guidance tools

Qualifications of the trainer(s)
Dr. Asha
Dr. Asha Rajvanshi has a doctorate in Environmental Science. She is a member, faculty of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) for last 28 years. She heads the EIA Cell of the Institute. In her capacity as an EIA practitioner, she has led several EIA studies to assess the impacts of development projects in key sectors. As a trainer, she has been actively involved in national and global capacity building initiatives. She has effectively contributed to the development of learning resources and guidance manuals for mainstreaming biodiversity in impact assessment. These are becoming increasingly popular as tools for professionalizing EIA in south Asia.  Asha’s professional experience is also being sought in advisory support to Govt. of India and other professional bodies. She is a member of the Environment Committee, Indian Road Congress and member of Accreditation Committee of the Quality Council of India for Accreditation of EIA consulting organizations. Asha is a member of the International Association for Impact Assessment, USA and has served as the Co-Chair of its Biodiversity Section for five years. Asha presented IAIA’s pre-conference training courses in Boston (USA), Stavangar (Norway), Seoul (Korea), Perth (Australia), Accra (Ghana), Geneva (Switzerland), Puebla (Mexico), Porto (Portugal) and Calgary (Canada) from 2005 to 2013.

Dr. Vinod.B. Mathur