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 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;

Participants will be made aware of common pitfalls and how to deal with them.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Summary and Purpose, Content and Learning Outcomes
This 2-day course will combine lectures delivered by the trainers, general discussions and individual and group work (see next page for course outline).  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 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;
• Participants will be made aware of common pitfalls and how to deal with them.

Description of the Course Structure and Content
The course outline, showing topics, times and presenters, is proposed as follows:

   
The course is targeted at intermediate to senior personnel in two main spheres:

• Regulatory authorities who have to review and approve Terms of Reference, scopes of work, scoping reports and EIA reports and make decisions about projects (e.g. the government ministries or departments that oversee EIA in their countries); and
• Proponents e.g. the environmental or corporate sustainability managers who have to issue ToRs, conduct a tendering process for environmental services, adjudicate the bids/proposal received and manage the environmental consultants through the EIA process.

However, this course would also be of value for consultants at the intermediate level in order for them to improve how they respond to ToRs, bid for work and write reports.
The course structure and content is organized around the following three key themes, with learning developed though consideration of each, as well as the relationships among them:

Writing EIA Terms of Reference
Too often, the EIA process is flawed from the start due to weak terms of reference (ToR), inadequate response by consultants in their proposals, and inadequate quality review by clients or government agencies.  The course will stress the importance of clearly defining at the outset: the scope of work, the expected deliverables, the project timetable, the qualifications required, data and resources that will be made available, budgeting and the bidding process, etc.  ToRs for both overall EIA and specialist studies will be considered.
Examples of good and poor ToRs for a variety of applications will be provided, as well as a checklist of aspects that need to be addressed in writing good ToRs and evaluating them.  Participants will practice writing key components of a ToR based on a case study project.

Tendering for and adjudicating EIA proposals
The delegates will be taught some basic aspects of tendering or soliciting proposals and various models will be examined.
The delegates will be instructed on the importance of the ‘getting it right first time’ and how the proposed scope of work that is submitted to a client or to the authorities for approval is fundamental to how the ensuing EIA is carried out and how useful it will be for decision-making by all parties.  Delegates will be provided with a useful framework to help them adjudicate proposals and scopes of work.  Common pitfalls will be highlighted.

EIA Review and Approval
Competent EIA review is essential to assuring EIA quality, determining project approval, specifying approval conditions, and laying the foundations for EMP follow-up.  Participants will be given samples of review templates/criteria for various EIA documents -- e.g. Scoping Report, EIA report, EMP -- and will be asked to review actual EIA reports, to act as government EIA authorities tasked with granting EIA approval (or not), and to formulate conditions of approval that are comprehensive, practical and auditable.  We will endeavor to ensure that the EIA documents that are reviewed during the course will relate to the theme of the conference.
Especially in developing countries, developers and governments sometimes contract out EIA “guidance and reviews”.  We will examine the value of external review, and the need to factor this into the overall quality assurance process.  The participants will be taught how to select and appoint (ToR) an external reviewer, and at what points in the EIA process the reviewer should be used. 

Description of Participant Materials
Templates, checklists, frameworks, lists of criteria, examples of good and poor practice – all as discussed above.
Participants will be asked to bring a Scoping report, EIA report or EMP with them to review using a framework which will be provided during the course.

QUALIFICATIONS OF THE TRAINER

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 ten 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.