Lessons from practice: towards successful follow-up

Abstract

The experiences of practitioners at recent International Association for Impact Assessment workshops on environmental impact assessment (EIA) follow-up are summarised to distil the ingredients required for success. These are presented in relation to the contextual factors that influence EIA follow-up practice: regulations and institutional arrangements; approaches to, and techniques for, follow-up; resources and capacity to conduct follow-up; and project type. In addition, the role of stakeholders is relevant in attaining successful EIA follow-up. The paper describes the relationships between these contextual factors and the stakeholder groups. It identifies some common barriers to EIA follow-up implementation and concludes with lessons learnt about what makes EIA follow-up successful.