Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in Pakistan is often criticized for hindering development due to procedural delays, which highlights the need to simplify EIA, as has been pursued in many other countries. This study aimed to identify the simplification initiatives undertaken by the Environmental Protection Agencies (EPAs) in Pakistan, examine the challenges encountered, and propose recommendations for the future. Structured interviews were conducted with officials across all EPAs. Findings reveal that some key initiatives have been undertaken by EPAs such as reduction in processing times, delegation of approval powers to lower-tier governments, exemption of selected project categories, and establishment of one-window facilitation cells. Respondents stressed the need for digitization and capacity building of EPAs to enhance efficiency, transparency, and accountability. They also highlighted the need to reduce bureaucratic and political interference, enabling EPAs to implement reforms effectively. The study concludes that without adequate human resources, technical expertise, and institutional stability, simplification efforts are unlikely to achieve sustainable outcomes. Also, Pakistan needs more of streamlining the system rather than simplifying procedural requirements like a lot of other countries. The findings offer valuable lessons for Pakistan and other developing countries seeking to streamline EIA processes without undermining environmental protection.
In this paper, the authors reflect on the state of the art of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in 2026, based on the professional academic literature (refereed papers, professional books and book chapters). The history of SEA development, extent of SEA application and interpretations as well as associated research activities and elements of effectiveness are outlined. Furthermore, a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis is provided, which takes the SWOT analysis of an earlier State of the Art of SEA paper, written 14 years ago and published also in Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal as the starting point. Over the past 14 years, countries requiring SEA, as well as practice and publications on SEA have grown. Some new opportunities and threats are observed to have emerged. These revolve around simplification efforts, artificial intelligence and the growing recognition of a framework approach to tiered SEA and EIA.
This paper presents a state-of-the-art review of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) teaching literature from 2012 to 2025, applying a SWOT framework to assess current practices and future directions. Drawing on a systematic literature review, it highlights key strengths, including pedagogical diversity, integration of theory and practice, and alignment with international best practice. Nonetheless, persistent weaknesses, such as disjointed curricula, limited incorporation of sustainability principles, and low levels of research engagement, impede the effectiveness of EIA teaching. Opportunities for advancement include interdisciplinary expansion, pedagogical innovation, and stronger links to professional practice. At the same time, threats such as institutional fragmentation, legislative risks, and disciplinary ambiguity pose challenges to EIA teaching. Notably, the literature reveals a lack of engagement with emerging challenges such as artificial intelligence (AI) and global disruptions, underscoring the need for more forward-looking and adaptive EIA teaching frameworks.
Projects intended for public-good, such as urban renewal, have been implemented worldwide. Although generally perceived as beneficial to communities, urban renewal projects are large-footprint projects in nature, which generate various social impacts, both positive and negative, on local residents. By analyzing a representative urban renewal project in China, this study found that such projects might not inherently achieve public-good outcomes. Instead, they could negatively affect residents in the short term or even over a long period. Inadequate planning and poor cooperation with stakeholders might risk creating chronic and repetitive disruptions within the community. To fully achieve public-good, a project should gain a social license to operate (SLO) and grow and manage its intended and unintended social impacts. A developer's pursuit of a high-level social license contributes to a deeper understanding of the community characteristics, as well as more effective management strategies. This study advances the SLO field by demonstrating that even projects conceived for the public good require deliberate, trust-based negotiation with communities, especially in contexts where impact history shapes expectations.
Offshore wind energy (OWE) has gained international prominence as an alternative for the energy transition. Due to their potentially significant impacts, OWE projects are often subject to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Within the EIA process, follow-up is a crucial step in informing project's management and enabling learning for future EIAs. Given that the regulatory framework is a core dimension of governance and foundational to effective EIA practice, this study provided a critical analysis of the strengths and gaps of EIA follow-up regulatory frameworks for OWE in six countries: China, the Netherlands, England, the United States, Australia, and Brazil. Results showed that EIA follow-up is required for OWE projects in all countries analysed, with similar requirements regarding activities and interested parties' responsibilities, and with some promising practices identified in certain countries. However, most frameworks lack requirements and mechanisms to enable adaptive management, learning for future EIAs, community engagement, and public disclosure. To overcome these gaps, guidance documents may play an important role in complementing legal provisions by providing and regularly updating guidelines in alignment with EIA best practice principles.
Environmental impact assessment (EIA) practice is operating in a rapidly changing world. This paper identifies practice-engaged perspectives on the expected and idealised futures of EIA practice using Q-methodology. The results identify areas of consensus in terms of expected and idealised futures, further differentiated into overlapping and non-overlapping perspectives. Results reveal that EIA practice is expected to persist with economic-growth orientated decision making as well as continued streamlining, while idealised futures involve alignment of investment decisions with sustainability goals and the application of green and sustainable finance taxonomies for better environmental protection. The alignment of overlapping consensus for expected and idealised futures suggests that EIA is unlikely to become redundant while political pressures will increasingly influence trade-off decisions and the financial sector's consideration of alternatives.
Follow-up is a critical stage of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and can be understood through the dimensions of monitoring, evaluation, management, engagement and communication, and governance. This article analyses EIA follow-up in the Brazilian context, considering these five dimensions, with a focus on environmental licensing in the state of Minas Gerais. A document analysis was conducted on 569 documents related to ten hydroelectric power plant cases, covering the period from 2016 to 2023. Overall, the results indicate that EIA follow-up has been implemented in a fragmented manner, largely oriented towards compliance with licence conditions. Although data are periodically collected through monitoring activities, there is limited evaluation of environmental performance, together with a lack of proactive management practices and governance arrangements capable of ensuring effective follow-up. Limited access to follow-up information constrains engagement and communication and undermines institutional learning. In isolated cases, opportunities were identified, including the adoption of adaptive management practices and the involvement of affected communities. The findings highlight the importance of strengthening the institutional capacity of environmental agencies and promoting specific guidelines for follow-up implementation, in order to transform EIA into a more dynamic, transparent, and effective instrument for maintaining environmental quality.
Since the introduction of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in South Africa, many institutions have contributed to the advancement of the field. This is especially true for the higher education sector, which has done so through EIA training and research. The aim of this paper is to reflect on the current EIA training and research at higher education institutions in South Africa. We achieve this by undertaking a systematic review of environmental-related qualifications offered at 26 higher education institutions, as well as a literature analysis of EIA research by using a well-established database. Results indicate that 20 institutions teach EIA with most qualifications at the postgraduate level within geography and environmental sciences. EIA research forms an integral part of postgraduate qualifications, especially at the top contributing institutions, with a total of 139 dissertations (n = 125) and theses (n = 14) delivered. We conclude by reflecting on the future of EIA training and research in South Africa.
Biodiversity surveys are essential in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), providing baseline information for impact prediction and decision-making. Brazilian legislation requires the identification of scientific, economic, rare, or endangered value, but does not specify meth-odologies. We evaluated the floristic survey conducted for the EIA of an iron ore mining project in the Serra de Ouro Preto, at the entrance of Ouro Preto, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We conducted a pioneering counter-assessment based on a one-day field survey in Campos Rupestres vegetation, depositing vouchers in herbarium, and identifying specimens with taxonomic rigor; additional records were retrieved from virtual herbaria. We documented 93 species, 79 recorded in the field and 14 from herbaria. Of the field-recorded species, 56 (71%) were absent from the EIA report, including four endangered species and one microendemic species (new status at species rank). We also identified 23 medicinal species and seven ruderal species. Herbarium records revealed another microendemic species restricted to the affected area and absent from the EIA report. These findings indicate incomplete legal compliance and inadequate biodiversity characterization, highlighting the need for clearer regulations and stronger technical guidance. Despite the limitations of the case study approach, findings have clear implications to EIA theory and practice. KEY POLICY HIGHLIGHTS A pioneering counter-proofsurvey of Campos Rupestres vegetation recorded 79 vascular plantspecies, 56 missing from the EIA report, including four endangered species anda new status to science at species level. Herbarium data added 14more species, including a recently described taxon, microendemic to theaffected area, also missing from the report. The methodology used in theElA failed to meet legal requirements for identifying the most impactedspecies rare, endangered, and microendemic leading to their exclusion from-mitigation and compensation measures. Findings underscore theneed for clearer regulations and technical standards for floristic sampling andtaxonomic identification in ElAs.
Safeguarding cultural World Heritage amid urban development demands rigorous assessment methods to identify and address impacts on Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). This study presents a structured heritage impact assessment (HIA) framework tailored to World Heritage contexts, with particular attention to legal, institutional, and operational conditions in China. Drawing on UNESCO and ICOMOS guidance, the framework includes two tools: Assessment Tool 1 (heritage attribute identification and sensitivity analysis) and Assessment Tool 2 (impact magnitude and significance evaluation). The framework is applied to the West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou, a UNESCO-listed site facing mounting development pressures. Using the post-construction case of the Shangri-La Hotel East Wing expansion, the assessment identifies major visual impacts on key heritage attributes and illustrates how mitigation, such as height reduction, architectural modification, and landscape buffering can reduce adverse effects. The findings emphasize the importance of value-based assessment, even in late-stage interventions, and contribute to evolving practice in heritage-sensitive planning. The framework offers a structured and transferable approach for evaluating development impacts on heritage sites worldwide.
Regional and strategic assessments (RAs/SAs) can influence the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of subsequent project impact assessments (IAs) in various ways. This can include improving project proposals by affecting the nature, intensity and distribution of future development, by addressing important issues through larger effects management approaches, or by contributing information, analysis, mitigation and context to these later assessments. This article presents the findings of two workshops held in late 2025 with federal government personnel that are involved in project IAs in Atlantic Canada. Through questions about overall RA/SA objectives and their various potential outputs, the workshops sought participants' views on whether, how and to what degree these may be influential in project IA scoping decisions by government. RAs/SAs are viewed largely as foundational and contextual pieces for later project IAs, rather than replacing or significantly streamlining most aspects of these assessments due to issues of scale, and the need to still consider environmental conditions, potential effects and mitigation in a project-, site- and time-specific context. RA/SA outputs are therefore seen primarily as a means of 'scoping better' rather than 'scoping out', and for informing project IA conduct by proponents.
Health impact assessment (HIA) is a flexible, evidence-informed process used to evaluate the health and equity implications of decisions, policies and plans. While HIA has gained global traction, its institutionalisation - defined as the systematic integration of HIA into decision-making - remains uneven across contexts. This paper explores how HIA institutionalisation is conceptualised, identifying key facilitators, barriers and conditions that shape its implementation. A systematic scoping review including 24 peer-reviewed studies and grey literature, and an online workshop with 17 experts was undertaken. Results indicated key facilitators for institutionalisation of HIA included legislation, guidance and dedicated resources; barriers were the absence of these. Findings informed a conceptual framework for HIA institutionalisation with four stages, advocacy, adoption, implementation and institutionalisation, supported by a 'wall of institutionalisation' of enabling activities. This was applied to Wales to appraise maturity. It demonstrated that legislation including the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017 has created an enabling environment for HIA, underpinned by numerous activities and a dedicated HIA Support Unit. The discussion offers transferable learning and actionable insights for policy, research and practice, highlights future areas of development and provides a practical roadmap and maturity baseline for systems seeking to institutionalise HIA.
