PACT's Mekong Partnership for the Environment gave this presentation on whether meaningful public participation in Environmental Impact Assessment is possible in the Mekong Region. Case studies in other countries and domains were looked at.

1. Case
studies
on
“Public
Par2cipa2on
in
EIA
in
Other
Countries
Outside
the
Mekong
Region”
and
“Public
Par2cipa2on
in
Various
Domains”
Is
Meaningful
Public
Par1cipa1on
in
EIA
Possible
in
the
Mekong
Region?
2015
Greater
Mekong
Forum
on
Water,
Food,
and
Energy
21
–
23
October
2015,
Phnom
Penh,
Cambodia
AECEN
Secretariat/Mekong
Partnership
for
the
Environment
1

2. Why
Focus
on
Public
Par2cipa2on?
Key questions:
• What is the optimal level of public participation in
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)?
• Does increased public participation in decision making
through the EIA process lead to improved project
outcomes?
2

3. What
is
Public
Par2cipa2on?
“involving those who are affected by a decision
in the decision-making process.
It promotes sustainable decisions by providing
participants with the information they need to
be involved in a meaningful way, and it
communicates to participants how their input
affects the decision.”
International Association for Public Participation
3

4. Who
is
the
public?
4

5. How
much
public
par2cipa2on
is
enough?
Inform
Consult
Involve
Collaborate
Empower
P u b l i c
par1cipa1on
goal
To
provide
the
public
with
balanced
and
objec2ve
informa2on
to
assist
it
in
understanding
the
problem,
alterna2ves,
opportuni2es,
and/or
solu2ons
To
obtain
public
feedback
on
analysis,
alterna2ves,
and/or
decisions
To
work
directly
with
the
public
throughout
the
process
to
ensure
that
public
concerns
and
aspira2ons
are
consistently
understood
and
considered
To
partner
with
the
public
in
each
aspect
of
the
decision
including
the
development
of
alterna2ves
and
the
iden2fica2on
of
the
preferred
solu2on
To
place
final
decision-­‐making
in
the
hands
of
the
public
5
In the EIA process, should public participation: inform stakeholders, consult
with affected people, involve the community in finding solutions, collaborate
with the public to identify acceptable alternatives, or empower the public to
make the final decisions?
Perhaps some examples of public participation in other domains might
provide an answer on how much public participation should be expected in
the EIA process.

6. Public
Par2cipa2on
in
Health
Sector
Canadian Blood Services – after a series of
scandals regarding tainted blood, the public was
involved through standing committees of
external stakeholders, open board meetings,
consultations, roundtables, advisory committees,
consensus conferences, and public polling. As a
result “trust in the blood system has grown from
56% in 1998 to 82% in 2010”.
6

7. Public
Par2cipa2on
in
Educa2on
Sector
Australia’s Stakeholder Engagement Framework for the
education sector states that “to achieve a high-quality,
coherent, birth-through-adulthood learning and
development system, the Department must work
collaboratively and form and maintain inclusive
relationships with its stakeholders.” Principles for
engaging with stakeholders are (i) responsive &
reciprocal; (ii) inclusive; (iii) impartial & objective; (iv)
open, transparent & trusting; and (v) respectful. Such
engagement was critical in ensuring the success of the
smarter schools partnership.
7

8. Public
Par2cipa2on
in
Waste
Management
In Cape Town, South Africa, public participation was used
as part of a legal review of the city’s waste management
strategy, in the face of organized labor and alienated
hostile civic groups. Participation plans had in-depth
stakeholder analysis and strategic clustering of
stakeholder groups, followed by customized
communication and outreach tools for each stakeholder
cluster.A comprehensive range of communication tools
ensured better buy-in, information sharing, and feedback
from the stakeholder clusters.
8

9. Public
Par2cipa2on
in
the
Mining
Sector
On traditional lands, international law requires
indigenous participation in decision making. Companies
are increasingly finding participatory models that
facilitate operations. For example: (i) participation
agreements between a mining company and aboriginal
people in Canada; (ii) local agreements between the
Flambeau open pit mine in the US and government and
community representatives; (iii) future act agreements
between a mining company and aboriginal people in
Australia; and (iv) corporate social investment in South
Africa.
9

10. Public
Par2cipa2on
in
Urban
Development
For Calgary Transit in Canada’s 30 year strategic plan,
public participation involved a twitter town hall,
customer-to-customer world café, public engagement
bus, surveys, website, blog, online commenting, online
budget allocation tool, crowdsourced mobile
engagement, community events, and staff and citizen
engagement. More than 4,000 face-to-face engagements
and over 1,000 online submissions. Stakeholder input
drove the development of the strategic plan, transit
networking decisions, urban transit corridors, and
customer experience programs.
10

11. What
can
we
learn
from
public
par2cipa2on
in
other
domains?
• Agencies which provide “more” public participation tend to have
more successful outcomes, but care needs to be taken that scarce
public resources are not being wasted;
• Agencies that ask the “right” questions about where participation is
really needed, how it will be used, and how involvement is best
structured, tend to have greater success;
• Agencies that genuinely value public participation (and avoid
tokenism) tend to have greater success;
• Agencies that are more open and transparent and make all
information easily accessible (and understood) tend to have more
success; and
• Agencies that understand, partner with, and empower communities
will have greater success.
11

12. Turning
Our
AUen2on
to
EIA
12

13. What
is
the
op2mal
level
of
public
par2cipa2on
in
EIA?
13
• Tokenism is the most common form
of public participation in EIA –
typically no more than informing
and consulting, and sometimes
placation after the damage is done.
• Leading companies and project
proponents are beginning to realize
that participation at the EIA stage is
the first step in building a lasting,
cooperative partnership with the
project affected community.

14. What
are
the
Benefits
of
Public
Par2cipa2on
in
the
EIA
Process
14
• Fewer conflicts and delays improves
profitability for investors;
• Governments improve decision
making and secure greater
transparency and accountability;
• Public agencies and NGOs gain
credibility;
• Affected people influence the project
to reduce adverse impacts, maximize
benefits, and ensure appropriate
compensation;
• Vulnerable groups given special
attention, equity issues considered,
needs of the poor receive priority;
• Environmental management plans are
more effective.

15. Barriers
to
Effec2ve
Public
Par2cipa2on
in
EIA
Process
• Lack of clear regulations
• Late involvement of the public
• Lack of responsiveness towards participants
• Provision of unsuitable information
• No room for discussion between public, decision-makers and
proponent
• Attitude of participants
• Lack of capacity on the part of participants
• Lack of institutional capacity of government agencies
• Poor environmental awareness of officials and proponents
• Lack of commitment to EIA and public involvement among
government officials and proponents
• Political pressure and interference
• Lack of trust in government institutions 15

16. Best
Prac2ce
Checklist
Value adding Approach public participation so that it adds value to the
environmental impact assessment
Inclusivity Include all relevant stakeholders in the process
Accessibility Give stakeholders easy access to the process
Early
engagement
Give stakeholders the opportunity to participate from the earliest stage
possible
Transparency Make sure the process is transparent and gives access to information
Fairness Treat all stakeholders in a fair and unbiased way
Accountability Be accountable and seek accountability from all stakeholders
Cooperative Seek to manage conflict
Equity & justice Seek to redress inequity and injustice through the process
Capacity
development
Seek to develop the capacity of all stakeholders in the process
Flexibility Design and implement process to adapt to changing needs, conditions
Excellence
Strive to constantly reflect on and improve the public participation
process 16

17. Final
Words
• Public participation in EIA is believed to improve project outcomes,
but often not in developing countries.
• In strong participatory democracies, public participation has been
shown to improve project quality and sustainability.
• Major donors also show improved project outcomes from mandatory
public participation rules.
• In developing countries, public participation requirements have often
been initiated by donors, an approach not matched by domestic
demands for improved environmental outcomes from major
development projects.
• Barriers for effective public participation in developing countries are
numerous and, to over-simplify, public participation can be
characterized as tokenism rather than a genuine commitment to
empower the public in decision-making.
• A regional guideline on public participation in EIA should be a useful
tool to help overcome these barriers. 17

18. 18
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION