As an early-career professional, I’ll debate Impact Assessment’s future—embracing AI and emerging assessment tools, preserving core principles, and leaving outdated "tick-the-box" practices behind.
Impact assessment (IA) has evolved over four decades, but has it become more effective? While sophisticated models and Artificial Intelligence are transforming practice, early-career professionals enter the field confronting persistent flaws: late timing, superficial engagement, and weak consideration of alternatives and cumulative effects.
In this fast-paced intergenerational debate, I will join experienced practitioners to challenge traditional paradigms and chart the future of IA. Speaking as an early-career professional, I will explore how IA must evolve to tackle intersecting crises—from accelerating climate change and biodiversity loss to changing community expectations and the essential transition toward Indigenous-led assessment.
I will highlight key focal points:
Emerging Tools: Harnessing AI, digital modeling, and Indigenous-led evaluation methodologies to enhance real-world impact.
What to Preserve: Non-negotiable foundations, including early scoping, meaningful public participation, and rigorous alternatives analysis.
What to Leave Behind: Dense impenetrable reporting, reactive "tick-the-box" compliance, and top-down consultation.
The session will synthesise intergenerational perspectives into a forward-looking IA agenda: defining lessons to preserve, practices to retire, and capabilities to build over the next 40 years.
Sequoia Weitman, from Australia. Environment and planning consultant working at Sequana, with a special interest in impact assessment.