Session Description
Impact assessment emerged more than 50 years ago in a world that looked very different from our own. It evolved in a context characterized by relatively stable ecological baselines, project-by-project decision-making, centralized governance, and a belief that future impacts could be predicted, mitigated, and managed. Today, those conditions are being fundamentally reshaped by climate disruption, cumulative change, Indigenous resurgence, technological transformation, institutional change, and deep uncertainty.
Rather than asking how existing methods can be improved, this session asks a more fundamental question: What is impact assessment for now? Was impact assessment designed for a world that no longer exists? Which assumptions remain fit for purpose? Which have become constraints? What new assumptions, institutions, and practices should shape the next generation of impact assessment?
We invite conceptual, methodological, empirical, and practice-based contributions that critically engage these questions from diverse disciplinary, cultural, and geographic perspectives. By bringing together papers that examine impact assessment through the lens of ecological, governance, technological, and societal transformation, this session aims to foster a field-defining conversation about the future purpose, evolution, and relevance of impact assessment.
Session Summary
Was impact assessment designed for a world that no longer exists? This session invites practitioners and researchers to rethink the assumptions, institutions, and practices that should shape the next generation of impact assessment.
Additional Information
This session is intended as a curated paper session that brings together diverse perspectives rather than papers on a single topic. We hope to include contributions from practitioners, researchers, regulators, and Indigenous leaders that collectively examine how changing ecological, governance, technological, and societal conditions are reshaping the foundations of impact assessment.
Session Chair
Justin Page
Independent Consultant
Canada