Session Description
What do impact assessors, development banks, public and private sector developers, affected communities, and civil society advocates need to understand about one another to improve development outcomes and prevent or repair project-related harms?
Successful impact assessment depends not only on technical quality, but also on whether stakeholders understand one another’s roles, incentives, constraints, and accountabilities. Independent assessors, development banks, developers, governments, affected communities, and civil society organizations often engage with different mandates, time horizons, audiences, and definitions of success. These differences can create unrealistic expectations, recurring problems, costly conflict, and direct harm. Tensions also arise from different understandings of evidence, risk, participation, fairness, and accountability. This session will feature a multi-stakeholder panel and audience discussion on how misunderstandings emerge, why they persist, and how engagement can be strengthened.
The discussion will explore practical approaches to reduce mistrust, improve collaboration, and support more sustainable and equitable development outcomes. Scott Adams from the World Bank Accountability Mechanism Dispute Resolution Service will moderate, and Roman Novozhilov, Head of ESG at the New Development Bank, is a confirmed panelist. Other panelists from civil society, the impact assessment practitioner community, and the public and private sectors will be invited.
Session Summary
This panel explores how impact assessors, development banks, developers, governments, communities, and civil society can better understand one another’s roles, constraints, and expectations. The session will identify practical ways to reduce mistrust, improve collaboration, and support sustainable development outcomes.
Session Chair
Scott Adams
World Bank Accountability Mechanism Dispute Resolution Service
United States