Session Description
Learning from past IA is essential for the future of successful impact assessment. We are currently in state of flux across all aspects IA: we are witnessing proposals for new and complex project types with newly identified technologies and often in new geographies not previously evaluated and whose environmental components may not fully be understood.
We are rapidly launching industrial scale proposals based solely on prototypes, such as major subsea desalination plants and expansive floating windfarms. We are proposing large-scale deep-sea mining in environments where extensive surveys have not been conducted. We are attempting to evaluate these projects against a baseline environment which is in flux based on rapidly changing conditions attributable to climate change, such as species distribution, sea level rise, and now frequent extreme weather events. And finally, regulatory frameworks are currently relaxing robust and broad analytical requirements.
Hindsight will illustrate that IA has faced challenges and adapted accordingly to establish the foundation that we now practice; however, is IA keeping up with evolving physical/social/health environments, wide-ranging and unprecedented project types, and at times relaxed regulatory frameworks?
Papers are requested for examples of how IA is proactively addressing these unknowns and how regulatory frameworks can adapt to proactive evaluation of such anticipated issues.
Session Summary
Is IA keeping up with evolving environments, wide-ranging and unprecedented project types, and changing regulatory frameworks? In these rapidly changing environments, is IA able to accurately predict future baseline conditions and resultant impacts in a unforeseen future? Can mindful regulatory foci help guide the process?
Session Chair
Aaron Goldschmidt
WSP USA Inc.
United States