2012 IAIA in Portugal

The next annual conference of the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) will focus on energy future and the role of impact assessment. It will be held on 27 May – 1 June in Porto, Portugal.

For details and preliminary programme, visit the IAIA Website.

Proceedings of Nepal workshop published

The Asian Centre for Environmental Management and Sustainable Development (AEMS) has published the proceedings of the Nepal workshop on environmental mainstreaming held in October 2011.

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IIED and AEMS sign MoU

IIED has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Asian Centre for Environmental Management and Sustainable Development (AEMS), based in Nepal, covering institutional collaboration on environmental mainstreaming.

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Mainstreaming steaming ahead in Nepal

A successful Learning Group workshop was organised in Nepal in October 2011. Plans are underway to organize a follow-up regional event on environmental mainstreaming for a green economy, and plans are advancing for an SEA to help develop a new policy for protected areas.

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IIED facilitates green economy workshop in Botswana

For a blog on the outcomes of the workshop, visit The Green Economy Coalition

YouTube video on where SEA is making a difference to decision-making

A video shot at a recent conference on SEA in Prague provides perspectives from a number of experts on how SEA can contribute effectively to better development decisions.

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IIED launches new Learning Group process in Nepal

In collaboration with the University of Pokhara, and in partnership with the Planning Commission and Ministry of Environment, IIED will facilitate a Learning Group process in Nepal in 2011.

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Mainstreaming diagnostic available for testing

IIED has developed a draft diagnostic that sets out a framework of issues and questions which can be used to:

• Understand what progress has been made to mainstream environment in a particular context;
• Map and analyse the the EM approach(es) of a country, institution or project;
• assess how institutional structures and procedures support or inhibit EM;
• Examine EM performance – internally (within the institution) and ‘on-the-ground’ (in terms of outcomes);
• Identify areas for change and improvement.

If you apply this diagnostic, we would appreciate to receive feedback on its utility and any suggestions for improvement: please write to Environmentinside@iied.org

Download diagnostic

IAIA conferences and workshops

The International Association for Impact Assessment will organise a special conference in Prague on 21-23 September to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the EU Directive on Strategic Environmental Assessment and the Entry into Force of the SEA Protocol and to Evaluate Progress in Europe and internationally: What is the state of SEA practice? Is it making a difference to planning? How does the experience of EU member states compare internationally?

For more details, visit: http://www.iaia.org/specialmeetings/prague11/

IAIA is organising the third in a series of symposia on Impact Assessment and Climate Change on 5-6 December 2011 in Beijing. For more details, visit: http://www.iaia.org/iaia-climate-symposium-china/

Catch up with international organisation’s work on environmental mainstreaming

For UNDP, visit: http://www.undp.org/fssd/priorityareas/envmainst.html

For the European Commission, visit http://www.envirosecurity.org/actionguide/view.php?r=15&m=webresources

For GEF, visit: http://www.gefcountrysupport.org/report_detail.cfm?projectId=175

For UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative, visit: www.unpei.org

Tell us what you are doing on environmental mainstreaming: write to Environmentinside@iied.org

IIED facilitates awareness-raising and training workshop in Botswana

At the request of the Poverty Environment Initiative in Botswana, IIED facilitated an awareness-raising workshop on environmental mainstreaming and sustainable development on 11-13 April 2011.

More information

Learning Groups as new routes for mainstreaming

A new IIED brieifing Note escribes the environmental mainstreaming learning group process used by IIED in several countries in Southern Africa and East Asia, and discusses lessons learned.

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Mainstreaming biodiversity and poverty reduction.

A new IIED Briefing Paper draws lessons from wider experience of environmental mainstreaming that can help parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to achieve its target to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss — they point to a six-step plan for the task.

LEAD – an international NGO with a fast growing network of 2000 leaders in more than 90 countries – has been working in collaboration with IIED to collect case studies from LEAD Fellows that demonstrate the inter-linkage between environment and livelihoods and illustrate different strands of action employed to successfully mainstream environment into development policy. The stories range from grass-roots projects to national development plans, covering many of the thematic areas on the environment and development agenda. The stories reflect the diversity of the LEAD network and cover 12 countries in five continents.

Access the stories

IIED survey of mainstreaming activities

As an input to the work of the Poverty Environment Partnership, IIED has undertaken a survey of the mainstreaming initiatives of PEP members.

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Mainstreaming lessons from Amazonas

A new IIED report about Brazil’s Amazonas state provides important lessons for environmental mainstreaming and sustainable development – for the rest of the country and other developing countries as they search for green and sustainable economies.

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New Green Economy Coalition website

The Green Economy Coalition brings together environment, development, trade union, consumer and business sectors, North and South. It is committed to a common cause: accelerating a transition to a new green economy. The GEC fosters a common understanding of green economy themes, and promotes learning, creativity and innovation across sectors.

Access the new Green Economy Colation website