L'évaluation d'impacts - Un regard vers l'avenir
(Environmental Impact Assessment - Looking Ahead)

12th Annual AQÉI Conference 2003, November 12-13, 2003, Hôtel Palace Royal, Québec City.
The conference will focus on four main questions:
- How do you see the future of impact assessment and what are your expectations?
- How can the impact assessment process derive the most from new approaches to land management?
- How can impact assessments deal more effectively with social aspects?
- How can the public participation process be improved?

The complete program can be found on the Association québécoise pour l'évaluation d'impacts (AQÉI) website at http://www.cam.org/~aqei/ under the heading "QUOI DE NEUF"

| TOP | 

---

2003 Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network National Science Meeting, 9th Annual

November 25-29, Halifax, Nova Scotia
This year's National Science Meeting, under the theme Delivering ecological science to society: influencing and informing governance, policy, adaptation and decision-making, will explore innovative approaches and best practices used to enhance the relevance of science. Participants will learn about current research across Canada on pressing environmental issues and strategies to address these concerns at all scales.

EMAN National Science Meetings offer the rare opportunity to network and share ideas within and across disciplines, sectors, and jurisdictions. If you are interested in holistic, adaptive approaches to ecosystem management, make sure to attend this conference!

Meeting highlights will include:

• Keynote addresses by Dale Leadbeater of the Society for Ecological Restoration and Alex Bielak and Karl Schaefer of the National Water Research Institute

• Presentations from EMAN partners across Canada focused on Monitoring and Ecosystem Information and Delivering Integrated Information

Presentations and discussion exploring leading edge ecological science in the Atlantic Region

• A symposium on implementing science in support of community and landscape/seascape sustainability

• An emphasis on community-based monitoring drawing lessons learned from the Canadian Community Monitoring Network pilot and other Canadian experiences

• A field trip to study ecological monitoring in support of adaptive management in the Southwest Nova Biosphere Reserve

We are pleased that the 2003 National Science Meeting will provide the setting for these exciting events:

• Eco-Instruct: Learn what it takes to become a successful environmental technical instructor in the latest environmental information management standards and programming techniques

• Canadian Sustainability Indicator Network meeting: Share and discuss ideas, data, and methods open to anybody interested in the use and development of sustainability indicators.

• A community-based monitoring workshop

• Hands-on training in the EMAN Ecological Monitoring Protocols (limited enrollment)

For more information and to register for the National Science Meeting and workshops visit http://www.eman-rese.ca or contact (905) 336-4414.

Register before November 15th for the discounted price of $80 (students $50, workshops extra).

| TOP | 

---

International Association for Impact Assessment Conference - IAIA '04

Pssst…. Is it Your Business?

Flash: the Preliminary Program for IAIA '04 is now available. Find yours at www.iaia.org by clicking on "Conferences," then 2004.

Overall Conference theme: "Impact Assessment and Industrial Development: Whose Business Is it?"

There are nine Theme Forums and multiple Sessions planned on all the latest issues in Impact Assessment. Your colleagues from around the planet are planning to attend.

And the three Canadian Affiliates of IAIA (yes OAIA is one!) are the hosts.

So, mark your calendars now:

When: 26-29 April 2004
Where: Sheraton Wall Centre Hotel, Vancouver, B.C.

And plan to attend. Early bird registration closes 15 December 2003.

PS. Why not consider presenting a paper or poster? Abstracts due January 15th.

PPS. Sponsorship has its own rewards. Your or your employer might want to consider getting your message out to the assembled IA practitioners, as well.

PPPS. Additional info on any of the above (including a hard copy of the Preliminary Program, if useful) is available from Ray Lamoureux or Lee Doran.

| TOP | 

---

Research Activities

David Lawrence PhD, a consultant based in British Columbia, is seeking input from environmental and social impact assessment practitioners for a research project entitled "The Significance of Socio-Economic Effects.

The research is being funded by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (the Agency), through the Agency's Research and Development Program. The purpose of the study is to help EIA practitioners determine whether and to what degree social and economic effects, both individually and collectively, are significant. The study addresses the topic from a conceptual perspective (SIA literature and commentators), an experience-based perspective (SIA practitioners at the regulatory and applied levels) and an applied perspective ("good practice" case examples).

The project is seeking to enrich and ground the analysis by means of:

1. a dialogue with others involved in the EIA and SIA fields concerning the subject of significance interpretations for social or economic impacts; and

2. an analysis of the procedures used to determine social and economic impact significance in a cross-section of EIA and SIA documents.

Mr. Lawrence has requested, by e-mail or fax, reflections or suggestions regarding one or more of the following:

1. examples of social and economic effects that you consider especially important (in general or for particular proposal or setting types);

2. criteria, thresholds, procedures, frameworks, methods or approaches for determining the significance of social and/or economic impacts;

3. possible roles for public consultation, the precautionary principle or sustainability in determining the significance of social or economic impacts;

4. the conceptual, regulatory or applied "state-of-the-art" of social and economic impact significance determination;

5. suggested research, regulatory or good practice improvements and priorities; and

6. remaining dilemmas, issues and limits.

As part of the case example analysis, Mr. Lawrence is seeking to obtain key excerpts from EIA or SIA documents that detail the procedures used to determine which social and economic impacts to consider and to interpret degrees of significance. If you have prepared or reviewed such documents or know where they may be obtained, your feedback would be helpful.

For additional information, contact David Lawrence by e-mail at lawenv@telus.net, by fax at +1 604-534-9889 or by mail at David Lawrence, P.O. Station "A", Box 3475, Langley, B.C., Canada, V3A 4R8. If you would prefer just to chat about these matters over the phone, Mr. Lawrence welcomes your call (+1 604-532-9889). He will also return your call if you provide information regarding your telephone number and a suggested date and time.

If you wish to speak to someone with the Agency concerning this study or regarding the Research and Development Program, the contact persons with the Agency are either Diane Kaiser or Jennifer Clark.

| TOP |