Conducting Environmental Impact Assessment in Developing Countries (United Nations University, 1999, 375 p.): 9. Emerging developments in EIA: 9.6 Social impact assessment: 9.6.6 TOR for consultants

Conducting Environmental Impact Assessment in Developing Countries (United Nations University, 1999, 375 p.)

9. Emerging developments in EIA

9.6 Social impact assessment

		9.6.1 What is SIA? Why SIA?
		9.6.2 Identifying social impact assessment variables
		9.6.3 Combining social impact assessment variables, project/policy stage, and setting
		9.6.4 Steps in the social impact assessment process
		9.6.5 Principles for SIA
		9.6.6 TOR for consultants

9.6.6 TOR for consultants

The concepts, principles, and methods discussed in the proceeding sections only serve as guidelines to carry out an SIA. If a well-prepared SIA is integrated into the decision-making process, better decisions will result. One of the key factors to ensure that a SIA is carried out thoroughly is to make sure that the SIA practitioner (the project developer or a consultant) knows exactly what is required. This can be best achieved by preparing a precise TOR clearly delineating the various activities that are essential for the SIA study of a particular project.

Table 9.16 Principles for SIA

1 Involve the diverse public
Identify and involve all potentially affected groups and individuals.

2 Analyses impact equity
Clearly identify who will win and who will lose and emphasize vulnerability of under-represented groups.

3 Focus the assessment
Deal with issues and public concern that "really count" not those that are "easy to count".

4 Identify methods and assumptions and define significance in advance
Define how the SIA was conducted, what assumptions were used, and how significance was selected.

5 Provide feedback on social impacts to project planners
Identify problems that could be solved with change to the proposed action or alternatives.

6 Use SIA practitioners
Trained social scientists employing social results methods will provide the best results

7 Establish monitoring and mitigation programmes
Manage uncertainty by monitoring and mitigating adverse impacts.

8 Identify data sources
Use published scientific literature, secondary data, and primary data from the affected area.

9 Plan for gaps in data