Title: Methods in impact assessment that contribute to enhancing the quality of EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) practice across the world

Chair:

Dr. Hameed Sulaiman (Email: hameed@squ.edu.om)
Introduction: Environmental Impact Assessment is one of the major strategies legislated by most countries in the world as a preventive tool to achieve sustainable development for many years. However, the quality of impact assessment is one of the critical aspects of successful EIA implementation. Therefore, being aware of good assessment of various environmental impacts and adapting them to the local context in every country is paramount for the protection of the environment.
Scopes: Impacts of development manifest both in the biophysical and socio-economic environment. Identifying the key impacts in the both natural and man-made environments and assessing them properly is a crucial aspect of EIA. Researchers and practitioners are constantly looking for methods to improve the quality of assessment. This session is dedicated to bringing them and others together to share impact assessment methods, techniques, and strategies in general on both biophysical and socio-economic environments. The bio-physical environment covers a wide range of environmental segments, namely water, air, soil, biota, etc, and systems such as atmosphere, land, sea, water bodies, groundwater, biodiversity, etc. The same coverage applies to a wide range of impacts on society and the economy. Following is the list of impact domains and areas, but not limited to the impacts on

§  Atmosphere, air pollution, air quality, parameters in the ambient air environment, etc

§  Hydrosphere that  includes marine, freshwater systems, water pollution, water quality, parameters in the ambient water environment of sea, rivers, lakes, water bodies, groundwater, etc

§  Lithosphere that includes land and soil, soil pollution, land contamination, parameters in the ambient soil environment such as organic and inorganic pollutants, etc

§  Biosphere that includes flora and fauna in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in a wide range of habitats in aquatic and terrestrial systems. Covering from seas to lakes and forest to  grassland and deserts, respectively.

§  Society that includes both positive and negative impacts and a variety of parameters indicators that influence the social dimension of sustainability

§  Economy that includes both positive and negative impacts and variety of parameters, indicators that influence the economic dimension of sustainability