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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the environmental impact assessment of power energy projects in Latvia. Every industrial activity and procedure influences the environment and climate change: each to a lesser or greater extent. In Latvia, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure has been carried out for more than ten years, and during these years numerous impact assessments have been conducted. The main purpose of the EIA is to assess the possible impacts of the implementation of an intended activity, or planning document, on the environment and to consequently develop proposals for the prevention or minimization of negative effects. In turn, the project shall avert violation of the requirements specified in the regulatory enactments. Currently, particular global attention, including in Latvia, is being paid to two aspects of the energy crisis – energy dependency and climate change. The global experience has proven that with an increase in the consumption of energy, a deficiency of energy resources occurs. In this situation, public officials have increased the import of energy resources, rather than encourage a reduction of consumption. Consequently, the state becomes more dependent on imported energy resources. At the same time, scientists are researching alternative energy resources, and the development of new technology. Latvia is a country with limited resources. The development of the national economy is unthinkable without an increase in the production sector. In turn, the development of the production sector is connected with the intensification of production capacity and the resulting consequences to the environment.

The paper takes the form of a literature review and a case study.

The power industry in Latvia has acquired a stable position in the national economy. It is necessary to elaborate the common approach of EIA power projects. During the process of impact assessment, principles of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) should be implemented, which enhance the quality and efficiency of the EIA. The use of LCA principles in the process of the EIA will allow the assessment of the designed activities and environmental impact of proposed alternatives to have greater objectivity.

The work concludes with suggestions on how to include the principles of LCA in the EIA procedure. This is to improve the impact assessment of energy projects.

The purpose of this paper is to review the Rwandan Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) practice and identify the possible constraints faced by EIA practitioners in Rwanda. The results presented here will help to highlight strengths and weakness of the Rwandan EIA practice.

The EIA practice was evaluated by a self-administered questionnaire survey for respondents including approved EIA experts in Rwanda, government agencies involved in EIA process and corporate which have received environmental clearance. The aspects of practices and challenges were evaluated and include the suitability of institutional arrangements, the scientific methodological bases of EIA, the conduct of EIA, the effectiveness of EIA with respect to influence decision making, overall results and EIA as a learning process. These aspects were rated on different scales by the respondents to identify where the Rwandan EIA practice stands now in terms of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and constraints.

The institutional arrangements of EIA were judged to be good overall by the respondents with main strengths being seen in the policy and legal base, and the scope of application. Only the marginal weaknesses are seen in the monitoring. The scientific and empirical basis for assessment was judged to stand moderately strengthened during the last five years. The performance of key activities is more than satisfactory. A majority of Rwandan EIA stages are good and excellent to some extent.

This paper identifies some of the constraints and challenges faced by the Rwandan EIA practitioners. It will contribute to an understanding of EIA practice and robust practices across the globe.

The purpose of this paper is to propose the use of social impact assessment (SIA) principles to evaluate the contribution of cultural heritage to social sustainability, supporting both a people-centered and socially responsible approach to heritage management.

Specifically, the paper explores SIA as a methodological tool for post-project evaluation, used to define projects’ contributions to aspects of social sustainability through analyzing impacts of participation in a rural context case study, that of the Scapa Flow landscape heritage scheme in Orkney Islands, Scotland, UK.

Based on research findings from the thematic analysis of 40 semi-structured interviews on impacts (with heritage managers, planners and participants in the scheme), the paper proposes a combination of heritage value assessment process with social impact identification to achieve a context-relevant assessment of social sustainability. Existing research around social capital and sense of place supports the analysis of relevant impacts and heritage values. Findings support overlaps between socio-environmental impacts, when looking at the role of heritage for community well-being in rural contexts.

The qualitative approach allows for a context-relevant, bottom up impact assessment and allows for multiple stakeholders perceptions to be included.

The proposed methodological approach has greater implications for the work of institutions and professionals involved in project evaluations that can inform participatory heritage project planning, ensuring high social relevance.

Application of SIA principles in heritage sector can increase social benefits of heritage projects and enable wider community participation in processes of heritage management.

Through this case study, the effectiveness of SIA principles when applied in cultural heritage project evaluation is discussed, reflecting on a novel methodology for impact assessment in heritage.

This paper describes the process of developing a mental health and well‐being impact assessment tool in Lewisham, as part of an attempt to increase understanding of mental health and well‐being in the context of regeneration programmes. It is presented as a work in progress and the authors would welcome feedback and debate on the complex issues raised when adapting health impact assessment methods to the assessment of mental well‐being.

This paper aims to practically guide privacy impact assessment (PIA) implementation by proposing a PIA process incorporating best practices from existing PIA guidelines and privacy research.

This paper critically reviews and assesses generic PIA methods proposed by related research, data protection authorities and standard’s organizations, to identify best practices and practically support PIA practitioners. To address identified gaps, best practices from privacy literature are proposed.

This paper proposes a PIA process based on best practices, as well as an evaluation framework for existing PIA guidelines, focusing on practical support to PIA practitioners.

The proposed PIA process facilitates PIA practitioners in organizing and implementing PIA projects. This paper also provides an evaluation framework, comprising a comprehensive set of 17 criteria, for PIA practitioners to assess whether PIA methods/guidelines can adequately support requirements of their PIA projects (e.g. special legal framework and needs for PIA project organization guidance).

This research extends PIA guidelines (e.g. ISO 29134) by providing comprehensive and practical guidance to PIA practitioners. The proposed PIA process is based on best practices identified from evaluation of nine commonly used PIA methods, enriched with guidelines from privacy literature, to accommodate gaps and support tasks that were found to be inadequately described or lacking practical guidance.

Child impact statements are a tool for assessing the potential impact of policy, provision, legislation etc on children. Although now predominantly based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the concept preceded this Convention. This article is based on a literature review and a series of face‐to‐face and telephone interviews with relevant Irish civil and public servants and NGOs. It sets out the rationale for child impact statements and the experience of using them in Sweden, the UK, Flanders and Ireland, before highlighting the strengths and weaknesses in existing models. It then presents a number of difficulties with the approach as a means of improving children's well‐being and argues that there is insufficient evidence to support their widespread introduction as a primary means of achieving positive policy outcomes for children.

This paper argues that there is a tendency towards over simplification in community safety planning, which currently presents inadequate models to respond to the complexity of change in dynamic urban environments with naturally transient populations. Drawing upon environmental and health planning models, a responsive, flexible impact assessment approach is described and proposed.

The criticisms put forward against economic impact studies lead to a key question: “Is it possible to measure the impact of sporting properties and events in a holistic, conservative, and reliable way?” This research endeavors to build on the academic literature to add to the scope and rigor of economic impact research by proposing an impact assessment process model for practitioners that facilitates employment of a holistic, conservative and reliable impact study and seeks to address these concerns.

Using seven identified key realities that highlight the challenges facing impact studies, and adopting a collaborative self-ethnographic methodological approach, the work highlights lessons learned from four empirical economic impact studies undertaken by the authors over a five-year period.

The study provides a broad view of impact studies, which extend beyond financial implications and provides a more inclusive methodology. Particularly, the proposed impact assessment process model seeks to improve the credibility of impact studies by facilitating a holistic approach that incorporates direct, indirect and intangible impacts.

The proposed model has value to researchers and is designed to improve the overall credibility of economic impact methodology. It also provides a more accurate measure of direct impact while considering intangible and indirect impacts, including social/community impacts.

The proposed model has value to and practitioners and is designed to improve the overall credibility of economic impact methodology. It also provides a more accurate measure of direct impact while considering intangible and indirect impacts, including social/community impacts.

The proposed process model to measure the impact of a sports event is a needed element in the world of funding, managing and implementing events of all sizes.

In Turkey, where the environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been applied since 1993, there have been numerous amendments in the legal and administrative process of the EIA. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of those amendments to the EIA process.

This paper evaluated EIA system performance in the context of procedural effectiveness in Turkey from the day implementation was begun. From its beginning to the present day, the positive and negative developments at the EIA process in Turkey caused by the amendments were evaluated and at which stages. Measures recommended increasing the effectiveness of each of the EIA systems were also identified.

As the EIA Directive first came into force in the USA in 1970, EIA procedures have been widely adopted throughout the world. Although it has been implemented for many years, expectations regarding the EIA process have still not been realized which has forced countries to conduct studies to increase the effectiveness of the EIA process. Turkey, like other countries that are implementing the EIA, acknowledges that the EIA is a significant impact assessment tool and continues its studies to implement this system effectively. In this respect, in Turkey, where the EIA has been applied since 1993, there have been numerous amendments in the legal and administrative process of the EIA.

The results obtained from this study were expected to facilitate the evaluation of the EIA process in Turkey and to guide other similar countries.

This study aims to illustrate the impact-assessment procedure of low-carbon tourism (LCT) program implemented in a world heritage city and to develop specific indicators toward sustainability.

The impact-assessment framework was indicator-based and designed for creating sustainable tourism (ST) in a case study. A set of indicators in various dimensions was developed and applied, referring to the UNWTO guideline. A mixed method of primary and secondary data collected from different sources included document review, site observation, key informant interview, questionnaire survey and focus-group discussions. Assessment of actual/observed impacts was proceeded based on the data collected from tourists and stakeholders, especially on tourist behaviors and resource consumptions.

The implementation of LCT program in a world heritage city provided impacts in different dimensions and characters. The observed activities were majorly tourism activities in accommodations and recreational places. The indicator initiation is the first development toward sustainability in a case of tourism study in a city destination. Indicators were developed with participation from key stakeholders and covered sustainability and carbon-emission dimensions. Impact-assessment results show a positive theme in less carbon emission, enhanced local income distribution and community capacity. However, the negative impacts include increased amounts of resource consumption and waste generation in visiting sites. The impact matrix works as the map for decision-makers to maximize benefits and manage the cons of the LCT program toward ST principles.

Research methodology, procedure and results on impact assessment with holistic perspectives imply academic contribution and practical benefits for decision-makers regarding ST development. The number of samples and enterprises was limited because of the program implementation period.

The research illustrates the impact-assessment process for an implemented city-based LCT program toward ST, where stakeholder participation was also functioning. A list of indicators was specially designed and can be practically applied for other LCT programs in city destinations. Applying a sustainability impact-assessment framework to the program can provide a clear presentation on how to develop ST.