Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : An evaluation of the effectiveness of public participation in environmental impact assessments : a Namibian case study

Auteur : Strauss, Stephanie Junitha

Université de soutenance : Stellenbosch University

Grade : MPA 2022

Résumé partiel
Public participation plays an important role in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process in allowing the public an opportunity to be involved in the process and to provide input regarding proposed developments. However, in practice it is not clear whether public participation is being effectively conducted such that it allows the public to actually influence decision making. This research evaluates the effectiveness of public participation conducted as part of the EIA process, using the Namibian policy framework and four Namibian projects as a case study. The research objectives of this study included conceptualising effective participation and developing a theoretical framework that could be used to evaluate the effectiveness of public participation against. The study then used this framework to assess the Namibian legislation to determine whether it sufficiently provides for effective participation in EIAs. Thereafter the framework was used to evaluate the four EIA projects. Lastly the study provides recommendations for improvement of public participation as part of EIAs in Namibia. The research design adopted an evaluation design to determine whether public participation in practice is effectively implemented. The research is based on a multiple case study methodology and made use of case studies consisting of four projects that required EIAs. The case studies were evaluated against the theoretical framework for effective public participation developed. The case study research made use of a mixed method approach of both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect and analyse data. A literature review, questionnaires with open ended questions, and document review were used in the research to collect qualitative data. Supplementary quantitative data was also collected by the questionnaires, which were administered to Interested and Affected Parties (I&APs), Environmental Impact Assessment Practitioners (EAPs) and Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) officials. The qualitative data was analysed using thematic content analysis and the quantitative data using Microsoft Excel. The case studies revealed that the participants became involved at relatively late stages within the development process and thus opportunities to influence the decisions of decision makers were more limited.

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