Integrated Impact Assessments

In recent years Menas has played an innovative part in planning and managing multi-disciplinary studies involving impact assessments, in which socio-economic impact studies are integrated with environmental and cultural studies. Independent, social-science based studies of this type are increasingly required by governments and industry for use during the early planning stages of development programmes and projects, and for subsequent monitoring and evaluation purposes.

The protracted resistance to the construction of the Ilisu Dam in eastern Turkey demonstrates the potential problems and costs that can arise when major development programmes fail to take full account of local economic, social, cultural and environmental factors in their early planning processes.

Integrated impact assessments are designed to provide planners, developers, and investors with a comprehensive understanding of the direct and indirect impacts of major investments programmes, thereby enabling decision-makers to identify the beneficial and harmful impacts of a project, and to implement measures to accentuate the positive and mitigate the negative. Experience has shown that understanding the social context, and the concerns and aspirations of the local population, is of considerable assistance in preparing for engagement with local planning authorities, politicians and the wider community.

Integrated impact assessments cannot be done in an 'off-the peg' fashion. Each study needs to be tailored to the circumstances of the individual programmes or projects, with particular attention being paid to the selection of local partner organisations and to the choice of appropriate means for developing an effective stakeholder dialogue. Menas' approach to undertaking a major, multi-disciplinary impact assessment study would typically involve the following stages:

• A scoping study to establish the appropriate terms of reference
  
  
• Recruitment and mobilisation of local/regional and international specialists
  
  
• Integration of a wide range of social science disciplines
  
  
• Collation of the available base-line data-sets
  
  
• Management of a stakeholder consultation programme
  
  
• Studies of relevant comparator regions
  
  
• The use of independent expert advisory boards, to assure the credibility of the
  study process and final outputs
  
  
• Dissemination of key findings and recommendations
  
  
• Project evaluation and de-briefing