The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Progamme (SPREP) and the World Bank (WB) have jointly launched the ‘Regional Training on Environment Impact Assessment, Stakeholder Engagement and Social Impact Assessment in the Pacific. The training started on the 11 November and it will end on the 3 December, 2020.
The training is one of the key activities of the Pacific Learning Partnership for Environmental Sustainability for which SPREP and the World Bank are founding members. The trainings target officers of national EIA regulators and local World Bank project officers that are managing environmental and social risks and impacts associated with infrastructure development projects of Pacific Island Countries.
There are a total of 8 training modules each covering a specific topic relating to EIA, stakeholder engagement and social impact assessment. The first three Modules were delivered by the Environmental Monitoring and Governance Programme of SPREP. Module 1 which was the first of the series was delivered on 11th November and it focused on the 'Introduction to EIA for Sustainable Development.' This was followed by Module 2 on 'Law, Policy and Institutional Arrangements for EIA' which was delivered on 12th November 2020. Module 3 on 'How and When to apply the proper Stakeholder Engagement in the EIA process' will be delivered on Tuesday 17 November 2020.
The aim of the training is to introduce and raise the level of understanding of participants about the critical importance of stakeholder engagement and social impact assessments within the context of the EIA process. The Modules are designed to provide a general and broad overview of theories and practices including good practices that can be adopted to implement an effective stakeholder engagement and SIA processes. This in turn helps to produce better outcomes and sound decision-making on development activities that could have adverse impacts on the environment and people.
“This regional training is specifically focussed on social impact assessment and stakeholder engagement to strengthen and increase understanding on these two important elements of the EIA process," said Ms Easter Chu Shing, Director of the Environmental Monitoring and Governance Programme of SPREP. “SPREP is pleased to partner with the World Bank on this training as it helps in establishing a good understanding of the World Bank Safeguards process including ways in which it could complement or enhance the EIA process which is articulated in the SPREP Regional EIA Guidelines.”
The regional training is being delivered virtually across the Pacific region, with participants linking-in from various Pacific Island Countries. Virtual trainings provide for an excellent substitute for face-to-face training during COVID-19 travel restrictions and national lockdowns that are in place across the region.
The PLP_ESS is a partnership between the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, University of the South Pacific, Asian Development Bank (ADB), and World Bank. It was formed to help Pacific islands gain greater access to opportunities for training and capacity building, technical environmental impact and assessment specialists, and will increase the development of regionally focused tertiary qualifications.
SPREP will deliver the regional trainings for the first 3 modules while the WB will carry out the following 5 modules till the 3 December, 2020.
For more information please contact Mr Jope Davetanivalu at [email protected] and Dr. Gregory Barbara at [email protected].