ID: 1639
Presenting Author: GODWIN NWAFOR
Session: 750 - Bridging the Gap: Empowering Local Governments in Developing Economies to Make Environmental Impact Assessments Understandable and Actionable
Status: pending
An evidence-based Disinformation Resilience Model that integrates transparent, multimodal communication to enhance trust, participation, and resilience in ESIA practice
As misinformation proliferates within environmental discourse, effective communication is essential to maintaining the integrity of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA). Disinformation undermines fairness, legitimacy, and decision quality by eroding trust, discouraging participation, and distorting public understanding. This paper presents an integrated, data-driven statistical analysis examining how targeted communication strategies mitigate disinformation effects. Drawing on ESIA case studies conducted from 2018 to 2025 across six Nigerian States, the study employs mixed quantitative and qualitative methods with inferential modeling to evaluate relationships among disinformation, communication methods, and engagement outcomes. Data from communication audits, surveys, and published reports were analysed for variables such as participation rate, trust level, and post-decision satisfaction. The paper introduces a “Disinformation Resilience Model” (DRM) that integrates communication transparency, digital literacy, and participatory monitoring to statistically assess vulnerability to information disorder. Results show that transparent, multimodal, and interactive communication strategies significantly buffer disinformation’s negative effects. Evidence-based communication frameworks yield higher resilience scores than traditional one-way dissemination. The findings highlight the need for proactive, trust-centred communication to reduce social risk, supporting IAIA’s mission to promote inclusive credible communication and societal resilience in impact assessment.
Dr. Godwin Nwafor, Statistician and Lecturer at FUTO, specializes in data modeling, time series analysis, and sustainable statistical research for decision-making and societal development
Coauthor 1: Gloria Chukwudebe A
Coauthor 2: Micheal Nmecha Igara