This course will introduce participants to the need, role, benefits, concepts, and basic theory of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). Based on the latest synthesis of best practice and experience from IAIA’s new guidance on applying SEA to the energy transition, the course will provide a cutting-edge overview of SEA stages and modalities. By the end of the training, participants will understand SEA fundamentals, be able to develop terms of reference, review SEA documents, and prepare for conducting an effective SEA process.
The course will combine presentations, group exercises, and interactive discussions to reinforce learning. Presentations will cover key topics including what SEA is and why it is needed; its role and benefits; challenges in applying SEA; and the stages of SEA—preparation, inception and scoping, the main assessment, and preparation of a Strategic Environmental and Social Management Plan (SESMP). A real-world case example of a high-level SEA conducted for southwest Bangladesh and the Sundarbans will also be shared.
Practical exercises will center on a hypothetical SEA case, guiding participants to identify key environmental and social issues, prepare linkage diagrams to illustrate impact pathways, and explore how cumulative impacts can arise. Group work results will be discussed in plenary sessions, ensuring that participants leave the course with both theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience in applying SEA tools and approaches.
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Prerequisites: It would help if non-student participants have basic training in environmental impact assessment (EIA) or social impact assessment (SIA), or have completed a university-based specific course or program on EIA and/or SIA, and/or have a demonstrable practical professional experience in undertaking EIA/SIA. Previous training in, or practical experience of conducting, SEA would be a distinct advantage.
Language: English
Duration: 2 days (17-18 May)
Min/Max: 10-50
Price: $485
Instructors: Professor Barry Dalal-Clayton, Director, Environmental and Development Services International (UK); Peter Nelson, Principal, Planning Green Futures Ltd (Sierra Leone)
Professor Barry Dalal-Clayton
Barry Dalal-Clayton has over 50 years post-graduate experience promoting sustainable development in developing and developed countries – through both project- and strategic-level assessment (social and environmental), sustainable development strategies (national and local), integrated planning and policy assessment, and sound natural resource management; with 10 years earlier in his career based in Zambia working on soil survey, rural development and agriculture.
He is now an independent consultant and a Visiting Professor at the School of Environmental Management and Science, University of Pokhara, Nepal, and holds BSc (Hons) and MSc degrees from Durham University and a DPhil from the University of Sussex. He has been involved in developing and promoting SEA good practice since the late 1980s, and has a wealth of international experience of undertaking (as team leader or senior consultant) some 40 SEAs and related initiatives in various countries in Africa and Asia, and developing a methodology for SEA review and undertaking numerous reviews.
Professor Dalal-Clayton is an adviser to various bilateral and multilateral aid agencies, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and several UN organizations. He has coordinated leading international research on SEA, authoring numerous papers and two cornerstone reference source books on SEA and sustainability appraisal. He is also co-author of IAIA’s new Guidance on Using SEA for the Energy Transition. Between 2004 and 2013, he provided a Technical Secretariat to the OECD which developed influential OECD Guidance and Advisory Notes on SEA. He has also delivered numerous training courses on SEA in African, Asian and Pacific countries, and for international organizations.
Peter Nelson
Peter Nelson is a natural resource scientist, hydrologist and professional land use planner, and is a highly experienced SEA practitioner. He holds an MA, MSc, and Diploma in Town and Regional Planning from the Universities of Cambridge, Salford and Leeds. Mr. Nelson is a former Director and Principal of Land Use Consultants (UK). While working for LUC he acted as Government Advisor on environmental issues to the Departments of Transport and Environment in the selection of the preferred scheme for the Channel Tunnel between the UK and France. He was also principal author of the first UK guidance on EIA Regulations, and a member of the OECD DAC Task Team on SEA.
Peter Nelson now manages Planning Green Futures Ltd (pgf), a specialized international consultancy focusing on natural resource development, SEA and spatial planning. The practice has a registered associate office in Freetown, Sierra Leone with representatives in Kenya. In his 40-year career, Mr. Nelson has played a key role in the development of, planning and application of environmental assessment techniques (EIA and SEA/SESA). This work has been undertaken in relation to a number of natural resource topics including: forestry (UK, South Africa, Kenya,) mining (Madagascar, Mongolia, South Africa, Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania); water resource development (UK, South Africa, Nile Basin, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi);); infrastructure (UK/France, Channel Tunnel); tourism (China, Montenegro, UK) and spatial planning (UK, Gibraltar, Montenegro, Albania, Kenya).
Peter has acted as both a trainer and external examiner for SEA/EIA MSc postgraduate courses at several UK universities and as an SEA course supervisor and trainer for the Netherlands EIA Commission in several African and Asian countries.. He has also run training courses in SEA for the Royal Town Planning Institute (UK) and WWF in Sierra Leone.