Re-conceptualising strategic environmental assessment: theoretical overview and case study from Chile
type: CreativeWork
description: Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has a prominent position in the ongoing search for instruments that can help governments and other organisations to pursue the complex goal of sustainable development. Academic literature and practitioners have devoted increasing attention to this instrument since the late 1980s, and the mid- 1990s have witnessed a surge in legislation and methodological guidance throughout both developed and developing countries. However, the theoretical basis of this instrument remains weak and this thesis contends that the actual reason for its existence (raison d'être) of SEA is inadequately conceptualised. The first stage of the research critically reviews the theory and practice of SEA, identifying tensions, weaknesses and promising trends in the concepts underlying its three dimensions: strategic, environmental and assessment. These show that the idea that there is something 'strategic', whose environmental effects should be assessed - is misleading, as well as simplistic, thus supporting the call for a re-conceptualisation of SEA. The meaning of two common claims (that SEA is to contribute to sustainable development and to the improvement of policy-making processes) in academic and policy literatures is explored in detail. Combining environmental assessment literature with work related to the knowledge perspective of policy-making, policy learning and policy analysis, the thesis then develops a series of propositions for a new interpretation of SEA's raison d'être. These relate to four themes: context, object, purpose and assessment. The second stage seeks to deepen the understanding of the trends and propositions identified, and to verify their relevance in a developing context. Using a range of methods, from interviews to seminars, a case study of Chile - a middle-income country - investigates the interpretation of the purpose and role of SEA according to a range of stakeholders, and in more detail within the Ministry of Public Work…
abstract: Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has a prominent position in the ongoing search for instruments that can help governments and other organisations to pursue the complex goal of sustainable development. Academic literature and practitioners have devoted increasing attention to this instrument since the late 1980s, and the mid- 1990s have witnessed a surge in legislation and methodological guidance throughout both developed and developing countries. However, the theoretical basis of this instrument remains weak and this thesis contends that the actual reason for its existence (raison d'être) of SEA is inadequately conceptualised. The first stage of the research critically reviews the theory and practice of SEA, identifying tensions, weaknesses and promising trends in the concepts underlying its three dimensions: strategic, environmental and assessment. These show that the idea that there is something 'strategic', whose environmental effects should be assessed - is misleading, as well as simplistic, thus supporting the call for a re-conceptualisation of SEA. The meaning of two common claims (that SEA is to contribute to sustainable development and to the improvement of policy-making processes) in academic and policy literatures is explored in detail. Combining environmental assessment literature with work related to the knowledge perspective of policy-making, policy learning and policy analysis, the thesis then develops a series of propositions for a new interpretation of SEA's raison d'être. These relate to four themes: context, object, purpose and assessment. The second stage seeks to deepen the understanding of the trends and propositions identified, and to verify their relevance in a developing context. Using a range of methods, from interviews to seminars, a case study of Chile - a middle-income country - investigates the interpretation of the purpose and role of SEA according to a range of stakeholders, and in more detail within the Ministry of Public Work…
author: Bina, Olivia Claudia
language: en
license: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/528dfa66-f80e-4ca9-9c1c-d46a6d3907ff/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
license: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/603ac2f3-434a-42c6-8141-a1e908b94d0e/download
date published: 2004-06-15
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:33:25Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.16440