Browsing by Author "Strauss, Stephanie Junitha"

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    An evaluation of the effectiveness of public participation in environmental impact assessments : a Namibian case study
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-04) Strauss, Stephanie Junitha; Muller, Anneke J. I.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY: Public participation plays an important role in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process in allowing the public an opportunity to be involved in the process and to provide input regarding proposed developments. However, in practice it is not clear whether public participation is being effectively conducted such that it allows the public to actually influence decision making. This research evaluates the effectiveness of public participation conducted as part of the EIA process, using the Namibian policy framework and four Namibian projects as a case study. The research objectives of this study included conceptualising effective participation and developing a theoretical framework that could be used to evaluate the effectiveness of public participation against. The study then used this framework to assess the Namibian legislation to determine whether it sufficiently provides for effective participation in EIAs. Thereafter the framework was used to evaluate the four EIA projects. Lastly the study provides recommendations for improvement of public participation as part of EIAs in Namibia. The research design adopted an evaluation design to determine whether public participation in practice is effectively implemented. The research is based on a multiple case study methodology and made use of case studies consisting of four projects that required EIAs. The case studies were evaluated against the theoretical framework for effective public participation developed. The case study research made use of a mixed method approach of both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect and analyse data. A literature review, questionnaires with open ended questions, and document review were used in the research to collect qualitative data. Supplementary quantitative data was also collected by the questionnaires, which were administered to Interested and Affected Parties (I&APs), Environmental Impact Assessment Practitioners (EAPs) and Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) officials. The qualitative data was analysed using thematic content analysis and the quantitative data using Microsoft Excel. The case studies revealed that the participants became involved at relatively late stages within the development process and thus opportunities to influence the decisions of decision makers were more limited. The case studies emphasised the need for obtaining Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), particularly within projects in which indigenous people were affected. It also revealed that participation must be culturally appropriate and should be tailored to the particular cultural context of the affected communities. The barriers identified that prevented participants from participating meaningfully included language barriers, ineffective media used for communicating information, inappropriate timings and venues of meetings, lack of education coupled with highly technical information being presented, short review and comment periods, and poor access to information in general. The research additionally demonstrated that in some cases public comments and inputs were not incorporated into decision making and are merely provided as an appendix to the EIA report provided to decision makers, instead of being fully incorporated and addressed. The legal requirements were however mostly adhered to within the cases, illustrating that the legal requirements are not adequate. This study thus recommends that it is necessary to review the Namibian EIA regulations with regard to the provisions pertaining to public participation to ensure that they allow for effective participation. The legislation should be prescriptive as to the different participation requirements for small-scale and large-scale projects. Guidelines should be developed which can be implemented to address the gaps within the legal framework and particularly with regard to consultation with indigenous communities. Lastly, there should be stricter provisions within the legislation that relate to the consideration of comments made during participation and the degree to which they are considered in decision making.