GGR416H1

Environmental Impact Assessment

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) has emerged as a key component of environmental planning and management. EIAs are planning tools to predict and assess the potential costs and benefits of proposed projects, policies, and plans and avoid or mitigate the adverse impacts of these proposals. This course focuses on the origins, principles, scope, and purpose of EIA from theoretical and practical perspectives, emphasizing the Canadian context. We will also explore the various components of EIAs and critically evaluate techniques to assess, predict, and mitigate impacts. Through course readings, in-class activities, and assignments, we will engage critiques of EIAs, particularly as they relate to considerations of climate change, sustainability, long-term monitoring, meaningful public engagement, indigenous people’s rights, dispossession and resettlement, and environmental justice. Case studies will allow students to learn about current practices in EIA and develop skills to examine and improve EIA processes.