Gonzalez, Ainhoa and Gilmer, Alan and Foley, Ronan and Sweeney, John and Fry, John (2008) Technology-aided participative methods in environmental assessment: An international perspective. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 32. pp. 303-316. ISSN 0198-9715

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Abstract

Provisions for citizen involvement in the assessment of potential environmental effects of certain plans, programmes and projects are present in current legislation. An international survey revealed that public participation is common practice in European and some other countries worldwide. However, a number of issues are observed to affect public involvement in EIA/SEA processes and expert opinion differs when evaluating the effectiveness of existing participative methods. Results suggest that technology-aided methods can improve traditional participation processes. In particular, GIS has the potential to increase community knowledge and enhance involvement by communicating information more effectively. Variable accessibility to technology and data quality remain issues. Combining technology with more conventional ways of gathering, evaluating and presenting data are seen as offering a solution to the need to promote the integration of public perceptions in environmental assessment procedures. Recommendations to improve current public participation methods and measures for making GIS available to the general public are provided.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	The definitive published version of this article is available at DOI: 10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2008.02.001
Keywords:	Public participation; Effectiveness; Methods; Technology; Geographic information system;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Institutes > Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units, ICARUS
Item ID:	7024
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2008.02.001
Depositing User:	Prof. John Sweeney
Date Deposited:	16 Mar 2016 11:37
Journal or Publication Title:	Computers, Environment and Urban Systems
Publisher:	Elsevier
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://www.sciencedirect.com
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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