Re-examiningknowledgeproductioninEIA

JeanWelsteadIAIA17,Montreal,4th April2017

#IAIA17

WhoamI?

• EIApractitionernowstudyingforaPhD• Geographer,Environmentalsociologist• Situatedinceltic (Scottish,Welsh,Irish)climatechange,renewablesdiscourse

• Exploringthepotential(dis)connectbetweensocio-economicimpactassessmentandsocialresponsestorenewableenergyprojects.

Re-examiningknowledgeproduction

• HowhaveepistemologicalassumptionsinherentinEIAinfluencedthewayitisconducted?

• Doesthishavethepotentialtoinfluencethesocialresponsetoaproposedproject?

• Iwelcomeyourthoughtsandideasaspartofmyactionresearchstrategy!

ThinkingaboutEIA

• EIAstudieswhatexists• Seekstofullyexplainpotentialimpacts• Producesknowledge• Butseldomexplainsunderpinningphilosophiesandvaluejudgements

• Doesthismakeitlessaccessible?• Doesitinfluencesocialresponses?

RenewablesandClimateChange

• REdeploymentviewedascrucialtomitigateclimatechange

• Yetclimatesciencemaybequestioned• Climatemitigation/adaptationprojectjustificationmaybedisbelieved

• Socialconstructionofknowledge• WindfarmEIAsprovideagoodexample

WindfarmEIAs

• Aformofmeaningmanagement,forexample:– Contextualising (framing):co-texts,suchas,legislationorclimatechange;

– Ontologising itscharacteristics:makingitseemreal,throughimages,mapsandcarbonsavings;

– Neutralising criticism:producingknowledgethatisdifficulttorefute(Corvellec andRisbert,2007).

Butthiscanmeandifferentthingstodifferentactorsforexample:

Windfarm visualisation

Adifferentontologicalview!

ModelsofEIA

• EIAimprovingpracticeandprocedure• Limitedtheoreticalstudies• Roleofscienceimportant• Civicscienceapproach• Appliedscienceapproach• Bestbalancefordemocraticplanning?

SpectrumofPhilosophicalBeliefsandValues

EIAasappliedscience EIAascivicscience

Analyticalsciencemodel

Informationprovisionmodel

Environmentaldesignmodel

Participationmodel

Environmentalgovernancemodel

Increasingemphasisonstakeholderinvolvementandvaluejudgements

Increasingemphasisonnaturalscientificmethod

Cashmore(2004)

Keycharacteristics

Analyticalsciencemodel Environmentalgovernancemodel

1 Purposes. Informingdecisionsandenhancingscientificunderstanding.

Deliberativedemocracy

2 Typeandformofscience.

Applied,experimentalscience;naturalisticphilosophyofscience;prominentroleforecology.

Extensiveroleforsocialsciences;limitedrolefornaturalsciences.

3 Roleofsocialvalues.

Strictseparationoffactsandvalues.

Emphasisonsocialvalues; allinformationisaproductofsocialconstructs.

4 Levelofstakeholderinvolvement.

Informationprovisionorconsultation.

Delegatedpowerorcitizencontrol.

5 Commonterminology.

Systematic,comprehensive,quantitative,experimental,modelling,monitoring.

Emancipation,plurality,heterogeneity,equality,justice.

Cashmore(2004)

Haggett etal.(2016)

Climateimpactsassessment

• RevisedEIADirective(2014/52/EU) Scottishtransposition(May2017)assessmentof:

• theimpactoftheprojectonclimate(forexamplethenatureandmagnitudeofgreenhousegasemissions)i.e.MITIGATIONand

• thevulnerabilityoftheprojecttoclimatechange,i.e.ADAPTATION;

Keycharacteristics

Analyticalsciencemodel Environmentalgovernancemodel

1 Purposes. Informingdecisionsandenhancingscientificunderstanding.

Deliberativedemocracy

2 Typeandformofscience.

Applied,experimentalscience;naturalisticphilosophyofscience;prominentroleforecology.

Extensiveroleforsocialsciences;limitedrolefornaturalsciences.

3 Roleofsocialvalues.

Strictseparationoffactsandvalues.

Emphasisonsocialvalues; allinformationisaproductofsocialconstructs.

4 Levelofstakeholderinvolvement.

Informationprovisionorconsultation.

Delegatedpowerorcitizencontrol.

5 Commonterminology.

Systematic,comprehensive,quantitative,experimental,modelling,monitoring.

Emancipation,plurality,heterogeneity,equality,justice.

Cashmore(2004)

Exampleofcarbonmodelling

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Turbine life Backup Bog plants Forest felling

Soil organic carbon

Dissolved and

particulate organic carbon

Improved degraded

bogs

Improved felled

forestry

Restored borrow

pits

Stop drainage of foundations

Car

bon

Payb

ack

Tim

e (m

onth

s)

Carbon Payback Time using Fossil Fuel-Mix as the Counterfactural

Totalpaybacktimeofwindfarm (months)Expected Minimum Maximum

Fossilfuel-mix 40 35 52

Source:ScottishGovernment

Complexmeaningmanagement

• Climatechangeiscomplex• Climatescience”Facts”aretransformedintodifferentmeaningsdependingoninterpretativeframeworksandepistemologies

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The image part with relationship ID rId3 was not found in the file.

Callison,2014

Summary

• KnowledgeproductioninEIAisworthyofre-examination

• Citizenscience,actionlearning,knowledgeco-creation,communitiesofpracticemayallofferinsights

• SystematicreviewofSEIAsinEIAstotestthehypothesesofapplied/civicsciencemodels.

• TohelpdefineanappropriatescientificmodelforEIA

Thankyouforlistening

Any questions??

Contactdetails:JeanWelstead,SchoolofSocialandPoliticalScience,ChrystalMacmillanBuilding,15AGeorgeSquare,Edinburgh,EH89LD.Email:jean@jeanwelstead.co.uk

References• Callison,C(2014)HowClimatechangecomestomatter:thecommunallife

offacts. Durham,NCandLondon:DukeUniversityPress.• Cashmore,Matthew.(2004)Theroleofscienceinenvironmentalimpact

assessment:processandprocedureversuspurposeinthedevelopmentoftheory.EnvironmentalImpactAssessmentReview24403–426.

• Corvellec,H,andA.Risbert (2007)Sensegiving asmise-en-sens – Thecaseofwindpowerdevelopment.ScandinavianJournalofManagement,23,306-26.

• Haggett,C.,Coleman,R.,andHodges,J.(2015)'People,placeandcommunity:themissingchapter',ProjectreportpublishedbyCreativeScotlandandScottishNaturalHeritage.

• ScottishGovernmentcarbonmodel:http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/Energy-sources/19185/17852-1/CSavings

• Warren,C.andBirnie,R.(2009)‘Re-poweringScotland:WindFarmsandthe‘EnergyorEnvironment?’Debate’ScottishGeographicalJournal. Vol.125.No.2,June,pp.97-126.

• Yearley,S.,(1999)ComputerModelsandthePublic’sUnderstandingofScience:ACase-StudyAnalysis.SocialStudiesofScience,Vol.29,No.6(Dec.,1999),pp.845-866.SagePublicationsLtd.