Ramboll Natura, a programme of the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the Asian Institute of Technology Center in Vietnam (AITCV) held a five-day workshop in Hanoi starting from May 28 to discuss ways to promote environmentally sustainable development in the region.
According to programme manager Helena Lindemark, the main objectives of the workshop are to facilitate networking among participants and strengthen the capacity for environmental impact assessment (EIA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA) among participants and the institutions they represent.
Participants from India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, China, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam, who formerly participated in an international training workshop on EIA and SEA, will discuss creative ways to network and reach out to solve issues of concern, as well as recent SEA developments in Vietnam. In addition, participants will be given an SEA case study and an introduction to the Strengthening Environmental Management and Land Administration programme (SEMLA).
They will also take part in field trips and sightseeing tours to Hanoi‘s Nam Son dumping site and Bat Trang pottery village before touring Ha Long Power Plant near the world heritage site Ha Long Bay on Saturday.
An important part of the workshop will focus on the participants’ experience from implementing the projects and other relevant programmes they have been involved in.
During the workshop the four working groups will continue their discussions, identify constraints and opportunities, and propose network/the group can assist in facilitating change processes. Each group will develop a short paper to be presented at the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) conference in Seoul.
Next, participants will fly to Seoul, South Korea, to attend the 27th annual Conference on Growth, Conservation and Responsibility to be held by the IAIA on June 4-8 in which they will have the opportunity to network with 600-800 professionals from around 100 different countries, all working with impact assessment
