Webinar Details
Interactions between land, water, vegetation and atmosphere play a key role in shaping local hydrological regimes, temperature regulation, and ecosystem resilience. They are at the heart of local and regional climates. However, despite their importance, these processes remain largely implicit and fragmented within current environmental assessment frameworks and practice. This webinar will explore how the scientific understanding of small water cycles and local climate regulation can be better integrated into environmental assessment practice.
The first part of the webinar will introduce the scientific basis and mechanisms of small water cycles and local climate processes, and the functions they support. The second part will build on this foundation to examine how these processes are currently addressed in Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), based on practical experience and case studies (including West Africa), and how they could be more systematically integrated into impact assessment processes.
Target audience: ESIA and SEA practitioners, consultants, development bank specialists, and researchers interested in strengthening the link between science and practice in environmental assessment.
Participants will gain: clear understanding of small water cycles and their relevance for environmental management; insights into current gaps in ESIA practice; practical entry points to better integrate land–water–atmosphere interactions into impact assessment.
