More Effective EIA Follow-Up: How To Seamlessly Connect EIA And EMS
More Effective EIA Follow-Up: How To Seamlessly Connect EIA And EMS
Learn to leverage impact assessments (EIA/SIA) to inform post-decision actions (like EMS, HSE-MS, CSR, ESG). You’ll learn how to seamlessly connect these stages, improve communication, and develop strong leadership skills for effective follow-up.
- Presented by: Behzad Raissiyan (Iran)
- Course level: Intermediate
- Language of delivery: English
- Prerequisites: Participants are expected to have an understanding of EIA/SIA processes and terminology, and some awareness about environmental management systems (EMS). Hence it would be beneficial if they had previously attended an introductory IAIA training course (e.g. “Foundations of Impact Assessment”); or otherwise have had at least a year of work experience as a consultant, proponent or regulator within an EIA system, or be in the position of implementing an EMS or health, safety and environmental (HSE) management system (e.g. as an HSE officer, auditor etc.) in an active industry or ongoing project, or be a student with at least 6 months taught or research experience of some aspect of EIA / HSE-MS. A particular interest in EIA implementation and follow up as well as implementing EMS / HSE-MS is obviously desirable.
- Homework between sessions: 2 quizzes and 3 assignments (the participants will be encouraged to team up and complete assignments as sub-groups, but individual works will also be acceptable)
- Logistics: This course takes place live over Zoom in multiple segments. Course times are listed in UTC; make sure to check that the time of this course works for you in your time zone.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) implementation and follow up has been recognized as one of the most crucial process of impact assessment in achieving its outcomes. In general terms ‘follow-up’ refers to ‘post-decision processes’ – a crucial part of which is ensuring that recommendations and commitments made through the EIA process are actually implemented. There are many tools that can support this implementation process, including environmental management systems (EMS) and many other related management tools e.g. HSE-MS, CSR, ESG, GRI etc. While considerable efforts and investments are made in both EIA and EMS, a lack of integration of these activities contributes to suboptimal environmental outcomes and a failure to realize the potential of these well-established instruments.
This training course focuses on strengthening the linkage between EIA and EMS throughout the life cycle of projects. After a quick review on the pre-decision tools (conventional EIA/SIA/SEA); and well-known post-decision tools and standards (e.g. HSE-MS, ISO 1400 and ISO 4500) the “technical aspects” of integration will be discussed. It will be followed by “interpersonal aspects” of integration, i.e. improving communication and leadership. Finally the “HSE cultural transformation theory” and its relationship with the EIA implementation will be elaborated though which participants will develop ways of making the entire or EIA/EMS a seamless, dynamic and flexible process.
Behzad Raissiyan is an independent Environmental planning, assessment and governance practitioner, advisor and instructor for more than 20 years. For a long time Behzad has been a lead HSE-MS auditor, senior implementer and coach. He worked as Environmental Advisor for a major oil development project for 6 years with specific responsibility for the implementation and follow-up of the EIA commitments and establishment of an EMS, with additional responsibilities including incident investigation and follow up, HSE and sustainability performance monitoring and reporting. He has offered several training courses in the fields of IA and HSE-MS in IAIA and other contexts with an excellent track records. Behzad is a member of IAIA since 2008 and serves as a member of its Training and Professional Development Committee since 2014 and chaired the committee 2016-2020.
IAIA Members: USD$480 // Non-Members: USD$580. Full payment must be received by the posted registration deadline.
All course times are listed in UTC. Make sure to check that the time of this course works for you in your time zone.
Registration instructions: Create or login to your IAIA Member Compass account. Register online using a credit card. To pay via wire, choose the invoice option at checkout. If paying via wire, please keep in mind that payment must be received by the registration deadline, and wire transfers can take several days to process. Please plan accordingly.
Please register early! The course will be cancelled if the minimum number has not been reached one week before the course start date. If the training course is cancelled at that time due to low enrollment, IAIA will notify you and provide refund information.
Payment & refund policies: Registration is not confirmed until payment has been received and a receipt has been issued. Pre-registration and pre-payment by individual course deadline is required. IAIA will refund registration fees upon written request received before the specific course deadline; a US$125 processing fee will be retained. After the course deadline date, no refunds will be issued for cancelations or no-shows. Substitutions for paid registrants may be made in writing without financial penalty.
The seamless integration of EIA and EMS is so relevant to successful implementation. This course really tackles the why and how. Behzad goes deep while allowing the participants to engage, learn and ask questions. Understanding the historical context and current thinking in EIA and EMS practice was of great value.
- Recent course participant
Brilliant and inspiring. It was so personally and professionally validating to gather with like-minded professionals with the goal of advancing our practice area skills. The collaborative and discussion-based approach of the instructor really fostered an environment where we learned so much from each other's experiences but within a specific context.
- Recent course participant
Behzad Raissiyan holds the flag high and lights the path for us to further improve our understanding of the fundamentals and underlining the value of this work. Inspiring, motivating, and so helpful to continuously raise the bar. Behzad incorporated humanity in this and went beyond just the technical quality.
- Recent course participant
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