Review, Audit and Investigation in Impact Assessment: Essential Skills for Professional Excellence and Career Advancement
Review, Audit and Investigation in Impact Assessment: Essential Skills for Professional Excellence and Career Advancement
Strengthen practical skills in EIA/SIA review, auditing and investigation, alongside risk assessment and due diligence, through critical thinking, objectivity and evidence-based practice—ultimately improving Impact Assessment quality and outcomes.
- Presented by: Behzad Raissiyan (Iran)
- Course level: Advanced
- Language of delivery: English
- Prerequisites: Participants should have a basic understanding of Impact Assessment processes (Environmental, Social, or other forms of Impact Assessment) or experience with ESIA follow-up through the implementation of Environmental and Social Management Systems (ESMS).
Practical experience is beneficial but not required. Previous involvement in reviewing ESIA reports, conducting audits, investigating incidents, or undertaking environmental and social due diligence is advantageous but not essential.
Homework between sessions: There will be no mandatory homework, but optional practical exercises will be provided to extend and reinforce the work started during the sessions. Participants will be encouraged to complete additional samples, such as developing review, audit or due-diligence checklists. Examples will first be developed interactively during the sessions, based on specific requirements, standard clauses, obligations or stakeholder expectations, followed by similar exercises for reviewing IA reports and incident/grievance investigation reports. Short quizzes will also be used to reinforce key concepts.
- Logistics: This course takes place live over Google Meet 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.
Impact Assessment (IA) is not a one-off exercise; its life cycle is about understanding, learning and improvement. IAIA’s Best Practice Series (2022) defines follow-up as “understanding the outcomes of projects or plans subject to impact assessment”. Effective follow-up closes the learning and improvement loop by monitoring outcomes, evaluating performance, identifying lessons and opportunities, and taking corrective, preventive or enhancing action.
Drawing on the Plan–Do–Check–Act (PDCA) approach, this course explores tools that support learning and improvement throughout the IA life cycle—from report review and decision-making to post-decision follow-up. These include reviewing, auditing, monitoring and evaluation, due diligence, benchmarking, and incident investigation, including non-compliances and grievances.
Participants will:
- Understand the purpose, scope and links of these tools across the IA life cycle;
- Develop essential skills for rigorous use—including objectivity, evidence-based analysis, critical thinking, communication, and awareness of cognitive biases and fallacies; and
- Practically apply key techniques for reviewing, auditing and incident investigation.
Although many of these tools are well established in HSE management systems, risk assessment and process safety, they remain underused in IA education and practice. This course bridges that gap, helping IA, HSE, social and sustainability practitioners turn findings and outcomes into learning and better decisions.
Behzad Raissiyan is an independent Impact Assessment practitioner, IAIA-certified instructor, and HSE-MS and environmental governance advisor with over 25 years of experience in EIA/SEA, HSE management, auditing, risk management and follow-up across diverse sectors. He served six years as Environmental Advisor on a major oil development project, focusing on EIA commitments, EMS, incident investigation, HSE performance and risk management. An IAIA member since 2008 and former TPDC Chair (2016–2020), Behzad has been an IAIA instructor since 2022. He has delivered numerous IA and EMS/HSE courses, including seven rounds of IAIA’s Professional Development Program and conference courses in 2022, 2023, 2025 and 2026, with participants from around the world and consistently excellent feedback.
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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