SEA is a process and a tool for evaluating the effects of proposed policies, plans and programmes on natural resources, social, cultural and economic conditions and the institutional environment in which decisions are made. Thus, SEA takes a very broad/wide view, including the three sustainability dimensions as well as institutional issues.The focus is deliberately wide because many of the pressures on both the poor and on the physical environment are a result of custom, tradition, and institutional factors such as the ownership and management of land. It is not possible to analyse the effects of policies on physical resources without understanding the social, cultural, economic and institutional context in which resource exploitation takes place.
The development of SEA can be categorized into two distinct phases/generations.
Special thanks to Jonathan Allotey for providing initial content for this IAIA Wiki topic.