Module: Environmental Impact
Assessment and Management (EIAM)
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Dr. Dimitra Vagiona
Module: Environmental Impact Assessment and
Management (EIAM)
Main goals
Understand the advances of EIA in regard to
environmental management
Get familiar with National and European legislation
concerning EIA
Understand the elements of EIA process
Understand the natural and anthropogenic components
of the environment
Perceive tools and techniques for EIA
Get familiar with the format of an EIA Report
Outline of the module
1st week
Introduction –
General concepts
2nd week
Legal framework
3rd week
Alternatives
•Definition of basic concepts: sustainability,
carrying capacity of the environment, projects,
programs, EIA, EIS, SEA
•Purpose, scope and content of EIA policy and
legislation (European Directives, National Law)
•Principles for a functional EIA system
• Introduction to EIA process
•Identification of criteria to compare alternatives
•Performance matrix
•Methods of selecting among alternatives, case
studies
Outline of the module
4th week
Screening
procedure
Scoping procedure
5th week
Public participation
6th week
Broader definition
of the environment
(1)
•Project lists for screening
•Criteria for the determination of the need of EIA
•Preliminary EIA and other types of screening
(information included, contents)
•Steps considered in scoping and evaluation
criteria for the scoping impacts
•Stakeholders involved in EIA
•Principles of public involvement
•Public involvement techniques
•Non-biotic characteristics of the environment
(climatic and bioclimatic features, morphology,
soil, visional features etc)
•Natural environment (flora, fauna, protected
areas)
•Existing and potential conditions
Outline of the module
7th week
Broader definition
of the environment
(2)
8th week
Impact
classification
Mitigation and
impact management
9th week
Tools for impact
identification (1)
•Anthropogenic environment (land uses, built
environment, socio-economic environment,
historical and cultural environment, acoustic etc)
•Surface and groundwaters
•Existing and potential conditions
•Effects caused by projects
•Classification of impacts (positive/adverse,
primary/secondary/tertiary, cumulative, residual,
temporal, spatial etc)
•Case studies
•Checklists
•Network analysis
•Leopold’s matrix
•Flow diagrams
Outline of the module
10th week
Tools for impact
identification (2)
11th week
Techniques for
Environmental
Appraisal (1)
12th week
Techniques for
Environmental
Appraisal (2)
•Stepped or chained matrices
•Delphi method
•Overlays
•Dose – response functions
•Case studies:
•Multicriteria Analysis - MCA
•Analytical Hierarchy Process - AHP
•GIS – Geographical Information System
•CBA – Cost Benefit Analysis
•RA – Risk Analysis
• Case studies:
•IO – Input Output
•LCA – Life Cycle Analysis
•CV – Contingent Valuation
•CEA – Cost Effectiveness Analysis
•MP – Mathematical Programming
Outline of the module
13th week
EIA reporting
• guidelines for effective EIA report preparation
and production
•Main difficulties encountered in EIA preparation
•Presentation of an integrated case study
Assignment: Case study - Perform an EIA study
(report)
The tutor
Environmental
Engineering
Civil Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Environmental
Sciences
Sciences of Planning
The students
Different educational
backgrounds
Different EIA
regimes
Suggested books
1. Peter Morris and Riki Therivel, 2009, Methods of Environmental Impact
Assessment, Routledge
2. John Glasson, Riki Therivel, Andrew Chadwick, 2005, Introduction to
environmental impact assessment, Taylor and Francis
3. Peter Wathern, 2004, Environmental Impact Assessment: Theory and
Practice, Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, London and New York
4. Nolberto Munier, 2004, Multicriteria Environmental Assessment: A
Practical Guide, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London
5. Christopher Wood, 2003, Environmental Impact Assessment: A
Comperative Review, Person, Prentice Hall
6. Barbara Carroll and Trevor Turpin, 2003, Environmental Impact
Assessment Handbook, a practical guide for planners, developers and
communities, Hobbs the Printers, Hampshire
7. David P. Lawrence, 2003, Environmental Impact Assessment: Practical
Solutions to Recurrent Problems, Wiley - Interscience
8. Peter Morris and Riki Therivel, 2001, Methods of Environmental Impact
Assessment, Spon Press, Taylor and Francis Group, London and New York
Internet site
http://eia.unu.edu/index.html