RESEARCH PROPOSAL


Kaja Peterson
Part II: Research Proposal (RP):
Your 1500-word Research Proposal should contain the project's objective and plan for fulfillment;
an explanation of how the results of the project might be applied in practice in the relevant country(ies), and if appropriate, more broadly to the region as a whole.

The file name should be your application ID number with the ending -RP.doc:
i.e. 2249-ENV-PET-EE-RP.doc

Decision-making context can be characterised as a complex of arguments, a mixture of facts (objectivity) and values (subjectivity), that reaches the decision makers through various channels and pressure from stakeholders and concerned groups. So far experts have dominated the decision making process. Facts dominate over values especially in areas which are technically complex, such as nuclear waste issues, energy production etc. Decision-making system to our understanding needs means and support for increasing insight and clarity – transparency as a counter-force to fragmentation and complexity. A key to effective democratic decision-making is also the possibility for stakeholders and the general public to get insight into the reasoning behind decisions and to evaluate the arguments. Thus they also need channels and procedures for achieving better insight and extend their input to decision making.

Environmental assessment of potential impacts associated with implementation of plans and policies and risk assessments in particular are usually based on a rather narrow, but well-defined notion of adverse effects and risk. However, the public is concerned with a broader value context that comprises both benefits and risks. Transparency and understanding of the public’s perception of risks is a necessary first step in establishing the urgently required public dialogue about the complex value questions involved in complex decision making (such as nuclear waste disposal, food production and safety).

The project idea builds on the assumption that both decision-makers on the political level and the public need fora for insight and evaluation. SEA process seems to provide such a forum, where planners, experts, public and decision makers meet, discuss and reach an agreement on long-term nationally important issues, as sectoral plans usually are.

The role of the Strategic Environmental Assessment in planning process of sectoral policy documents at national level will be explored in this project. The main question which is addressed in this project is: What is the role of SEA in increasing transparency of decision making on long-term national policies? It is anticipated that SEA increases the transparency of decision making and promotes democracy in the whole society. The selected case studies include examples of national sectoral policies, such as forestry, tourism, transport, energy development in the Baltic region. The following questions will be raised and dealt with in the project:
What levels of decision making the policy documents are subject to?
What is the scope of decision making?
What is the methodology of SEA used?
How is the process designed (integration of planners and environmental assessors, public participation)?
What are the environmental objectives and indicators used and why?
What are the social and economic objectives and indicators used and why?
What is role of measurable effects and how they are measured?
What is the role of values and how they are considered?
What is the role of public participation in decision making?
Is the planning process improved by SEA?
What are the transparency indicators?
Does transparency of the planning process increase when SEA is applied?

Academic study will be supported by interviews, questionnaire(s) and documentation reviews.

Output :
An article to be published in an academic journal (e.g. EIA Review) and a proposal for advancing the methodology and application of SEA will be presented to the Estonian Ministry of the Environment.

How results will be used?

To develop guidelines for SEA application to increase transparency of decision making on plans and policies in Estonia. Estonian Ministry of the Environment will be one of the main beneficiaries of the results of the project. But, the experience gained could be further expanded and utilized by other state institutions to make decision making more effective and transparent.