Collaborative Sustainability Assessment for Land Use Planning

1. Collaborative sustainability assessment for significant land use planning and development undertakings • Dr Caroline Raphael • Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Environmental ScienceMaster of Arts in Ecologically Sustainable DevelopmentGraduate Certificate in EconomicsPhD • Presentation to the International Association for Impact Assessment • Porto, Portugal • May 2012

2. Overview • Research Process • Key literature review findings • Cases - Fremantle Harbours Policy and ING Commercial Development • 3. Case study findings • 4. Framework

3. Research Question • How could sustainability assessment and deliberation best be applied for significant land-use planning and development undertakings in Western Australia?

4. Research Process • Literature Review on Sustainability Assessment and Deliberation • Case study analysis • Examine how deliberation and assessment currently takes place • Determine what is more important for deliberation from those involved • Examine the influence of frames on deliberation • Develop new theory for sustainability assessment and deliberation

5. Sustainability assessment • Defined as “‘new’approaches to impact assessment thatare designed to direct planning and decision-making towards sustainable development (SD)” (Hacking and Guthrie 2008) • Approaches • Project-based sustainability assessment (EIA-based, urban sustainability assessment frameworks) • Plan or strategy-based sustainability assessment (SEA, Sustainability Appraisal) • Conceptual sustainability assessment frameworks (deliberative sustainability assessment, integrated sustainability assessment, sustainability assessment)

6. Deliberation • An advanced or elevated form of talk (Grimes 2008) • Offers more than dialogue or debate - conversations that matter (Carson 2008)

7. Dimensions of Deliberation • Seeking inclusivity • Searching for consensus or common ground • Granting capacity to influence decision-making processes • Fostering greater understanding of the issues and their implications • Honesty, trust and respect encouraged • Openness, goodwill, commitment and responsibility • Managing media • Facilitator

8. Cases • Fremantle Harbours Policy • Proposed expansion of the Harbours to meet increasing demand for boating and alternate uses. • ING Commercial Development • Proposed Office/Commercial/Retail development on the Port of Fremantle to meet demand for new office/retail space.

9. Fremantle Harbours Policy

10. ING Commercial Development

11. Key Findings • Most important dimensions for deliberation were: • Seeking inclusivity • Granting capacity to influence the decision-making process • Understanding of the issues • Assessment • Poorly done (no criteria, little transparency, no guidance, not linked with the outcomes of deliberation)

12. Collaborative Sustainability Assessment (CSA) COLLABORATION • Filtering Screening •  • Governance Structure  Oversight Committee •  • Purpose, option identification, scoping and baseline development  Key question, goal  select options and critical review their purpose  scope issues  set sustainability objectives, criteria, targets and establish baseline •  • Assessment and Selection  Assess impacts and relationships  select and enhance preferred option •  • Development of Management System and Strategies  Detail impact management and mitigation measures, design implementation, change management processes, follow-up, monitoring and auditing program •  • Proposal  Proposal developed with associated documentation •  • Approval  Proposal submitted for approval

13. CSA • Should be the decision-making process for significant land use planning and development undertakings • Planning needs to legitimise CSA like EIA • Objectives, targets, criteria, baselines must be sustainability-oriented and measurable (quantitatively, qualitatively) • Implementation, follow-up and monitoring should be legally required and audited to ensure objectives, criteria etc. are being met.

14. CSA • Seeking inclusivity should be focused on drawing representatives from the real profile of the community • Capacity to influence the process should be genuine but also sensitive • Designed for the co-creation of knowledge and knowledge-sharing through the assessment process • Underpinned by an awareness and understanding of frames, frame-reflection, frame-bridging and reframing and their impact on the assessment process and outcomes

15. Key lessons ! • Build supportive and constructive collaborative relationships with those that believe in CSA. • It is through relationships that issues such as honesty, trust, respect, openness, goodwill can be built and conflict addressed. No process can do this - it is about the individual in the end. • Frames are fundamental to how effective any form of assessment is and what the outcomes become.

16. Questions?Ideas?Contributions? • Contact Details • Email: caroline_raphael@yahoo.co.uk • Thesis downloadable on • http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/6080/