Strategic environmental assessment - SEA

The aim of SEA is to strengthen the sustainable development aspects of policy making and planning, to mainstream environmental concerns and to facilitate and encourage participation and transparency in planning and decision-making processes. SEA provides an improved basis for decision-making by integrating environmental, social and economic aspects into planning. It encourages a participatory and transparent process, as well as an iterative planning process. SEA is primarily used in up-stream decision making, such as plans, programmes, policies, strategies and legislation.

Ramboll has completed a large number of assignments in natural resource management, strategic planning, policy making, participatory processes and capacity development. Our expertise provides our customers with a solid foundation for developing high quality SEA.

Implementation

Strategic Environmental Assesment (SEA) can be part of:

• Macro-level strategies and plans
• Policy reform
• Country sector programmes
• Infrastructure investments
• Multi-project infrastructure programmes
• Spatial development programmes
• Trans-national planning
• Country assistance strategies
• Donor sector policies or sector frameworks

SEA is also used in regional and local planning processes to ensure sustainable development on a local level.

Strengthening institutional frameworks and capacity

This can be carried out in a sector, country or region to support SEA implementation. Specific services include:

• Development and review of legal operational institutional frameworks for the SEA implementation, including laws, regulations and reporting directives
• Development of guidance, procedures and manuals

Capacity development of professionals and organisations

We provide:

• HR management and development
• On-the-job training
• Training programmes for a range of stakeholder groups 
• Training-of-trainers

We take the capacity development of SEA to a strategic level, focusing on the systematic strengthening of institutional linkages, organisations and human resources. We take an integrated approach to SEA in the belief that the process should be closely linked with policy, planning and decision making. In practical terms, we aim to ensure that:

• SEA should coordinate plans between relevant sectors and regions and, where relevant, make necessary links to project EIAs
• The SEA process should be sustainability-led, and address environmental, social, and economic impacts
• Meaningful participation by concerned stakeholders should be included to achieve a balanced outcome 
• The process should be iterative in its design and allow stakeholder consultation and inclusion of new findings, which lead to revisions and renewed consultations
• SEA should include a surveillance programme in order to maintain long term sustainable development