How can spatial decision support (SDS) and advanced earth observation tools enhance the environmental assessment process in order to ensure sustainable planning and decision-making?
Ad hoc and often uncontrolled development initiatives can have undesired social, economic and ecological consequences. Rapid population growth, pollution, climate change, exposure to hazards and disasters, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services require effective assessment tools to assist sustainable planning and decision-making.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) are the basic procedures to support this process. The key principles of EIA and SEA are the involvement of relevant stakeholders, a transparent and adaptive planning process, consideration of alternatives, and using the best possible information for decision and policymaking. They, therefore, improve both the (spatial) planning process and the information used in this process. In addition, earth observation (EO) tools can provide the biophysical baseline in a given geographical area and monitor the proposed activity, making the environmental assessment process more efficient.
In this course, you will not only explore how to integrate SEA into the planning process to enhance sustainable decision-making but also will address how GIS, spatial decision support and advanced EO tools such as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and high-resolution space-borne imagery, can be used to help identify and structure the problem(s), as well as generate and compare possible solutions, and monitor and evaluate the proposed activities.
Hands-on experience with real EIA and SEA projects will be a major part of the course.