ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a description of an issues-oriented approach to social impact assessment (SIA) developed in New Zealand. It provides an overview of the New Zealand experience with SIA and some of the procedural and methodological questions that have emerged, especially during the "think big" era of resource development. The chapter examines a summary of the common problems that have been faced and suggest solutions in the form of an issues-oriented approach. Despite the limitations of SIA work at Huntly, many lessons were learned and applied to the large-scale energy-resource projects to follow elsewhere in New Zealand. An ideal-type of SIA process began to emerge out of all these projects for managing the social change from large-scale developments having significant local and regional impacts. An SIA will normally require the collection and analysis of data. The SIA process recommended in New Zealand emphasizes the early identification of social issues in change.
