ABSTRACT
In the fall of 1979, the School of Natural Resources of The University of Michigan offered a graduate seminar entitled "Integrated Impact Assessment" (IIA). IIA requires interaction among experts in different academic disciplines. IIA acknowledges the uncertainty in our environment and the need for assessment and management strategies that accommodate limited knowledge and imperfect institutions. Integrative assessment and management has significant implications for the training of natural resource professionals. An interactive, broad-based assessment approach requires that assessors and managers have sufficient interdisciplinary training so that information can flow freely within the assessment team and between it and its constituency. The importance of values in integrative assessment and management depends upon our perception of the decision-making process. The growing interest in integrated approaches to impact assessment appears to be paralleled by increasing frustration with traditional disciplinary efforts. The divergent views about potential of team assessment are reflected in the variety of labels: intradisciplinary, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary.
