ABSTRACT
Debates about public participation in environmental assessment (EA) often concern when participation should take place, how it can be practised and who should participate. In recent years, discussions have focused also on its efficiency and outcomes in general. This chapter focuses on why public participation is essential for strategic environmental assessment (SEA). It will be argued that public participation faces many challenges that still have to be met or dealt with more appropriately than has hitherto been the case in SEA research and development. The argument is based on the author’s theoretical research on the subject of SEA and case studies carried out over many years. It also incorporates presentations and discussions that took place at the sessions on public participation at the 2005 International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) SEA Conference in Prague. The intent in this chapter is not to provide detailed recommendations about how public participation in SEA should take place, rather it contains reflections on the different challenges of public participation in the SEA process and the principal matters that must be taken into account in the conduct of SEA. These matters have core aspects in common although they must be applied in practice in each individual case.
