EnvironmentallySound Design Management Introduction This session covers Principles

Environmentally-Sound Design & Management

Introduction This session covers: âPrinciples of Sound Environmental Design and Management âAn Introduction to Sources of Information on Environmentally Sound Design and Management Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 2

Sound Environmental Design and Management: "Ten Principles" 1. Integrate environmental considerations early in program and activity designs (often saves time and money later and enhances sustainability) 2. Ensure local and community participation in identifying potential environmental problems both in design and throughout implementation Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 3

“Ten Principles” Cont. 3. Take into account potential effects of increased income and population growth 4. Assess effects on the environment associated with the varying scales and intensities of activities 5. Understand effects of environment/resource constraints on "long-term" environmental and economic sustainability Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 4

“Ten Principles” Cont. 6. Anticipate potential "critical events" drought, famine or civil strife and related emergency assistance, including food aid and the environmental impacts associated with them 7. Provide training in environmental and natural resource management, where appropriate 8. Develop cost-effective environmental mitigation and monitoring plans Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 5

“Ten Principles” Cont. 9. Safeguard the long-term viability of implemented activities with sound natural resource management and mitigation of identified environmental problems; and 10. Weigh long-term economic costs and benefits of environmental management among 'pristine' and a range of 'less than perfect' scenarios Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 6

Elements of Sound Environmental Design ³ Know and follow host country environmental policies, programs, and regulations ³ Incorporate people’s knowledge and concerns. Take into account: Participation Equity and Gender Environmental Justice ³ ³ ³ Take into account Financial/economic criteria Appropriate technical/engineering practices Environmental training Adaptive programming Learning from each other Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 7

Understand the Policy Context and Enabling Conditions ³ Know your host countries environmental policies and programs: (1) Is there a legal and policy framework enabling sustainable private-sector and public initiatives? (2) Are there clearly defined national objectives related to environmental design and management? (3) What is the HC capacity (institutions, human resources, etc. ) to apply laws, policies, and information? Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 8

³ Resource tenure and property rights often influence natural resource management. ³ Tenure rights vary among cultures and are frequently gender-specific Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 9

Ensure Community Participation ³ Local participants/stakeholders should be involved from the beginning of the design process because: they must live with the environmental impacts of activities by participating in design, implementation and monitoring, they gain ownership and responsibility, and a clear understanding of objectives and anticipated outcomes their full participation serves as an incentive to identify and mitigate adverse impacts Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 10

³ they need the understanding and capacity to adapt activities to future change after donor support ceases ³ their detailed knowledge of local conditions is often critical in anticipating and identifying potential impacts ³ they may have knowledge, gained (either traditionally or through past development projects), allowing them to foresee possible negative impacts; and ³ they're in the best position to monitor long-term environmental effects of project activities. Local communities are the long-term residents of the area, and are best able to identify and address adverse impacts after donor assistance ends. Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 11

Consider Gender and Equity Perspectives ³ Women, are often key to food production, NRM and developing country economic systems. ³ Often farmers and smallholders are synonymous terms for the women in a community Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 12

³ In many rural communities women and children constitute over 3/4 ths of the total population ³ Women have extensive knowledge of the environment and natural resource base, including: subsistence agriculture, wood fuel utilization, water availability and quality, gathered foods, and certain medicines. Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 13

+ Tap this knowledge during program and project planning sessions, as well as for input into design and implementation of activities, such as developing the scope of environmental assessment work. + Use socio-cultural expertise to obtain women's input, since in many cultures respect for traditional male authority prevents women from making their opinions known directly to project designers. Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 14

Implications of Income Generation ³ Development activities can increase income-earning opportunities for some members of a community. ³ However, greater income generation may have adverse social and environmental impacts. Examples: Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 15

4 4 Increased community wealth may lead to rise in market prices. Some can pay higher prices by using new income, but poorest of poor may be further marginalized; 4 Increased income may result in purchase of land & cattle without regard to environmental carrying capacity; 4 Increased income may result in greater solid waste production & increased accumulation of unrecycled materials; Groups benefiting from income-generating schemes may not be the target groups, e. g. district councils rather than farmer associations. Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 16

Financial and Economic Criteria ³ Does activity budget incorporate those mitigative measures to reduce environmental impacts? ³ Is activity financially sustainable without continuous external support? ³ Do benefits of activity outweigh costs? (How are labor costs calculated in FFW? ) The hardest economic test: Would a commercial bank loan money to do this activity? Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 17

Technical and Engineering Criteria What is the land suitable for? Is the use the most economically productive and sustainable? Appropriate choices of crops or trees? Appropriate to climate and soils? Appropriate building materials? Appropriate technology? Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 18

Sound engineering practices/What is the project life? Design based on knowledge of variation in rainfall, temperature, potential for natural catastrophes (earthquakes, cyclones, floods, etc. )? Construction methods and materials suitable to the intensity of use and natural forces? Operators trained? Maintenance accounted for? Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 19

Food Aid and Natural Resource Management Examine links between food aid and sustainable natural resource management. Flow of food resources into a regions and mechanisms to support that flow can improve the food security and economic strength of the beneficiaries/customers. However, the arrival of food aid into a community can potentially alter the relationship between people and how they use the natural resource base. Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 20

Potential Effects cause changes in crop and livestock production strategies; alter land tenure arrangements, grazing regulations, etc; alter changes in seasonal and long-term migration patterns; alter wood gathering patterns reduce local seed production and utilization, this in turn can result in loss of genetic resources and biodiversity Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 21

Consider Environmental Training ³ Environmental education and training can be important parts of projects in all sectors. ³ Train stakeholders to see how: project activities can affect the environment in order to foresee their adverse impacts. sound environmental management and sustainable development are reinforcing Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 22

Training Activities ³ Environmental education in schools, teacher awareness training, extension worker training, workshops for journalists. ³ Government agency awareness and capacity building Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 23

Monitor and Evaluate: In Support of Adaptive Program Implementation and Mitigation ³ Project budgets should identify funding sources and responsibility for monitoring and evaluation from the onset of project design. ³ Anticipate the costs to do it right and include a strategy and budget for environmental mitigation and monitoring, if needed. ³ Managers need to be flexible and open to change, in order to make adjustments and take mitigative steps to deal with unanticipated adverse impacts. Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 24

Identify Regional Lessons: Learning from Each Other ³ Facilitate sharing lessons learned about environmental impacts through regional coordination and use of consistent field methodologies ³ Create mechanisms for inter-country exchanges, especially NGOs, PVOs and collaborators. ³ Access the work of colleagues tackling similar problems, and share experiences at the ground level. ³ Standardize methods among NGOs. Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course 25

Summary ³ Environmental & sustainable development are inseparable. ³ Consistent policies in environment, health, economics, etc. , require donor, PVOs/NGOs, host government and other coordination. ³ Biological, social, and political criteria considered together early in design and throughout the implementation process enhance success 26 Environmentally Sound Design EA Training Course