Essay Instructions: Coursework : 'Assessing an Assessment’
I choosed EIA report from Worldbank website as following link, and I will send of the assessment, i.e. ‘in Section 5.2 of the PSIA' file to you.
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2009/03/10546688/thailand-sapthip-biogas-project-environmental-assessment-vol-3-3-study-measures-prevent-redress-impacts-environmental-quality-safety-wastewater-treatment-project-ethanol-plant-lopburi-province
The purpose of this coursework is to demonstrate that you have acquired and are able to employ the theory/tools/frames discussed in class. The task is to write an essay (maximum 2,500 words) which evaluates an impact assessment of your choice in a developing country context. In effect, you are expected to assess the assessment, which means:
a) briefly summarising the main attributes of the assessment (i.e. tools used, main recommendations, location, project/policy/plan, date, authors, funders, etc);
b) analyse the merits and limitations of one (max two) aspect(s) of the assessment (this could be the use of a specific tool; a specific identified impact; one section of the report, etc) (i.e. ‘the report’s treatment of xxx indicator or yy consultation is strong/weak because: ;
c) discuss your chosen aspect within the assessment as a whole (i.e. ‘the assessment is generally useful because yyy, but could be substantiated in zzz aspects’, or ‘the assessment is overall very strong/weak because yyy, and is evidently insufficient for consideration of yyy social/environmental considerations’. You should then communicate conclusions of your analysis. While all sections are important, the emphasis of your report should be on b).
The evaluation must be based on some of the theory/tools/frames you have acquired, not only on opinion. Such theory includes (but is not limited to): reconciliation of quantitative and qualitative data; the idea that environmental and/or social assessments are political in nature; Glasson et al’s ‘assessment process’; awareness of strengths and weaknesses inherent in such assessments (i.e. focussed, elements of a ‘good’ PSIA etc); power vs interest maps; textual analysis; cultural theory; consideration of the political nature of selecting which impacts to be examined; evaluation of the impacts (significance vs magnitude); problems arising from the perspective taken on the assessment, etc.
You will be expected to hand in a soft (not hard) copy of the assessment you have evaluated, along with your essay. Assessments must concern the environmental and/or social impacts of an environmental policy/plan/programme/project and may be international, national or sub-national.
Environmental and/or social impact assessments of environmental policies / plans / programmes or projects are available on the net in many locations, including World Bank Group, WWF, DFID etc, as well as from the journals Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal and Environmental Impact Assessment Review. Some interesting reports that are not available publicly from primary sources may be found by clever investigation on the net. Do not evaluate a paper written about an assessment; evaluate the assessment itself.
If you think the report you are assessing is several hundred pages too long, it may be wise to look for a summary of the report. Analysis of the ‘executive summary’ which accompanies most assessments is not sufficient. As most reports are quite long, you will be expected to do selective reading. The report is expected to be in English - check with the lecturers if you would like to assess one that is not in English.
Tips for a useful assessment:
??' Apply the theory / tools you’ve acquired in class. State the theory or tools that you will use, and then state that you are using it / them.
??' Substantiate the points you are making. A tight argument is better than a scatter-gun approach. As you don’t have many words / space to elaborate, you should be selective with the material you present.
??' Add a very brief (100 words) mini Executive Summary, which should indicate your overall evaluation.
??' Use figures and tables if these will be helpful for communicating.
??' Suggest briefly how the impact assessment could be improved, ie. recommendations for either the written Terms of Reference, or with execution
??' Be sure to reference properly. This means attribution to any data or thoughts that are not your own, as well as reference to specific sections of the report ??" i.e. ‘p. x’, or ‘Table y’.
??' Refer to sections of the assessment, i.e. ‘in Section 5.2 of the PSIA, we may note that…’
An analysis of assessments is available at
World Bank (2005) Integrating Environmental Considerations in Policy Formulation: Lessons from Policy-Based SEA Experience. Report No. 32783. Development, Environment Department - Environmentally and Socially Sustainable. Washington, The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
A comprehensive evaluation of the Merowe assessment may be found at www.eawag.ch/media/20060323/Independent-Review-20060323-Short.pdf
(you are not expected to go into this level of detail)
You are expected to hand in a soft copy of the assessment you have chosen, along with your evaluation of it. As the marking procedure is anonymous, you will submit the soft copy onto the TSED Blackboard site no later than the submittal deadline of the coursework itself.
Word counts
A word count must be included in all assessed work. The ability to answer the essay within the specified number of words is one of the marking criteria used for assessment. As a rough guide, students can expect that around 1% point will be deducted for each 50 words above the specified limit.
The word limit INCLUDES:
- all text (other than exclusions ??" see below)
Thus, word length does NOT include “.
It EXCLUDES:
-appendices, footnotes, endnotes, bibliographies, graphs, charts, diagrams, tables and their labels
There are faxes for this order.
