THE DANISH CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTANNUAL REPORT 2013

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CONTENT

01. Foreword 3

02. Mission statement 5

03. People 8

04. Teaching and out-reach 11

05. Projects 19

06. Appendices 27

© 2013, The Danish Centre for Environmental AssessmentAalborg University, Skibbrogade 5, 1, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark Email: info-dcea@plan.aau.dk / Web: www.dcea.dk

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced and/or made public in any form without the permission from DCEA.

Design: Silvia Dragomir

Editing: Lise Kirk, Lone Kørnøv, Silvia Dragomir

Images: colorbox.com, Kristian Hegner Reinau, Silvia Dragomir

Head of Centre: Lone KørnøvTel: +45 99 40 82 87 Email: lonek@plan.aau.dk

Deputy Head of Centre: Martin LehmannTel: +45 99 40 84 22Email: martinl@plan.aau.dk

Secretary: Lise Kirk NordensgaardTel: +45 99 40 25 42 Email: lisekirk@plan.aau.dk

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FOREWORD

Dear Reader

With this annual report we would like to provide you with an overview of DCEA’s

2013 activities. The past year has offered several diverse and also highly controversial projects and impact assessments, which have kept us very preoccupied and which are visualised in our research and centre engagement.

Recent interesting impact assessment projects are e.g. the search for shale gas in Frederikshavn, nuclear waste deposit, river basin management, extraction activities in Greenland and construction of the metro line in Copenhagen. Impact assessments of these projects are a cause of dispute as to the importance of environmental impacts, and public participation on these topics are therefore often characterised by vociferous discussions on facts as

well as values.

We follow many of these controversial cases in our research and new projects give rise to an increased focus on several specific areas in 2014. An area of attention is public participation aimed at understanding public perceptions, needs and resistance in relation to impact assessments. The aim is to improve the dialogue and thus the impact assessment. 2014 will also be the year where we increase our focus on monitoring. We lack knowledge and overview of the parrying measures suggested by impact assessment, and whether they are implemented as intended and have the expected effects. We will also continue our work on integrating climate into planning processes through use of impact assessment and by widening experiences from a recent Vietnamese capacity project.

There are still areas within impact assessments where an increase of

Lone Kørnøv

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quality is needed. In this regard we will follow the work on the new EIA Directive closely as it may change the settings for our work with and the quality of impact assessments. The EIA motion is ‘modernised’ which, among other things, means that the scope of environmental considerations to be assessed in relation to ‘significance’ has increased. The quality and quality assurance have the attention of the EU Commission, and various approaches are suggested in order to ensure satisfactory quality assurance. Delegating the reporting responsibility to developers as suggested by the motion will also impact on quality. Hence, there may be several interesting and important changes coming within the field of EIA, which are also reflected in the ongoing work of the Committee on Simplification and Modernisation of the EIA Directive.

Impact assessments are more than information feeding into decision-making processes. Today they are platforms for public participation and dialogue, and the institutions that apply impact assessments undergo development and learning processes. In several ways, impact assessments thus contribute to better and more democratic decision-making processes. In DCEA we thus continue our focus on processes around impact assessment as well as the assessment reports in our research

and collaboration with organisations, NGOs and authorities.

On behalf of DCEA I would like to thank all our partners nationally and internationally as well as participants of the Environmental Assessment Day. The continued dialogue and exchange of information provide important and necessary input in the development and testing of new ideas for research. It is invaluable – when the aim is that contributions to impact assessments make a difference!

Lone Kørnøv Head of Centre

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MISSION STATEMENT

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DCEA is an inter-disciplinary research and policy engagement centre within the

field of impact assessment and environmental governance.

The Centre provides theoretically pluralistic, methodologically rigorous, and analytically sound input to research and practice, and contributes to out-reach and educational programmes – all with

a view to promote participatory and sustainability transition.

DCEA is the leading research centre connecting impact assessment practice to theories of decision-making and governance, with a strong focus on critical engagement with governments, businesses and civil society within regional, national and international policy-making arenas.

1SUSTAINABILITYWe strive to promote balanced consideration of environmental,

social and economic factors, a medium- and long-term perspective, and equality, justice and fairness globally.

2CURIOSITYWe support an engaged research and educational

environment that seeks to sustain passionate inquiry.

3ACCOUNTABILITYWe strive to achieve transparency, broad societal

engagement, and openness.

4INDEPENDENCEAs an academic centre, we emphasise impartiality,

autonomy, and creative freedom.

DIRECTION

VALUES

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RESEARCH THEMES

GOALS

A key foundation for DCEA research is the objective to support sustainability

transition in societal decision-making and out-comes of the processes.

The uniqueness of DCEA is the critical understanding of the technical aspects of the methodologies combined with an understanding of how institutions and different types of decision-

making processes support or hinder the inclusion of environmental and impact assessment in a transparent way.

This is an underlying basis for the group’s innovation work on the methodological development, the institutionalisation of assessment methodologies, the construction of the regulatory framework, and the governance perspective.

Research

Within the applied researchDCEA will:

Address urgent and specific problems or needs with the overall objective to support and develop critical impact

assessment to secure a more sustainable planning of our

cities, the countryside and the sectors nature, water, energy and waste - and securing that problems and needs of 'the

global south' are adressed and considered.

Within the fundamental research DCEA will:

Undertake scientific inquiry that expand our knowledge and

understanding critically of issues in relation to impact

assessment, governance and decision making.

Education

For PhD, master and bachelor and programmes DCEA aims

to:

Attract the best students nationally and internationalContiniously develop the

programmes in accordance with the problem-based

learning model and critical thinking.

To continue to develop programmes in which teaching

is informed by research,.

To engage with students as research collaborators and

important contributors to the research environment

For professionals DCEA aims to:

Develop educational opportunities through master programmes and short-term

courses in-house.Engage with capacity building in

developing countries.

EngagementFor scientific outreach and

dissemination DCEA aim to:

Collaborate with other national and international research

institutions.Being national organisation of

IA practitioners.

Ensure the research results are disseminated for the benefit of

scientific communities.Promoting exchange of visiting scholars and PhD fellows for

knowledge sharing. and development.

Strengthen high-profile scientific reporting.

Being national centre of excellence within the field.

With community engagement DCEA aims to:

Interact with actors considered as decision-makers as well as

those affected by them. Co-operate with practitioners

and NGO's.

Emphasize real world application.

Involve public stakeholders in the research process, if the

research deals with particular interests.

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PEOPLE

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Lone Kørnøv Martin Lehmann

Ivar Lyhne

Morten Bidstrup

Sara Bjørn Aaen

Lise Kirk

Anna Sofie OlsenAnne-MerildAmanda Hill

Jannick SchmidtHelle Nielsen

Ole Busck

Silvia Dragomir

Anja Wejs

Patrick Driscoll

Sanne V Larsen

Bo Weidema

Søren Løkke

Eva Ritter Guangling Zhao

Matthew Cashmore

Per Christensen

Massimo Pizzol

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Fredrik MoltuEskild Holm Nielsen

Jasmine Zhang

Halvor Dannevig

Jingjing Gao

Hans Jakob Valnum

Paulina Ramirez

Michele De Rosa

Trakarn PropaspongsaMikkel Thrane

ASSOCIATE

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ASSOC

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TEACHING AND OUT-REACH

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GAMES AS EFFICIENT LEARNING TOOLS

Over the past few years, researchers at DCEA have developed a number of

games that have been used within Bachelor and Master Educations. This year we also decided to include gaming in one of the sessions at our annual conference, Environmental Assessment Day, aimed at practitioners from primarily municipalities, regions and consultancies. Our games include Broken Cities [climate change mitigation/adaptation], Gone with the Wind [impact assessment and 100% renewable power systems], and Nordhavn [land use/transport/C02 emissions/economic development]. The games have been played in a variety of educational settings, including in Danish high schools, BEM, EMSS, Cities and Sustainability, Urban Planning and Management,

Sustainable Cities [Copenhagen] and in other universities such as Boston University, Aalto University, and Portland State University. Many of the students who participate report a high level of satisfaction and engagement with gaming as a pedagogical tool. In addition to providing a new way to teach and learn, the games are also used to support research in the field of decision making within climate change planning, resulting in a peer-reviewed scientific article and a book chapter on the use of social games.

Our game development team includes: Patrick Driscoll, Silvia Dragomir, Martin Lehmann, Sanne Vamme Larsen, and Ivar Lyhne. All of the games are licensed through Creative Commons [BY-NC-SA 3.0] and are freely available from DCEA’s website: http://www.dcea.dk/education/

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Nuclear waste has to be disposed of in a manner that ensures the protection

and safety of both human health and the environment - and in this regard strategic environmental assessment should play a significant role. On 31 January, six Danish locations were identified as possible nuclear waste deposit sites for final deposit of radioactive waste from Risø. These alternatives now need to undergo an impact assessment through a Strategic Environmental Assessment. The decision about the location of a deposit site for radioactive waste is irreversible and therefore it demands time for both proper impact assessments and dialogue between authorities, experts and citizens. The specific and controversial case

was presented and discussed at the Environmental Assessment Day 2013 and students from the Bachelor Programme Urban, Energy and Environmental Planning are studying the case closely. DCEA went to the media earlier this year and will continuously follow the impact assessment process and provide input to support the scope of the impact assessments, inclusion of alternatives and inclusion of the public.

For more information on this case and DCEA’s engagement please contact Lone Kørnøv at: lonek@plan.aau.dk

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF NUCLEAR WASTE DEPOSITS FROM DENMARK

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Anne Merrild Hansen from DCEA has been appointed as member of an expert

committee to work on beneficial exploration of natural resources in Greenland from a societal perspective. Members of the committee have been appointed by Rector of Copenhagen University, Ralf Hemmingsen, and Rector of Ilisimatusarfik, Tine Pars.

Members of the committee all conduct research within areas relating to exploration of resources in the Greenlandic subsoil. The committee is interdisciplinary and consists of 13 researchers from 9 different Scandinavian and Greenlandic research institutions. Together the committee members cover a large and varied field from law and economy to biology and geology.

Apart from the study of Greenland’s resource potential, the committee will also put forward some specific steps for Greenlandic and Danish stakeholders, including steps to strengthen the Greenlandic society’s opportunity to directly benefit from investments in exploration of Greenland’s geological resources.

The initiative will run for approximately one year. During this

period the committee members will meet several times to discuss the resource theme from various perspectives. During the process, various stakeholders and contributors such as researchers, businesses, NGOs and organisational representatives will be included.

Based on these discussions and perspectives, the committee will prepare a number of background papers for further analysis of various aspects of exploration activities. All background papers will be quality assessed by peers and published at the website http://nyheder.ku.dk/groenlands-naturressourcer/

The background papers form the basis for a so-called synthesis report where recommendations and conclusions will be propounded.

It is important for the committee that the recommendations are communicated to the general public. This will be done through discussion events and articles in one or more national newspapers.

For further information you are welcome to contact Anne Merrild Hansen at merrild@plan.aau.dk

DCEA REPRESENTATION IN THE COMMITTEE FOR GREENLANDIC MINERAL RESOURCES TO THE BENEFIT OF SOCIETY

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The Environmental Assessment Day at DCEA is the day where practitioners and researchers

get together and exchange information on new challenges and get the latest update on legislation and tools within the field of environmental assessment.

The conference is also an important element when it comes to developing and testing new research ideas. Discussions at the Environmental Assessment Day often show a need for research contributions, and at the same time researchers see the day as an opportunity to get a “check

on reality” in relation to their research and the perspectives of practitioners. This year we therefore included public participation and gaming in the program because we believe it interesting in relation to improving environmental assessment practices and perspectives in our research.

The program also included time for controversial cases such as shale gas in Frederikshavn Municipality, the metro project in Copenhagen, nuclear waste deposit in Denmark and the latest updates from the Ministry.

DCEA experienced a great level

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT DAY 2013

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DCEA courses

Prior to the Environmental Assessment Day, DCEA offered courses in “Screening in

Environmental Assessment” and “Environmental Assessment from A-Z”

The screening course went through screening practices, legal obligations and typical challenges and misunderstandings whereas the beginner course from A-Z offered a practical introduction to practitioners within physical planning and sector planning.

of interest and support for this conference from practitioners throughout Denmark, and we have already received input and suggestions for an Environmental Assessment Day in 2014.

For further information on DCEA courses and possibilities please contact Sanne Vammen Larsen at sannevl@plan.aau.dk or Lone Kørnøv at lone@plan.aau.dk

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InTeRnShIpS and neTwORkS

DCEA greatly values cooperation with talented students and organisations and we have initiated a network aimed at structuring and planning internships in order to make the process as smooth

and efficient as possible for both intern and organisation. In 2013 we coordinated an internship for a master student from the Environmental Management & Sustainability Science programme and we welcomed an intern into our own group to work on industrial symbiosis. We hope to improve this network in the coming years and invite you to join up by contacting Ivar Lyhne at lyhne@plan.aau.dk or Sanne Vammen Larsen at sannevl@plan.aau.dk. We also invite you to take a look at our brochure (Danish only) http://www.dcea.dk/events-training/partners-and-networks/

“I I have been working as an intern in DCEA for 3 months during my first Master’s year in EIVP, the French School of Urban Engineering. I had the

invaluable opportunity to work on Industrial Symbiosis, widely known and studied by DCEA researchers and PhD fellows, which allowed me to acquire a solid methodology and a specific knowledge in this field. This internship provided me with a very significant insight in Research, determining for my career choice. The stimulating working environment and the social life in DCEA contributed to give me an incredible experience abroad as well as an incentive to set my sights on a PhD. I am sincerely grateful to all the team for having been so welcoming and helpful in my work.”

“I I have been working as an intern in Rambøll in the department of Environment and Utility during my 9th semester at Aalborg University. In this context,

I have been involved in environmental assessments of municipal plans and EIAs for solar heating projects and for the harbour of Thyborøn. During the internship, I have prepared a report and an article about the problems of the duplication of rules and authorities for harbour expansion. The internship has allowed me to experience the problems I have identified through my project in the real world. I have realized the difference between examples told in a lecture, and being part of a group developing a specific product where input from a variety of professionals with different expertise is necessary. I have been very pleased to be an intern at Rambøll, who have been so welcoming and helpful in my work.”

Amina Harat

Malene Søttrup

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PROJECTS

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In January 2014 DCEA will, in cooperation with 15 Juni Fonden, initiate a project on nature and

monitoring in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The aim of the project is to increase the potential of EIA as a means of protecting the Danish nature, when large infrastructure developments are planned in open countryside. The project entails a larger collection of knowledge about and experience with mitigation measures aimed at protecting the natural environment, its implementation and subsequent monitoring. The collection of knowledge will include document analysis, interviews and field work. The project strives to contribute to sharing of knowledge and data and will form the basis for an improved management of nature in connection with future large scale infrastructural projects. An important aspect is how EIA can potentially integrate the mitigation measures with nature protection and planning in general, including which role compensation will play in future projects of this type. This

serves as the basis for discussing how these potentials can be utilised even better than they are today. In this sense this project will contribute to a wider discussion of the role which monitoring can play as a mitigation measure in its own right. The project emphasises a promotion of exchange of experiences for players within the field and thus entails several open workshops.

For further information please contact Sanne Vammen Larsen at sannevl@plan.aau.dk

MONITORING OF THE EIA - AIR AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS IN DENMARK

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DCEA has entered into a collaboration with NIRAS Greenland and 2.0 LCA

Consultants on developing a model for calculating climate related externalities. The model is developed for Departments of Housing, Environment and Nature in Greenland.

Developing such a calculation model is interesting because it connects EIA with LCA tools, which makes it possible to calculate an estimate of the derived climate impacts in various phases of a project’s life cycle. The model will

serve as a basis for an improved level of information when decisions are made relating to large scale plants and industry.

For further information you are welcome to contact Anne Merrild Hansen at merrild@plan.aau.dk or Jannick Højrup Schmidt at jannick@plan.aau.dk

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT IN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN GREENLAND

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In spring, DCEA initiated a three year project period with Energinet.dk on public

participation. The aim of the project is to investigate how the process concerning planning and public participation within energy infrastructure can become more constructive. In recent cases of infrastructural planning, the process of public participation has shown insufficiencies and examples of constructive citizen input being overheard. As a consequence, the focus of this research project is on the development of a forum where all parties of a planning process can provide input and be heard. A focal issue is the balance between improved possibilities for participation and an open and constructive process at the one hand, and at the same time avoid that the initiatives give rise to

CONSTRUCTIVE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

negative participation. In the fall of 2013, the project initiated a survey among practitioners under the heading: “Public participation - are we doing it good enough?”. The survey received 80 responses and showed an overall wish for improvements - just over 50% of the respondents wanted an improved process within their organisation.

For further information please contact Ivar Lyhne at lyhne@plan.aau.dk or Sara Bjørn Aaen at sara@plan.aau.dk

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Sand, clay, stone, chalk and other construction aggregates remain an integrated part

of modern society. However, their extraction, refinement and distribution generate various societal effects, which impact assessment tools must address.

The Danish Regions represent the highest hierarchical level of land-based aggregate extraction planning in Denmark, and one of their main responsibilities is thus to strategically evaluate subsequent environmental impacts of planning through tools such as e.g. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). Current planning is primarily focussing on minimising local impacts, and these strategic considerations are thus limited.

From all corners of the sector, it is expected that the regions (in the next revision of the Law on construction aggregates) will be granted the complete responsibility of planning, restricting and

permitting land-based extraction in Denmark, and this represents a unique opportunity for complementing current planning praxis with a focus on wider societal changes, such as global warming, indirect land use change, cumulative effects and other systemic impacts.

This research will 1) describe these impacts, and subsequently 2) transform this knowledge into concrete planning recommendations. It will apply a life cycle approach and explore how green construction materials can be facilitated in the spatial planning process.

For further information on this project please contact Morten Bidstrup at bidstrup@plan.aau.dk

PLANNING GREEN CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

I n January 2013 a new PhD project was launched. The project focuses on Public Participation

(PP) in Social Impact Assessment (SIA) processes of petroleum exploration activities offshore Northwest Greenland. The activities in the area are rapidly evolving, but legislation and practice of PP and SIA are still at an early stage. At present, no specific guidelines as to carry out PP exist, which leaves many questions unanswered.

The population in the Northwest area is scarce and wide scattered, and the livelihood of many rests on fisheries and hunting. The entering of large multinational companies is thus source of great concern at both regional and national level. Worries that companies run off with all the potential profit, leaving the local communities to deal with the potential negative impacts, flourish in the public debate. This places PP high on the agenda as the public, Greenlandic - and international NGOs and associations call for

more information, transparency and a chance for the communities to have greater influence on the decision making process.

The project sets out to investigate: How do the stakeholders involved in the SIA process approach PP? What are the perceived purposes of PP among stakeholders, and how might these perceptions affect the effectiveness and outcome of PP? What are the specific challenges to PP in Greenland, and how could these be addressed?

For further information please contact Anna-Sofie Hurup Olsen at ahol@plan.aau.dk

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APPENDICES

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FINISHED PROJECTS 2013 - APPENDIX 1

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APPENDIX 2 - ONGOING PROJECTS

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VISITING FELLOWS - APPENDIX 3

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For more information you are welcome to contact Lone Kørnøv at lonek@plan.aau.dk or Lise Kirk at lisekirk@plan.aau.dk

APPENDIX 4 - OVERVIEW OF CONFERENCES, COURSES AND SEMINARS

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© 2013, The Danish Centre for Environmental AssessmentAalborg University, Skibbrogade 5, 1, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark Email: dcea@plan.aau.dk / Web: www.dcea.dk

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced and/or made public in any form without the permission from DCEA.