THE Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat in collaboration with the Government of Canada will be holding a three-day regional training workshop on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in Barbados, starting Tuesday.
More than thirty of the Community’s senior planning and environment officers, particularly those who are currently engaged in decision-making that incorporates EIA considerations, will be participating in this training intervention, as they seek to build their capacity to represent their national interest in EIA decision-making.
The training intervention will be conducted by Environment Canada and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency in collaboration with the CARICOM Secretariat, with support from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process designed to identify, analyse and evaluate the environmental effects of proposed development projects, a release stated.
The application of EIA in a planning context provides a mechanism for sound decision-making, and as such, is well regarded internationally for its benefits in environmental management and helping countries achieve sustainable development goals.
This workshop therefore provides an opportunity to develop a common understanding of EIA practices, experiences, trends and challenges, and seeks to build on the collective knowledge base in an effort to improve decision-making in using EIA in the Caribbean.
Through a series of presentations and discussions, the workshop will explore the concepts and principles underlying EIA as a planning tool in environmental management with the objective of increasing the participant’s ability to apply this tool more effectively in their working environment.
Over the three days, participants at the workshop will be exposed to a range of topics including an overview of approaches and discussions on EIA frameworks at the strategic level; discussions on strategic and regional EIA as a mechanism for improved and more streamlined project level approvals and identifying important principles and key considerations in conducting EIA processes to achieve maximum beneficial outcomes, the release added.