Position Paper
Association québécoise pour l'évaluation d'impacts

General considerations
Organizational considerations
Objectives
Address

General considerations

Over the past few years, in chance meetings, or in seminars and symposia, many people working in the field of impact assessment have indicated their interest in and the need for exchanges on related issues.

In particular, at the annual meeting of the International Association for Impact Assessment, held in Montréal in 1989, many people active in the public sector as regulators, in para-public corporations as promoters, with consulting firms, or in universities agreed that it was time for Québec to develop an association that would enable exchanges on environmental evaluation and the use of impact assessment in the planning and decision-making process.

It is acknowledged that public participation, particularly in the form of public hearings and formal public consultations, lie at the very heart impact assessment and decision-making processes in modern, technologically-advanced and democratically renewed societies.

These needs have become more obvious with the application of the concept of sustainable development, to resource management as well as to city planning. This concept describes an integrated approach to economic, social and cultural development and concerns regarding the preservation of the diversity and future potential of resources. (sustainable development)

As method of planning and management in the different sectors of human activity, impact assessment will be increasingly used and embrace the assessment of financial, economic, social, legislative, legal and biophysical impacts as well as those concerning health risks and the safety of individuals and groups. This will hold true not only for projects, but for new technologies, and the development of policies and programs.

This is why the association of individuals and professional exchanges must be undertaken on such a broad base. The Québec association should include professionals in all fields of impact assessment: whether they be biologists, geographers, doctors, engineers, architects, economists, administrators, etc.

Moreover, it has often been recognized that, while the professionals in the various fields of impact assessment could easily convince each other of the necessity of impact assessment and agree on the ethical rules which must prevail to insure its credibility and usefulness, these views of insiders are not necessarily shared by decision-makers, administrators, politicians and managers in other sectors. This is why it is important that such an association be equally open to people interested in using impact assessment in the decision making process, and not limited to specialists and experts. Members can equally come from administrations, or from the political sector or from special interest groups.

It is important to emphasize an essential condition for the success of such an association: it must avoid getting involved in assessments or criticisms of specific projects, in order to remain effective as a dispassionate and peaceful forum for exchanges between individuals who may often play different roles within the same process, representing sometimes opposing organizational interests. These exchanges must be based on the advancement of the impact assessment discipline, the participation of the public and the integration of these processes into the planning and decision making process in the context of a non-conflictual approach.

To be able to respond effectively to the above-mentioned needs, the association requires the support of the various fields involved and the resources that will permit its consolidation. It is thus important to obtain human and financial assistance from the various organizations active in this field: government organizations in charge of impact assessment, main instigators and "end users" of impact assessment, universities, consulting firms, social interest groups, professional associations, etc.

Objectives

To gather all individuals, professional or non-professional, generally interested in impact assessment and more precisely by its use in planning and decision making, in view of:

• Exchanging information on experiences and problems encountered;
  
  
• Raising the professional standards of impacts assessment;
  
  
• Broadening and improving the use of impact assessment;
  
  
• Establishing links, cooperation, and exchanges with canadian and international associations that sharing similar objectives.

These objectives will be achieved by various means, whose appropriateness will be assessed by case studies, study days, bulletins, conferences, lists of resource persons or information networks, etc.

AQÉI C.P. 25, succursale Place d'Armes Montréal (Québec) H2Y 3J2 Canada Phone: 514-990-2193 mondorf@aqei.qc.ca