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L. Reviews and Evaluations
Various aspects of the workshop were subject to a combination of
formal and non-formal reviews and evaluations. The findings are summarised
below.
i) EnTA as an Environmental Management Tool
Based on their knowledge and practical experience with EnTA
(acquired both during and, in some cases, prior to the workshop), participants
recognised the benefits of having an environmental management tool that is
technology focussed.
EnTA is already being undertaken by industry, by regulators and
by NGOs etc, but the approaches, methods and techniques being used are informal
and ad hoc. Until the Manual was prepared there were no established procedures.
The Manual is an attempt to give some structure and consistency to the EnTA
process and will facilitate discussion, consultation and the development of best
practices.
EnTA is considered to be useful at the project and enterprise
level, and less valuable at the national policy level.
EnTA is viewed as a "scoping tool", to be used at the
"idea stage", rather than after development of a formal or full
project proposal. EnTA is largely qualitative. This has advantages in that it
identifies the data required to complete the assessment and is more likely to be
used than are assessment methods that require large amounts of detailed,
quantitative information.
There is merit in having a tool that considers technology
alternatives in an explicit manner, and can also involve and reflect the
interests of multiple stakeholders. Indeed, most participants considered one of
the main benefits of EnTA to be its use as an instrument that encourages a
dialogue between stakeholders, possibly aiding in any possible conflict
resolution through a sharing and an appreciation of divergent values and goals,
and the use of a common language. EnTA was also considered to be an appropriate,
proactive environmental management tool that facilitates a multidisciplinary and
multi-sector approach to environmental management. While it is useful in
simplifying the environmental management issues and options of concern, EnTA
also fosters a comprehensive and integrated approach, especially with regard to
the implications of the technology system.
Importantly, EnTA identifies if more sophisticated assessment tools, such as
environmental risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis, need be used to ensure
that the appropriate environmental outcomes can indeed be achieved.
For any process to be truly environmentally sound it must be sustainable. It
is therefore imperative that some elementary financial assessment be included in
the revised Manual, in order to determine process viability.
Finally, it was acknowledged that EnTA is not a "recipe" that has
to be followed on a rigorous basis - rather the procedures can be modified and
supplemented, and they should evolve in response to the process itself, and
experience, so that the assessment reflects local, national and regional
circumstances.
ii) The EnTA Manual
Towards the conclusion of the workshop the participants (including the
resource persons) provided feedback on the EnTA Manual. Their comments were
based on a reading of the Manual and on the use of the Manual in the practical
assessment case study.
The following is a summary of the main points that were made in the feedback
session:
- The Manual is comprehensive and provides an understandable and useful
introduction to EnTA and to the procedures involved in conducting an assessment;
- There is a need to identify and be clear as to who are the current and
potential users of EnTA; similarly, there is a need to be clear as to who are
the target audience for the EnTA Manual;
- There needs to be better guidance on the composition of the assessment team;
- While the Manual goes into some detail about EnTA, there is still a lack of
clarity as to what EnTA is, how it relates to other environmental management
tools and under what circumstances, and when, EnTA should be used;
- Some of the expressions and terms used in the Manual could be revised in
ways that would increase understanding;
- Some participants expressed concerns about the subjective nature of the EnTA
procedures, including the frequent reliance on expert opinion, but most
participants argued that subjectivity and judgement was a attribute of human
value systems - a tool which identified and tried to accommodate the diversity
of values was needed and useful; likewise, the appropriate use of expert opinion
is a powerful way to incorporate the diverse views and expectations of different
stakeholders;
- Similarly, some participants argued for the use of a rigorous weighting
system that allowed the identified individual impacts to be aggregated in a
systematic manner; however, most participants rationalized that any weighting
system would be inherently more subjective, would add complexity to the
assessment process and would imply a degree of exactness that could not be
justified;
- In the same vein, some participants had difficulty with the explicit
acknowledgement of uncertainties in the assessment; but most participants saw
such acknowledgement as a strength of the procedures described in the Manual;
- Participants noted that judgements regarding the potential severity of the
environmental impacts can be aided by reference to appropriate legislation,
regulations, standards and guidelines, where they are available and applicable;
for example, if the impacts are likely to result in non-compliance with such
requirements, the impacts should be classed as medium or large, depending on the
likely level of non-compliance;
- A major shortcoming of the Manual was considered to be the lack of any
economic assessment - a simple economic assessment should be conducted in the
form of an analysis of the return on investment (ROI) and, if necessary, a
cost-benefit analysis, just as the more detailed social assessment should be
conducted as a social impact assessment, rather than as part of the EnTA; just
as social factors are given some consideration in EnTA, so too should economic
factors;
- Identification of negative impacts only is encouraged in the Manual - some
provision should be made for taking into account positive (beneficial) impacts,
because the environmental benefits of suggested alternative technologies need to
be characterised;
- Attention should be given to mitigation of adverse environmental impacts;
- The goals of the assessment and the goals of the technology must be
distinguished, and clarified;
- The Manual should be more explicit about early consultation with
stakeholders being desirable;
- References to "health" should be changed to "health and
safety";
- The ability of current infrastructure to meet the demands of the proposed
technology should include consideration of whether meeting those demands is a
reasonable use of the infrastructure;
- References that imply a formal assessment of risk should be avoided, as the
concepts and procedures of risk assessment are not included in the Manual;
- Category names should be used to describe the overall impacts;
- There is a need to clarify the assessment of relative impacts in Step 4c;
- The concept of an environmentally "benign"' technology should be
expressed using the more common expression of "environmentally sound";
- Waste characterised as "environmentally inert" should be
considered in the context of whether it is dumped into landfill, which is not
environmentally benign, or traded as a useful product; and
- The checklists provided for identifying potential impacts and comparing
alternative options are most helpful.
It was agreed that if the Manual and worksheets were revised in ways that
addressed the above concerns, they would meet the needs of most individuals and
groups interested in assessing the environmental implications of a given
technological intervention, and in distinguishing between the environmental
merits of different technology options.
iii) The Workshop
The workshop, as a participatory training initiative designed to familiarise
participants with the Environmental Technology Assessment (EnTA) process, was
subject to two reviews and evaluations.
a. Participant Assessment
The assessment was undertaken by the workshop delegates, and excluded the
resource persons and facilitators. It was conducted using an evaluation form
that was distributed to 36 individuals. All responded.
The aggregated percentage results are presented in Table 1 and in Figure 2.
It is apparent from Table 1 that a clear majority of the participants saw
considerable value in EnTA as an environmental management tool and considered
the field trip an essential part of the learning experience.
The difficulty participants had in understanding the presentation and
explanation of the EnTA process is thought to reflect the fact that they were
not given the Manual prior to the workshop, there was little time allocated to
the presentation on EnTA (relative to the complexity of the task), there was
little time available for participants to absorb and reflect on the substantial
material and detailed explanations were given prior to the site visit. The
latter might have been best left until after the field visit. Furthermore,
consensus opinion was that inadequate time had been allowed for the groups to
work through the EnTA process and complete the practical exercise.
Table 1
EnTA Workshop Evaluation Sheet
Aggregated Responses
|
Number of responses is expressed as a percentage of total responses (36)
|
| Rate the EnTA process as a tool to assess an
industrial technology: |
| Not useful |
3* |
useful |
44 |
very useful |
47 |
extremely useful |
6 |
| Rate the EnTA process as a useful tool to be used by multi -
stakeholder groups: |
| Never |
3* |
possibly |
31 |
often |
29 |
always |
37 |
| Rate the EnTA process as a useful tool to assess
a new technology: |
| Not useful |
6* |
useful |
42 |
very useful |
44 |
extremely useful |
8 |
| Rate the EnTA process as a useful tool to assess alternative
technologies: |
| Not useful |
6* |
useful |
36 |
very useful |
50 |
extremely useful |
8 |
| The EnTA presentation and explanation of the process was: |
| Unclear |
25 |
clear |
39 |
understood |
36 |
| The economic, hydro- and pyro-metallurgical
technical presentations were: |
|
Irrelevant;
|
not understood 0 |
relevant; |
not understood 38 |
relevant; |
understood 62 |
| As part of the benchmarking process, the field trip was: |
| Irrelevant & not essential 0 |
relevant, but not essential 17 |
relevant & essential 83 |
| The EnTA exercises helped me to understand the
process and were: |
| Irrelevant & not helpful 8 |
relevant, but not helpful 22 |
relevant & helpful 70 |
| The conference management, venue and
accommodation were: |
| Unsatisfactory |
0 |
satisfactory |
3** |
good |
8 |
very good |
36 |
excellent |
53 |
| Notes. |
|
| Number of participants other than facilitators and resource
persons |
36 |
| Number of assessment forms returned |
36 |
|
* All the participants qualified their response with the phrase "in its
present form".
** A day delegate who thought he should have been accommodated at the hotel
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Figure 2. Results of evaluation of EnTA workshop (full details in Table 1).
In a similar manner, responses to the technical presentations
might have been different had they come after the visit to the processing plant.
Participants were also asked to provide comments or recommendations about the
EnTA process. The submitted comments were as follows:
- EnTA training should continue in all regions and be linked to a local
training center or institution;
- I would like to see an in depth manual of EnTA that ideally any professional
could pick up and use in their work; in the event of any difficulties it would
be useful to be able to go to an EnTA web site (which John Hay mentioned would
be interactive) on the Internet, for information and clarification;
- Good participation, communication, socialization and networking with the
EnTA delegates;
- Suggest continuous training;
- EnTA can be used as a supplementary tool of EIA at the project scoping
stage;
- Need to revise some parts to make the Manual easily understood;
- Need to further improve EnTA;
- Need further training with different industrial technologies;
- Further follow up required, such as training, EnTA updates and so on;
- EnTA process has to improve and be simplified. It has to be practical and
relate to the real world in terms of the economic aspects as well as the social
and environmental impacts. EnTA needs weighting in terms of the aggregate checks
against the EnTA specification and it needs to refer to the standards as a base
line;
- A practical output with a balance of inputs and a sharing of the experiences
of participants. Learning without pressure!
- Needs further refinements;
- The lack of quantitative analysis and the resulting lack of precision
reduces the effectiveness of this tool;
- The EnTA process is a very useful tool to access the environmental impact of
an industrial technology;
- EnTA must include "economic" aspects in its assessment process;
- Excellent! Keep up the good work;
- The assessment of social impact needs some parameters. The EnTA process must
be clear for "new or fast technology";
- EnTA needs to be polished further and the economic factors should also be
considered. Do not forget to send all the participants a report of the workshop.
Include also all the materials presented. Good work Brian!
- Everything about the workshop was excellent;
- Additional improvements required;
- Improve it by adding the economic aspects. Put more weight into the
environmental aspects so that it can truly be called "En"TA;
- Needs more time to learn the process and needs more time to compare the old
and new technologies;
- The EnTA process is the best concept now, but it is difficult to practice
and it depends on economic policy/criteria/law, project proponent awareness,
public acceptance etc
- Go ahead with the focus, not only on the technique itself, but also from the
viewpoint of how to apply it in the current decision making system. I think that
it is a very good tool for sustainable development;
- The EnTA process is very new and so we need more time to study it in detail;
and
- EnTA process is appropriate with a project proposal, but will depend on the
economics. In a country that has an EIA system, EnTA should be a part of the EIA
process. However, the EnTA process may need to be modified for each country.
In a general discussion that sought feedback on the workshop most
participants considered the workshop to be too short, given the amount of
learning that was involved.
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