In 2006 the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) set the objective of strengthening national systems in order to support their development projects. The move helps ensure protection of the environment and at the same time buffer the negative effects that development projects can have on the population when their impacts are not properly detected and managed.
Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) identify, evaluate, and propose ways to mitigate development projects’ environmental and social consequences. This ensures that nature-protection and social considerations are included in the decision-making process in order to anticipate, avoid, minimize or compensate for any eventual adverse effects. The course on Principles for Reviewing Environmental Impact Assessments (PREIA) offers tools and strategies to review EIAs following best international practices and IDB policies.
The course, available in English, Spanish and now also in Portuguese, provides practical orientation to those conducting environmental and social project assessment reviews and appraisals. It was originally launched in Spanish in 2016 and then in English in 2017 and has already certified more than 300 participants. Our goal is to reach out to tens of thousands of people, many of whom work in public institutions and are directly or indirectly involved in development projects’ environmental and social approval and licensing activities.
The PREIA course uses a real case study –the environmental impact evaluation of a Brazilian harbor– to determine whether best international practices were followed while conducting the environmental impact assessment. Have all impacts been identified? Have their risks been evaluated? Has a mitigation plan be put in place? And if so, has the mitigation grade principle been made part of its formulation? These and other questions are answered in teamwork panels and workshops under the supervision of trainers and the use of written and other materials.
The IDB conducts all environmental and social management courses in three of the Bank’s official languages. Besides PREIA, it also conducts courses on Biodiversity on Environmental Impact Assessments and on Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement, which provides an overview of the principles and content of a good consultation process together with general guidelines to help adapt the process to each particular case. These guidelines are also available in Portuguese.
All the courses in the catalogue are offered three times a year (spring, summer, and fall). Sign up now!
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