NZAIA is a community of impact assessment specialists and supporters. The Association’s activities embrace the full range of IA practices, from social, health and cultural impact assessment to ecological impact assessment, at project, plan and policy levels, and within a variety of statutory and non-statutory contexts. Our membership reflects this wide and diverse community of impact assessment practitioners.
NZAIA is a community of impact assessment specialists and supporters. The Association’s activities embrace the full range of IA practices, from social, health and cultural impact assessment to ecological impact assessment, at project, plan and policy levels, and within a variety of statutory and non-statutory contexts. Our membership reflects this wide and diverse community of impact assessment practitioners.
Our Aims
1. To promote the practice of impact assessment in the formulation and implementation of developments and policy proposals in New Zealand and the Pacific.
2. To promote research and consultation practices which identify the full range of social, cultural, economic and environmental effects of proposed policies and projects, and the measures to address those effects.
3. To promote impact assessment that recognises and accommodates different social and cultural values, including those of indigenous peoples.
4. To promote and encourage a high standard of practice among members of NZAIA and others using impact assessment methods.
5. To promote and support the development of impact assessment theory, tools and methods in New Zealand and the Pacific.
2. To promote research and consultation practices which identify the full range of social, cultural, economic and environmental effects of proposed policies and projects, and the measures to address those effects.
3. To promote impact assessment that recognises and accommodates different social and cultural values, including those of indigenous peoples.
4. To promote and encourage a high standard of practice among members of NZAIA and others using impact assessment methods.
5. To promote and support the development of impact assessment theory, tools and methods in New Zealand and the Pacific.
What does NZAIA do to achieve those aims?
- We hold an annual conference for practitioners and other interested people on aspects of impact assessment theory and practice in New Zealand
- We co-ordinate and publish Impact Connector, with impact assessment opinion pieces and articles written by academics and practitioners
- We make submissions on public consultation processes run by central government, where there is an opportunity for impact assessment methods to be better used
- We work with partner organisations to further our aims in New Zealand and the Pacific.
Governance
Photo credit: Thomas Drouault
As required by the Incorporated Societies Act 1908, NZAIA operates under a set of rules which are set out in our Constitution.
NZAIA is governed by a Core Group of volunteers who meet via teleconferencing once a month to discuss and implement NZAIA business.
Governance matters are decided at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), usually held at the annual conference.
NZAIA is governed by a Core Group of volunteers who meet via teleconferencing once a month to discuss and implement NZAIA business.
Governance matters are decided at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), usually held at the annual conference.
Our History
The early work of our members had a strong focus on social impact assessment in the era of 'think big' energy projects that had significant impacts on their host communities in the early 1980s. One of the first integrated assessments we are aware of was on the potential social and environmental impacts of a proposed open-cut lignite mining and synthetic fuel production industry in Southland, led by the Joint Centre for Environmental Sciences at Lincoln University and University of Canterbury in 1982. This assessment (nowadays we would call it a strategic assessment) was notable for its integration of several natural resource specialties including economics and sociology, with promotion of an integrated approach and the principles of adaptive environmental management. It was also notable for its reliance on a participatory method, with two field researchers based in Southland for several months gathering data and facilitating input from local communities and stakeholders.
The social and professional networks which flourished among New Zealand-based SIA practitioners during the 1980s were maintained, extended and strengthened through the 1990s as the Resource Management Act started to shape our practice. Of particular importance was the formation in 1990 of a formal professional organisation called the New Zealand Association for Social Assessment (NZASA), comprising academics, policy analysts, consultants and stakeholder/community groups. NZASA took over some of the regular informal group activities that had started in the 1980s supported by the Ministry of Works, including the writing and distribution of the Social Impact Assessment Newsletter (first published in 1983).
In 1990, the NZASA formally organised and hosted the first social impact assessment conference in New Zealand. This conference became the key annual event for impact assessment practitioners and has been held every year since, with the exceptions of 1998 when New Zealand played host to the 18th Conference of the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) and in 2010 when Prof Richard Morgan organised the Asia-Pacific conference on Health Impact Assessment at Otago University. The hosting of the IAIA conference in 1998 – titled Sustainability and the Role of Impact Assessment in the Global Economy – was a particular turning point for the network. NZASA members worked very hard to bring the conference to Christchurch, and reflected the high international regard for practice here. Integral were the efforts of Nick Taylor, Colin Goodrich, Gerard Fitzgerald, James Baines and Richard Morgan. The conference was particularly important because it introduced a broader interpretation of impact assessment to include areas such as health and ecological analysis. This broadening of the field featured in conference discussions by NZASA members, who decided to reconstitute NZASA as the New Zealand Association for Impact Assessment (NZAIA) signposting a broader mandate and broader applicability of impact assessment, one in which SIA still plays a significant part.
The NZAIA, with its links retained to IAIA as an affiliate of the international group, and more recently to EIANZ as well, has continued to represent a network of diverse practitioners. Despite some ups and downs, we have continued to lead practice in New Zealand, particularly through the annual conference. The network of practitioners, otherwise spread over disparate organisations, has a role to play in strengthening practice and ensuring our practice has a voice.
The social and professional networks which flourished among New Zealand-based SIA practitioners during the 1980s were maintained, extended and strengthened through the 1990s as the Resource Management Act started to shape our practice. Of particular importance was the formation in 1990 of a formal professional organisation called the New Zealand Association for Social Assessment (NZASA), comprising academics, policy analysts, consultants and stakeholder/community groups. NZASA took over some of the regular informal group activities that had started in the 1980s supported by the Ministry of Works, including the writing and distribution of the Social Impact Assessment Newsletter (first published in 1983).
In 1990, the NZASA formally organised and hosted the first social impact assessment conference in New Zealand. This conference became the key annual event for impact assessment practitioners and has been held every year since, with the exceptions of 1998 when New Zealand played host to the 18th Conference of the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) and in 2010 when Prof Richard Morgan organised the Asia-Pacific conference on Health Impact Assessment at Otago University. The hosting of the IAIA conference in 1998 – titled Sustainability and the Role of Impact Assessment in the Global Economy – was a particular turning point for the network. NZASA members worked very hard to bring the conference to Christchurch, and reflected the high international regard for practice here. Integral were the efforts of Nick Taylor, Colin Goodrich, Gerard Fitzgerald, James Baines and Richard Morgan. The conference was particularly important because it introduced a broader interpretation of impact assessment to include areas such as health and ecological analysis. This broadening of the field featured in conference discussions by NZASA members, who decided to reconstitute NZASA as the New Zealand Association for Impact Assessment (NZAIA) signposting a broader mandate and broader applicability of impact assessment, one in which SIA still plays a significant part.
The NZAIA, with its links retained to IAIA as an affiliate of the international group, and more recently to EIANZ as well, has continued to represent a network of diverse practitioners. Despite some ups and downs, we have continued to lead practice in New Zealand, particularly through the annual conference. The network of practitioners, otherwise spread over disparate organisations, has a role to play in strengthening practice and ensuring our practice has a voice.