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    • Issue #16 SIA for rural resilience and wellbeing >
      • SIA for rural resilience and wellbeing: Intro
      • The drivers and agents of on-farm change in Aotearoa New Zealand
      • Social-ecological assessment for remote and island communities
      • The Impact of Substandard Rural Housing on Resilience and Wellbeing in Te Tai Tokerau
      • Success factors for planning regeneration in rural areas
    • Issue #15 Economic methods and Impact Assessment >
      • Economic methods in impact assessment: an introduction
      • The Nature of Economic Analysis for Resource Management
      • The State-of-the-Art and Prospects: Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Environmental Impact Assessment
      • Economic impact assessment and regional development: reflections on Queensland mining impacts
      • Fonterra’s policy on economic incentives for promoting sustainable farming practices
    • Issue #14 Impact assessment for infrastructure development >
      • Impact assessment for infrastructure development - an introduction
      • Place Matters: The importance of geographic assessment of areas of influence in understanding the social effects of large-scale transport investment in Wellington
      • Unplanned Consequences? New Zealand's experiment with urban (un)planning and infrastructure implications
      • Reflections on infrastructure, Town and Country planning and intimations of SIA in the late 1970s and early 1980s
      • SIA guidance for infrastructure and economic development projects
      • Scoping in impact assessments for infrastructure projects: Reflections on South African experiences
      • Impact Assessment for Pacific Island Infrastructure
    • Issue #13 Health impact assessment: practice issues >
      • Introduction to health impact assessment: practice issues
      • International Health Impact Assessment – a personal view
      • Use of Health Impact Assessment to develop climate change adaptation plans for health
      • An integrated approach to assessing health impacts
      • Assessing the health and social impacts of transport policies and projects
      • Whither HIA in New Zealand….or just wither?
    • Issue #12 Risk Assessment: Case Studies and Approaches >
      • Introduction
      • Risk Assessment and Impact Assessment : A perspective from Victoria, Australia
      • The New and Adaptive Paradigm Needed to Manage Rising Coastal Risks
      • Reflections on Using Risk Assessments in Understanding Climate Change Adaptation Needs in Te Taitokerau Northland
      • Values-Based Impact Assessment and Emergency Management
      • Certainty about Communicating Uncertainty: Assessment of Flood Loss and Damage
      • Improving Understanding of Rockfall Geohazard Risk in New Zealand
      • Normalised New Zealand Natural Disaster Insurance Losses: 1968-2019
      • Houston, We Have a Problem - Seamless Integration of Weather and Climate Forecast for Community Resilience
      • Innovating with Online Data to Understand Risk and Impact in a Data Poor Environment
    • Impact Connector #11 Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation, and Impact Assessment: views from the Pacific >
      • Introduction
      • Climate change adaptation and mitigation, impact assessment, and decision-making: a Pacific perspective
      • Climate adaptation and impact assessment in the Pacific: overview of SPREP-sponsored presentations
      • Land and Sea: Integrated Assessment of the Temaiku Land and Urban Development Project in Kiribati
      • Strategic Environmental Assessment: Rising to the SDG Challenge
      • Coastal Engineering for Climate Change Resilience in Eastern Tongatapu, Tonga
      • Climate-induced Migration in the Pacific: The Role of New Zealand
    • Impact Connector #10 Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation >
      • Introduction
      • Is a “just transition” possible for Māori?
      • Adapting to Climate Change on Scale: Addressing the Challenge and Understanding the Impacts of Asia Mega-Cities
      • How responding to climate change might affect health, for better or for worse
      • Kanuka, Kereru and carbon capture - Assessing the effects of a programme taking a fresh look at the hill and high country land resource
      • Wairoa: Community perceptions of increased afforestation
      • Te Kākahu Kahukura Ecological Restoration project: A story within a story
    • Issue #9 Impacts of Covid-19 >
      • Introduction to Impact Connector Issue 9 – Impact assessment and Covid 19
      • Covid-19 fast-track consenting: climate change legacy key to success
      • Tourism – the long haul ahead
      • Making sense of the impact of Covid-19: planning, politics, and the public good
    • Issue #8 Social Impact Assessment >
      • Challenges for Social Impact Assessment in New Zealand: looking backwards and looking forwards
      • Insights from the eighties: early Social Impact Assessment reports on rural community dynamics
      • Impact Assessment and the Capitals Framework: A Systems-based Approach to Understanding and Evaluating Wellbeing
      • Building resilience in Rural Communities – a focus on mobile population groups
      • Assessing the Impacts of a New Cycle Trail: A Fieldnote
      • The challenges of a new biodiversity strategy for social impact assessment (SIA)
      • “Say goodbye to traffic”? The role of SIA in establishing whether ‘air taxis’ are the logical next step in the evolution of transportation
    • Issue #7 Ecological Impact Assessment >
      • The future of Ecological Impact Assessment in New Zealand
      • Ecological impact assessment and roading projects
      • EcIA and the Resource Management Act
      • Professional Practice and implementation of EcIA
      • EcIA in the Marine Environment
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      • Introduction
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      • Regional Landscape Inconsistency
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      • Natural character assessments and provisions in a coastal environment
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Strategic Environmental Assessment in a New Zealand Context 
​
​Chantal Whitby 

In New Zealand strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is not a commonly applied term, however, there are examples where the broad principles of SEA have been directed towards policies and plans. These principles have been employed for both the development of new plans and policies, as well as to plan changes, including national policy statements, regional plans, and land and water management plans (Taylor and Morgan, 2016). The Resource Management Act (RMA) is one such instance in New Zealand where SEA concepts are reflected in legislation. For instance, the RMA focuses on ensuring sustainable management, refers to ‘effects-based’ assessments, and emphases the need for public participation. Specifically under the RMA, Section 32 (s32) is used as a tool to analyse plans and policies (Morgan, 2016), albeit, it is much less focused on an integrated environmental outlook, instead placing more prominence on economic considerations (Taylor and Morgan, 2016). Additionally, s32 reports tend to lack systematic analysis, with heavy weighting given to procedure rather than being outcome-focused, and they often have a deficiency in the testing of alternative options for effects (Morgan 2016). That said, s32 reports are not the only instance in New Zealand where the standards of SEA are applied to policies, plans, and programmes.

Examples of SEA in New Zealand

The subsequent examples are not explicitly titled as SEAs and although they do not necessarily follow an SEA framework, they contain a number of aspects, which are shared with SEA. The National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management provides an example of where multidisciplinary teams worked collaboratively with various stakeholders and the community to develop a national policy, reflecting the SEA principle of early engagement with the community (Taylor and Morgan, 2016).
 
At a regional level, Environment Canterbury, via the Canterbury Water Management Strategy, placed importance on collaboration as part of their strategic planning, as well as the inclusion of participatory methods. Their approach included the SEA philosophy of having a well-researched baseline by ensuring that a social baseline was established before applying different scenarios of land-use change to assess the potential effects of a variety of policy and planning options (Taylor and Mackay, 2016).
 
Another application of SEA principles in New Zealand includes the Canterbury District Health Board’s Health in All Policies team (HiAP), whose aim is to ensure that public policies, plans, and strategies across all sectors consider health outcomes. To meet this aim HiAP have worked collaboratively with local councils to establish strategies across the different tiers of governance, from board level to operational level. They have also written integrated assessments based on social, environmental, economic, and cultural values, for incorporation into plans. In addition, the HiAP have invited the community and stakeholders to make recommendations on early strategy drafts (Murray, 2016).

Is SEA working in New Zealand?

In New Zealand, in many instances, SEA is being undertaken but not via an SEA framework per se or under the title of SEA (Taylor and Morgan, 2016). The examples above illustrate the application of certain SEA principles, including early and active community participation; collaboration and a tiered approach with links to other processes; evidence based assessment with a well-researched baseline; assessment of the potential effects of proposals; and an integrated approach which considers all aspects of the environment (including ecological, social, cultural, and economic systems). However, many of the principles of SEA are often lacking from these assessments or are not considered in thorough detail. This is clearly evident in the majority of s32 reports, New Zealand’s closest formal equivalent to SEA, where reports often take a weak approach, becoming a ‘tick box’ exercise rather than being outcome-focused.

SEA's potential in New Zealand

So there are gaps which need to be addressed if SEA is to be achieved comprehensively and consistently in New Zealand. Specialists have identified some specific strategies which would benefit from the application of SEA, such as the predator-free New Zealand project, which will involve many partners, including NGOs, communities and government agencies. In this instance it has been recognised that SEA could be used to apply a consistent framework across the different project locations (Russell and Taylor, 2016). It has also been acknowledged that SEA has the potential of assessing broader issues like climate change, including tipping and turning points, for the country’s primary industries. For example, SEA would help with on-farm decisions by identifying thresholds and resilience indicators, resulting in more resilient communities with improved adaptation abilities (Cradock-Henry, 2016). In addition, practitioners have seen the need for SEA in the tourism sector where public and private sector management are combined. It has been identified that SEA would improve the government’s current reactive approach to one which is more proactive (Simmons, 2016).

How can we deliver positive strategic outcomes from impact assessment? - Insights

It is clear that while there are the foundations and potential for SEA in New Zealand, there is not a common understanding of what constitutes SEA, which is likely a reflection that there are no clear guidelines on SEA principles or a framework of reference. There is legislation which hints at the concept of SEA, such as the RMA and its s32, although it appears that if this is to form the basis of SEA in New Zealand it will require some extensive reworking. Therefore, it could be that a combination of legislative changes, as well a clear SEA guiding framework, would assist New Zealand in realising its SEA potential.
 

​
References
Cradock-Henry, N. (2016) online: ‘Applications of SEA in the primary sector’, NZAIA Conference Presentation. https://www.nzaia.org.nz/uploads/1/2/3/3/12339018/nick_cradock-henry.pdf (accessed 20 November 2017).
 
Morgan, R. (2016) online: ‘SEA in New Zealand: An overview’, NZAIA Conference Presentation. https://www.nzaia.org.nz/uploads/1/2/3/3/12339018/richard_morgan.pdf (accessed 20 November 2017).
 
Murray, J. (2016) online: ‘Health in all policies approach: Practical examples of embedding public health into policy in Canterbury’, NZAIA Conference Presentation. https://www.nzaia.org.nz/uploads/1/2/3/3/12339018/jane_murray.pdf (accessed 20 November 2017).
 
Russell, J. and Taylor, N. (2016) online: ‘Strategic environmental assessment for predator free New Zealand’, NZAIA Conference Presentation. https://www.nzaia.org.nz/uploads/1/2/3/3/12339018/james_russell.pdf (accessed 20 November 2017).
 
Taylor, N. and MacKay, M. (2016) online: ‘Strategic social assessment in an integrated, collaborative approach to setting limits for the Waitaki Catchment’, NZAIA Conference Poster. https://www.nzaia.org.nz/uploads/1/2/3/3/12339018/taylor_and_mackay.pdf (accessed 20 November 2017).
 
Taylor, N. and Morgan, R. (2016) online: ‘Strategic environmental assessment in New Zealand: Enhancing policies and plans’, NZAIA. https://www.nzaia.org.nz/strategic-environmental-assessment-in-new-zealand.html 
 
Simmons, D.G. (2016) online: ‘Strategic environmental assessment for tourism’, NZAIA Conference Presentation. https://www.nzaia.org.nz/uploads/1/2/3/3/12339018/david_simmons.pdf (accessed 20 November 2017).

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  • Home
    • Environmental Impact Assessment
    • Social Impact Assessment
    • Strategic Environmental Assessment
    • Community & Stakeholder Engagement
    • Management, Monitoring and Reporting
  • About Us
    • Core Group >
      • Core Group Meeting Minutes
    • Our Partners and Affiliates
    • AGMs
    • Constitution changes 2025
    • Ethics
  • Membership
    • Sign Up for NZAIA Membership
    • 2025 Calendar Year Membership Subscription Renewal
  • Conferences
    • Conference 2024 >
      • Conference Programme 2024
      • Proceedings 2024
    • Proceedings from Past Conferences >
      • Conference 2023 >
        • Pacific Day 2023
        • 2023 Students
      • 2022 - Wellbeing, Sustainability and Impact Assessment: towards more integrated policy-making >
        • Posters
        • 2022 Students
      • 2021 - Social Impact Assessment >
        • Posters
        • 2021 Students
      • 2019 - Climate Change >
        • Posters
        • 2019 Students
        • Conference Photos
        • Contact List
      • 2018 - Regional Development
      • 2016 - Strategic Environmental Assessment
      • 2015 - Where to for Impact Assessment?
      • 2014 - Transport Infrastructure
      • 2013 Fresh Water Management
      • 2012 - Mineral Extraction
    • Sign up for occasional updates from NZAIA
  • Impact Connector
    • Issue #16 SIA for rural resilience and wellbeing >
      • SIA for rural resilience and wellbeing: Intro
      • The drivers and agents of on-farm change in Aotearoa New Zealand
      • Social-ecological assessment for remote and island communities
      • The Impact of Substandard Rural Housing on Resilience and Wellbeing in Te Tai Tokerau
      • Success factors for planning regeneration in rural areas
    • Issue #15 Economic methods and Impact Assessment >
      • Economic methods in impact assessment: an introduction
      • The Nature of Economic Analysis for Resource Management
      • The State-of-the-Art and Prospects: Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Environmental Impact Assessment
      • Economic impact assessment and regional development: reflections on Queensland mining impacts
      • Fonterra’s policy on economic incentives for promoting sustainable farming practices
    • Issue #14 Impact assessment for infrastructure development >
      • Impact assessment for infrastructure development - an introduction
      • Place Matters: The importance of geographic assessment of areas of influence in understanding the social effects of large-scale transport investment in Wellington
      • Unplanned Consequences? New Zealand's experiment with urban (un)planning and infrastructure implications
      • Reflections on infrastructure, Town and Country planning and intimations of SIA in the late 1970s and early 1980s
      • SIA guidance for infrastructure and economic development projects
      • Scoping in impact assessments for infrastructure projects: Reflections on South African experiences
      • Impact Assessment for Pacific Island Infrastructure
    • Issue #13 Health impact assessment: practice issues >
      • Introduction to health impact assessment: practice issues
      • International Health Impact Assessment – a personal view
      • Use of Health Impact Assessment to develop climate change adaptation plans for health
      • An integrated approach to assessing health impacts
      • Assessing the health and social impacts of transport policies and projects
      • Whither HIA in New Zealand….or just wither?
    • Issue #12 Risk Assessment: Case Studies and Approaches >
      • Introduction
      • Risk Assessment and Impact Assessment : A perspective from Victoria, Australia
      • The New and Adaptive Paradigm Needed to Manage Rising Coastal Risks
      • Reflections on Using Risk Assessments in Understanding Climate Change Adaptation Needs in Te Taitokerau Northland
      • Values-Based Impact Assessment and Emergency Management
      • Certainty about Communicating Uncertainty: Assessment of Flood Loss and Damage
      • Improving Understanding of Rockfall Geohazard Risk in New Zealand
      • Normalised New Zealand Natural Disaster Insurance Losses: 1968-2019
      • Houston, We Have a Problem - Seamless Integration of Weather and Climate Forecast for Community Resilience
      • Innovating with Online Data to Understand Risk and Impact in a Data Poor Environment
    • Impact Connector #11 Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation, and Impact Assessment: views from the Pacific >
      • Introduction
      • Climate change adaptation and mitigation, impact assessment, and decision-making: a Pacific perspective
      • Climate adaptation and impact assessment in the Pacific: overview of SPREP-sponsored presentations
      • Land and Sea: Integrated Assessment of the Temaiku Land and Urban Development Project in Kiribati
      • Strategic Environmental Assessment: Rising to the SDG Challenge
      • Coastal Engineering for Climate Change Resilience in Eastern Tongatapu, Tonga
      • Climate-induced Migration in the Pacific: The Role of New Zealand
    • Impact Connector #10 Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation >
      • Introduction
      • Is a “just transition” possible for Māori?
      • Adapting to Climate Change on Scale: Addressing the Challenge and Understanding the Impacts of Asia Mega-Cities
      • How responding to climate change might affect health, for better or for worse
      • Kanuka, Kereru and carbon capture - Assessing the effects of a programme taking a fresh look at the hill and high country land resource
      • Wairoa: Community perceptions of increased afforestation
      • Te Kākahu Kahukura Ecological Restoration project: A story within a story
    • Issue #9 Impacts of Covid-19 >
      • Introduction to Impact Connector Issue 9 – Impact assessment and Covid 19
      • Covid-19 fast-track consenting: climate change legacy key to success
      • Tourism – the long haul ahead
      • Making sense of the impact of Covid-19: planning, politics, and the public good
    • Issue #8 Social Impact Assessment >
      • Challenges for Social Impact Assessment in New Zealand: looking backwards and looking forwards
      • Insights from the eighties: early Social Impact Assessment reports on rural community dynamics
      • Impact Assessment and the Capitals Framework: A Systems-based Approach to Understanding and Evaluating Wellbeing
      • Building resilience in Rural Communities – a focus on mobile population groups
      • Assessing the Impacts of a New Cycle Trail: A Fieldnote
      • The challenges of a new biodiversity strategy for social impact assessment (SIA)
      • “Say goodbye to traffic”? The role of SIA in establishing whether ‘air taxis’ are the logical next step in the evolution of transportation
    • Issue #7 Ecological Impact Assessment >
      • The future of Ecological Impact Assessment in New Zealand
      • Ecological impact assessment and roading projects
      • EcIA and the Resource Management Act
      • Professional Practice and implementation of EcIA
      • EcIA in the Marine Environment
    • Issue #6 Landscape Assessment >
      • Introduction
      • Lives and landscapes: who cares, what about, and does it matter?
      • Regional Landscape Inconsistency
      • Landscape management in the new world order
      • Landscape assessment and the Environment Court
      • Natural character assessments and provisions in a coastal environment
      • The Assessment and Management of Amenity
      • The rise of the THIMBY
      • Landscape - Is there a common understanding of the Common?
    • Issue #5 Cultural Impact Assessment >
      • Introduction
      • Potential of Cultural Impact Assessment
      • The Mitigation Dilemma
      • CIA and decision-making
      • Insights and observations on CIA
      • Achieving sustainability through CIA
      • CIA - Enhancing or diminishing mauri?
      • Strategic Indigenous Impact Assessment?
    • Issue #4 Marine Environment >
      • Introduction
      • Iwi, Impact Assessment and Marine Environment
      • Sea-Bed Mining Application in Taranaki
      • The wreck of the MV Rena
      • High Court RMA Controls on Fishing
      • Initiatives in the Pacific Islands
      • SEA in an NZ context
    • Issue #3 Strategic Environmental Assessment
    • Issue #2
    • Issue #1
  • Resources
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      • Water Management
    • Social Impact Assessment
    • Health Impact Assessment >
      • Climate Change & Health
      • Air Quality Impact Assessment
    • Cumulative Impact Assessment
    • Community and Stakeholder Engagement
    • Indigenous Peoples
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