Improving Public Participation And Consultation In Environmental Impact Assessment (Eia)
Abstract
Public participation should be an integral part of environmental management. Regulation is
more effective when regulators and proponents are constantly exposed to the public’s opinions
and perspectives. Most higher income countries or the global north have somehow found a
workable way to incorporate public opinions in decision making concerning projects that affect
the environment, while in Kenya the legislation on public participation is still quite new and
there is still a long way to go. This study sought to assess whether public participation in the
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process of the different projects in different sectors of
the economy in Nairobi County is sufficient and how this participation influences
environmental decisions as relating to a specific project, and how this can be improved. This
study also examined the barriers to public participation and consultation and sought for ways to
minimise these barriers.
This study used multiple methodological techniques, including document review for documents/
case files obtained from NEMA and questionnaires for data collection. It also employed
calculations based methods using chi square. The chi square was used to defend the null
hypotheses on barriers to public participation and to find out if there were significant variations
of public participation in the different economic sectors in Nairobi County. It was evident from
the findings that there are various limitations such as poor dissemination of information, the use
of language that locals do not understand, unwillingness to participate and political influence.
Increased participation in the public meetings or feedback from the public about the project
does not necessarily translate to those opinion considered in the final decision making. For the
public to feel motivated to participate regarding these projects then there need to be
improvements in how to engage them. This study recommends the use of other media outlets in
addition to the print media. Radio and television are widely used than the print media in Kenya.
The social media is also a good platform that is quickly gaining popularity among the youth,
this could also be explored. The use of other languages in addition to English should be
explored. There is also the need to explore further the element of public participation and
consultation in the Legal notice 101 and spell out penalties of those who would not adhere to
public participation and consultation.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Subject
Environmental Impact AssessmentRights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [6020]
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