Water and Environment in Decision-Making: Water Assessment, Environmental Impact Assessment, and Strategic Environmental

In the urbanised delta of the Netherlands, it is important to take water-related and environmental impacts fully into account when deciding on socio-economic activities. This is the aim behind Water Assessment (WA), Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). This thesis is centred on a comparative research of these policy instruments. The overall research aim is to explain the character and effectiveness of WA, EIA and SEA, and compare each of them with the others, also in relation to their broader policy context. The method that is used in this thesis is positioned at the intersection of theory and practice. It is a method underpinned, philosophically, in Aristotle’s phronesis and apagoge. With its focus on governmental decision-making, the research can be positioned mainly in the fields of planning and public administration. The thesis ends by offering practical contributions to the further development of WA, EIA and SEA. Read more