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| − | {{todo|Hi Imon! Things start to move on. I have some suggestions for you to get things forward. 1) Read [[Help:Editing]] to learn how to make headings, bullet lists and numbered lists etc. 2) This page is a [[method]]; click the link to learn more about methods. 3) Use a template to add method formatting by adding this text to the beginning of the page: <nowiki>{{method}}</nowiki>. 4) Read about wiki editing from e.g. [[:en:Wikipedia:Community portal|Wikipedia:Community portal]] or [[:en:Wikipedia:How to edit a page|Wikipedia:How to edit a page]]. |Iranjon 95|project=Integrated assessment}} | + | {{encyclopedia|Iranjon95}} |
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| | + | '''Issue framing''' |
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| | + | Issue framing represents the first stage in doing an integrated environmental health impact assessment. It is at this stage that we specify clearly what question we are trying to address, and who should be involved in the assessment. |
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| | + | By the end of the issue-framing stage, therefore, we should have defined the scope of the assessment, and the principles on which it will be done. In the process, we should also have resolved any ambiguities in the terms and concepts we might be using, so that everyone involved has a common understanding of what the results of the assessment will mean. |
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| | + | Issue-framing can rarely be done as a singular, one-off process. Considerable reiteration if often required to deal with new insights, as they emerge. The order in which issue-framing is done also needs to be adapted according to circumstance. Five main steps, can, however, be recognized: |
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| − | Issue framing
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| − | Issue framing represents the first stage in doing an integrated environmental health impact assessment. It is at this stage that we specify clearly what question we are trying to address, and who should be involved in the assessment. It is a process that can rarely be done as a singular, one-off process. Considerable reiteration if often required dealing with new insights, as they emerge. The order in which issue-framing is done also needs to be adapted according to circumstance. Five main steps, can, however, be recognised
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| | 1. Specifying the question that needs to be addressed. | | 1. Specifying the question that needs to be addressed. |
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| − | Challenges
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| − | This stage describes complex issues in a way that captures the interests of all the stakeholders concerned, yet can also form a sound and practicable basis for assessment, is inevitably difficult. Difficulties arise both from the complexity and ambiguity of the issues that need to be assessed, and the multitude of stakeholders (often with different and conflicting interests) who are concerned. As a consequence, issue framing has to deal with several challenges
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| − | • How to identify all the stakeholders who might have interests in the issue and engage them in the process.
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| − | • How to define the conditions (in the form of realistic yet relevant scenarios) under which the issue will be assessed.
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| − | • How to set practicable limits to the issue without unfairly excluding some stakeholders’ interests and thereby biasing the assessment.
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| − | • How to define and agree on a series of indicators that will adequately and fairly capture an describe the results of the assessment.
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| − | All four require that issue framing is done as a reiterative process, with each version of the issue being reviewed and debated to ensure that key elements or stakeholders have not been neglected. It also needs to be an open process, with additional stakeholders being invited to take part when new (and unrepresented) interests emerge. This reiterative process of issue framing often involves a clear cycle, comprising
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| − | • a phase of ‘complexification’, as new factors and relationships are discovered, and new interests taken into account.
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| − | • a phase of simplification, as the issue is paired down by eliminating redundant or irrelevant elements, in order to focus on what matters most.
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| − | Defining the Question
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| − | All assessments are done in response to a ‘question’ or ‘concern’. This initial question is often not phrased specifically for the purpose of assessment, but instead to raise awareness and get attention. Even when an official body commissions an assessment, the question may not be clearly and fully described. In most cases, therefore, the issue of interest will need to be carefully considered and redefined. The aim of doing so is to make sure
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| − | • That it is unambiguous and clearly understood.
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| − | • That it really does reflect the issue about which people are concerned.
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| − | • That it can form the basis for a sensible and realistic assessment.
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| − | • That the rationale for doing an assessment is clearly recognized.
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| − | To achieve this, the question needs to be phrased in a clear and structured way. Typically, this involves defining (at least in general terms)
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| − | • The causes (e.g. human activities, environmental stressors, agents) and/or types of health impacts of concern.
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| − | • The area or population of interest.
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| − | • The timescale of the concern.
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| − | Consulting with Stakeholders
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| − | A wide range of stakeholders may have interests in integrated assessments. These include not only people (or organisations) with statutory responsibilities for the issue under consideration, but also all those who might be affected either by the issue itself, or by actions taken to address it. A key step in developing any assessment is to consider who these stakeholders might be, and how they might be involved. In doing so, it is useful to recognise the different roles that the stakeholders might have (see link to left) both because this may help to identify stakeholders who would otherwise be ignored, and because it can help to work out what their specific concerns might be, and how best to involve them. It also needs to be recognised that any individual may fulfil more than one of these roles (e.g. as victim and manager) both at the same time, and over time as events play out.
| + | For the sorts of complex (systemic) problems that merit integrated environmental health impact assessment, issue framing can be extremely challenging (see link to Challenges in issue framing, left). Care and rigour in issue framing are therefore crucial if the assessment is to be valid and useful: failure to give the necessary attention at this stage will almost certainly undermine the value of everything that follows. |
Issue framing represents the first stage in doing an integrated environmental health impact assessment. It is at this stage that we specify clearly what question we are trying to address, and who should be involved in the assessment.
By the end of the issue-framing stage, therefore, we should have defined the scope of the assessment, and the principles on which it will be done. In the process, we should also have resolved any ambiguities in the terms and concepts we might be using, so that everyone involved has a common understanding of what the results of the assessment will mean.
1. Specifying the question that needs to be addressed.
2. Identifying and engaging the key stakeholders who need to be involved.
3. Agreeing an overall approach to the assessment and the scenarios that will be used.
4. Selecting and constructing the scenarios on which the assessment will be based.
5. Defining the indicators that will be used to describe the impacts.
For the sorts of complex (systemic) problems that merit integrated environmental health impact assessment, issue framing can be extremely challenging (see link to Challenges in issue framing, left). Care and rigour in issue framing are therefore crucial if the assessment is to be valid and useful: failure to give the necessary attention at this stage will almost certainly undermine the value of everything that follows.
