Introduction to Environmentally Sound Design

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Introduction to Environmentally Sound Design
Management
DATE
SPEAKERS NAMES
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Defining ESD

• Environmentally Sound Design Management is the

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• design implementation of activities so that. .
  .
• Environmental damage is kept to a practicable
  minimum.
• Environmental benefits are maximized to the
  extent practicable

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Why ESD?

• If ESDM is not a conscious goal,then
  ENVIRONMENTAL FAILURE is much more likely

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Environmental Failure Small-Scale Activities

• Definition of environmental failureWhen an
  activity creates an adverse impact on the
  environment that substantially reduces or offsets
  the activitys intended benefits
• The reality of environmental failure-- some
  examples coming up
• Health care facilities
• Water and Sanitation Activities
• Community Forestry

Environmental Failure can be TOTAL
when benefits of the activity are completely
overwhelmed in size and scale by the effects of
the adverse impacts
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Environmental Failure Small-Scale Activities

• Myth the environmental impact of small-scale
  development activity on the environment is
  negligible
• RealityIf small-scale activities are
  implemented poorly
• Impacts of a single small-scale activity may be
  small in absolute terms
• But impacts at the local level--to people and
  communities--can be very significant
• And because small-scale activities are numerous,
  together they have a very significant impact

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Environmental Failure Small-Scale
ActivitiesExample Health care facilities

• Goal Improve public health
• RiskEndanger the health of patients and the
  community with poor facilities design improper
  waste management

An unused incinerator. . .
surrounded byneedles other medical waste (open
access to livestock, 15m from households)
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Environmental Failure Small-Scale
ActivitiesExample Health care facilities
Less than 10m
A newly constructed open-air kitchen
Unscreened simple pit latrines
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Environmental Failure Small-Scale
ActivitiesExample Health care facilities
Health facility wastes that require management
Sharps (used needles, scalpels,broken glass)
Pathological wastes(tissues, organs, blood
body parts)
Excrement(Urine faeces)
Radioactive
Pharmaceuticals (expired, contaminated, surplus)
What are the consequences of failing to manage
these different waste streams? What constitutes
acceptable management?
Site latrines, waste pits close to wells
Site unscreened kitchen near latrines
Design issues
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Environmental Failure Small-Scale
ActivitiesExample Water Sanitation Activities
Around the back of the latrine. . .

• Goal Improve/preserve public health quality
  of life
• RisksEndanger public health, degrade water
  supply, with poor design and operation

Seepage
Uncontrolledwaste disposal
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Environmental Failure Small-Scale
ActivitiesExample Water Sanitation Activities
Failure to test new water source, especially
groundwater, for natural industrial contaminants
Design problems
How, specifically, can these problems
arise? What are the impacts that result from
these design operation problems?
Contamination of ground or surface waters
Creation of standing water other disease
reservoirs
Design and operation problems
Failure to safeguard water source from runoff
Unsustainable extraction rates
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Environmental Failure Small-Scale
ActivitiesExample Community Reforestation
An activity intended to improve the environment!

• Goals Conserve soil prevent erosion, provide
  building materials fuel, reduce risk/impacts of
  flooding
• Risks
• Deplete water table,
• Displace local plants and vegetation,
• Intensify use of pesticides
• Increase community vulnerability

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Is this a nice picture?
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Environmental Failure Small-Scale
ActivitiesExample Community Reforestation
!
An extensive monoculture reforestation scheme was
undertaken decades ago. The aging trees have
proved vulnerable to a blight known to impose 80
mortality. All trees are approximately the same
age. The unforeseen long-term vulnerabilities
created by monoculture reforestation will likely
affect thousands of small coffee producers.
Unfortunately not.
Progressive blight in the shade trees, an aging
monoculture
High-quality organic shade-grown coffee
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How does environmental failure happen?
In the previous examples, the environmental
failures were obvious.
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Failure to plan for the effects of increased scale
But environmental failure is often harder to
understand avoid. This type of environmental
failure is often caused by some common design
mistakes
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Designing for average conditions
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Ignoring economic-environmental linkages
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Common causes of environmental failure 1
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Failure to plan for the effects of increased scale
Or, failure to plan for success!
The environmental effects of a small-scale animal
husbandry project may be minor
BUT if the project is successful, and many more
individuals begin to hold larger numbers of
animals, serious problems may arise. . .
Health hazards from animal waste. . . Fodder
shortages (may lead to overgrazing and erosion
and/or land conflicts)
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Common causes of environmental failure 2
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Designing for average conditions
This schoolhouse is being rebuilt with plank
walls and a split-bamboo roof. Strong winds
ripped the aluminum sheet roofing off the
structure and toppled the landcrete walls. In
this area, one or two storms every 5 years
typically have winds of this strength.
Other average conditions to be careful
of Rainfall, tides, water tables. . . What else?
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Common causes of environmental failure 3
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Ignoring economic-environmental linkages
Another failure to plan for success!

• Household consumption depends on income.
• Success in raising income in a community may
  increase
• demand for building materials (brick timber)
• the number of livestock,
• demand for water
• generation of waste, including disposable
  packaging

All can have significant adverse environmental
impacts!
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Food Aid Environmental failure
Change seasonal long-term migration patterns
Change crop and livestock production strategies

• Food Aid Fulfills a vital need
• However, Food Aid may alter the relationship
  between people and how they manage natural
  resources in their area(see right)
• These changes can create long-term problems

Change land use tenure
Reduce production use of local seed/varieties
Change wood-gathering practices
Introduce foreign species
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Is ESDM only about avoiding failure?

• NO. Remember the 2 parts of the ESDM definition

• Environmentally Sound Design is the design
  implementation of activities so that. . .
• Environmental damage is kept to a practicable
  minimum.
• Environmental benefits are maximized to the
  extent practicable

ESDM is proactive. It seeks to preserve and
improve the resource base upon which future
economic activity and subsistence depends
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Wait!

• Are we saying that environment should be the ONLY
  concern in development activity?
• ABSOLUTELY NOT!
• Development always involves environmental change
• Environmental soundness is not enough!
  Development activities must also be
  technically, socially and economically sound.
• The long-term health of the environment depends
  on successful development. Poverty degrades the
  environment,
• BUT REMEMBER? environmental degradation
  endangers future subsistence future development

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How do we achieve ESDM?

• ESDM requires design and implementation of
  activities with an understanding of their
  environmental impacts, and active efforts to
  minimize these impacts.
• Success requires following 3 basic rules

1
2
3
Be prevention-oriented
Apply best development practices to environmental
aspects of the activity
Be systematic
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ESDM is prevention-oriented

• Prevention occurs across the project
  lifecyclebut it starts with design!

• Implement design decisions
• Build capacity for environmentally sound
  operation

Design
Construct/ implement
Operate(may include handover)
Decommission(in some cases)
Make decisions about site, technique and
operating practices to minimize impacts

• Implement maintain proper operation
• Monitor the activity and its impacts

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ESDM is prevention-oriented

• Prevention starts early in the DESIGN phase
• DESIGN starts with the choice of means.

Objective
Improve agricultural productivity
Possible means
How do you choose?
Introduce improved crop varieties?
Change use of agricultural inputs?
Change cultivation practices?
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ESDM is prevention-oriented
!
In ESDM, the choice of MEANS considers the
environmental impacts of each alternative.
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Now, rule 2 for achieving ESDM. . .
1
2
3
Be prevention-oriented
Apply best development practices to environmental
aspects of the activity
Be systematic
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What are best development practices?

• As development professionals, we say. . .

For a successful project, we need. . .
A technically sound design
To build beneficiary capacity stakeholder
commitment
To design for the local social policy context
To adjust what we do as results come in
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!
Each of these general best practices has
particular application to ESDM.
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General BP 1The design is technically sound

• Environmental application the design must be
  appropriate for local environmental conditions

For example. . .
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Appropriate choice of crops or trees?
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Appropriate choices of construction materials
methods?
Environmental conditions include. ..
Rainfall, temperature, soils, flood, drought and
earthquake potential. . . What else?
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Example Design for local environmental
conditions

• Structure Schoolhouse

Local environment
Coastal West Africa deforested area subject to
heavy winds rains. Moist tropical climate.
Building sits on slight slope.
Construction
Long-span split-bamboo roof Unplastered
landcrete walls No rock or concrete foundation
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Appropriate choices of construction materials
methods?
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General BP 2Design for the policy social
context

• Environmental applications

1
2
NRM and land tenure
Compliance
The activity must comply with national local
environmental laws and policies
Activities that require the utilization of
natural resources (including land) must be
compatible with local NRM and land tenure.
3
Language, literacy
The activities demands on beneficiaries must be
matched to capabilities.
land resource rights are often gender-specific!
4
What else?
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General BP 3Build stakeholder commitment
capacity
Environmental application
!
Proper maintenance and operation are critical to
controlling environmental impacts.

• Local communities/ organizations need to be
  trained and committed to
• environmentally sound operation.
• maintain the equipment/ structure

Who will maintain it? Who will operate it?
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General BP 4Practice adaptive management
Adaptive management means
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adjusting implementation of your activity based
on results from the field
Adaptive environmental management requires

• Environmental applications
• If your activity has unintended environmental
  consequences, you need to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

A project budget that funds environmental
monitoring The flexibility to adapt the project
in response to unanticipated adverse impacts
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General BP 4Practice adaptive management
Adaptive management also means adjusting
implementation of YOUR project based on the
experiences of others. Communicate, coordinate,
share lessons on environmental impacts with
colleagues!
!
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Note ESDM requires community involvement

• Two basic reasons for community involvement

1
Local residents must live with the environmental
impacts of activities!
Ethics require it.
You cant apply BPs without it.
2
Why?
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BPs require community involvement!
Technical soundness
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE is critical!
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• Stakeholders and local communities have local
  knowledge that you need.
• Is there a land tenure problem?
• How often does the river flood?
• How often are crops rotated?
• What do people value and need?

LISTEN to thecommunity.TALK to bothmen women.
Design for the policy social context
Beneficiary commitment capacity
Adaptive management
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BPs require community involvement!
Technical soundness
Design for the policy social context
Beneficiary commitment capacity
Building commitment capacity is not possible
without actively engaging the community.
Adaptive management
Communities are often essential to monitoring
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Now, rule 3 for achieving ESDM. . .
1
2
3
Be prevention-oriented
Apply best development practices to environmental
aspects of the activity
Be systematic
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ESDM is systematic

• ESDM requires a systematic look at
• the possible adverse environmental impacts of an
  activity
• ways to reduce these impacts.
• The best way to be systematic Environmental
  Impact Assessment (EIA)!

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Defining EIA

• Environmentally Impact Assessment is

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• A formal process for identifying
• likely effects of activities or projects on the
  environment, and on human health and welfare.
• means and measures to monitor mitigate these
  impacts

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Origins of EIA
Cuyahoga River burns in 1966 (3rd time).
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.

• 1960s 70s Environmental crisis affects all
  industrialized economies
• EIA is one response
• First national EIA requirements1970 US National
  Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires EIA for
  US government projects.
• Other responses regulation of industry,
  environmental treaties

1952 Killer fog kills 4,000 in London 1963
Silent Spring documents the effects of DDT Etc. .
.
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EIA today

• Most countries almost all donors now have EIA
  requirements
• EIA now extends beyond government to
• Infrastructure and economic development projects
  funded by the private sector donors
• Analysis of policies, not just projects
• In Africa, national environmentalregulation is
  usually centered on EIA requirements.

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EIA A good idea in many ways

• EIA is a tool that helps you to be systematic
  about all the elements of ESDM.

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Be prevention-oriented

• Prevention begins with choice of means. Consider
  alternatives is a key principle of EIA.
• EIA provides a formal process to consider
  environmental issues and make changes at early
  stages in project design. Early consideration is
  key to prevention.

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EIA A good idea in many ways
EIA helps you implement Rule 2 for achieving
ESDM
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Apply best development practices to environmental
aspects of the activity
Technical soundness
EIA requires characterizing environmental
conditions
Stakeholder commitment
Stakeholder consultation is central to EIA
EIA requires a systematic approach to field
monitoring
Adaptive management
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EIA More than just a good idea
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• EIA is
• REQUIRED BY LAW in most countries.
• REQUIRED by almost all donors.

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Summing up

• We commit to ESDM to avoid environmental failure
  and maximize the long-term benefits of our
  activities.
• ESDM requires design and implementation of
  activities with an understanding of their
  environmental impacts, and active efforts to
  minimize these impacts.
• Success requires following 3 basic rules be
  prevention-oriented, apply best development
  practices, and be systematic.
• EIA is a tool to make ESDM a reality.