Here are 100 books that Environmental Impact Assessment fans have personally recommended if you like
Environmental Impact Assessment.
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I have been teaching and researching environmental impact assessment for over 30 years and it is still a topic that excites me. After all, what could be more challenging or relevant than figuring out how to deliver sustainable development? Trying to predict the consequences of development and putting in place effective measures to prevent adverse environmental and social effects all in the context of our intriguingly messy world of science, politics, governance, and public engagement is endlessly beguiling. For example, what might sustainable mining look like? I love learning from the wisdom of others, so I hope you enjoy the books on this list as much as I have.
This book provides a fresh, accessible, and captivating account of environmental impact assessment (EIA) featuring a diverse and truly global cast of contributors with expertise across the spectrum of practice.
Marking 50 years of practice, it addresses contemporary EIA issues in an innovative and engaging manner. From the historical origins to contemporary issues such as health assessment in a post-Covid 19 world, climate change, digital impact assessment and the role of artificial intelligence, this Handbook has it all.
It captures the state of the art provided by theorists and practitioners drawn from all around the world, before outlining possible directions for the next 50 years.
Reviewing over 50 years of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) policy-making and implementation around the world, this thought-provoking Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the current research surrounding EIA. Presenting new trends in law and policy-making, it highlights best practices in the application of technology to impact prediction and management, procedural efficiency, decision-making and public participation.
In addition to explaining the practicalities of the EIA process, chapters delve deep into EIA's decision-making stages and methods, revealing the causes of, and solutions to, recurrent issues. Contributions from leading scholars analyse case studies from Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and North and South America…
I have been teaching and researching environmental impact assessment for over 30 years and it is still a topic that excites me. After all, what could be more challenging or relevant than figuring out how to deliver sustainable development? Trying to predict the consequences of development and putting in place effective measures to prevent adverse environmental and social effects all in the context of our intriguingly messy world of science, politics, governance, and public engagement is endlessly beguiling. For example, what might sustainable mining look like? I love learning from the wisdom of others, so I hope you enjoy the books on this list as much as I have.
This is an extremely handy “go-to” book for understanding environmental impact assessment (EIA) issues and procedures.
It walks through the entire EIA process step by step, explaining key concepts and terms in a straightforward and easily-accessible manner. The authors have an engaging style, using lots of practical examples and explanations to explain good EIA practices. I use it often in my own teaching and research.
A comprehensive, clearly structured and readable overview of the subject, Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment has established itself as the leading introduction to EIA worldwide. This fifth edition is a major update reflecting many significant changes in EIA procedures, process, practice and prospects over the last decade. In particular, it includes:
a much more international dimension, drawing on EIA activities worldwide;
an up-to-date coverage of the revised EU EIA Directive and its implementation;
the associated update of contemporary UK procedures and practice;
best practice on evolving methods in the EIA process;
I have been teaching and researching environmental impact assessment for over 30 years and it is still a topic that excites me. After all, what could be more challenging or relevant than figuring out how to deliver sustainable development? Trying to predict the consequences of development and putting in place effective measures to prevent adverse environmental and social effects all in the context of our intriguingly messy world of science, politics, governance, and public engagement is endlessly beguiling. For example, what might sustainable mining look like? I love learning from the wisdom of others, so I hope you enjoy the books on this list as much as I have.
This original book extolling sustainability thinking in impact assessment practice is a must read.
The authors lay out a compelling case to transform business as usual which ultimately degrades our planet to ensure that future development decision-making provides a positive contribution to sustainability.
Clear criteria for sustainability to guide impact assessment along with decision-making trade-off rules are unique stand-out features of this book. It will change the way you think about environmental impact assessment.
Sustainability assessment is now emerging as a more transparent, comprehensive, integrated and far-sighted approach to decision making. Its basic demand is that all significant undertakings must make a positive contribution to sustainability. To apply this test, decision makers need criteria based on the core requirements of sustainability and the particularities of the context. As well, they need appropriately designed public processes; guidance on the weighing of alternatives, trade-offs and compromises; a supportive policy framework; suitable tools and inspiring examples.
Drawing from transdisciplinary theory and practical case experience, the book addresses these matters and many of the surrounding controversies. While sustainability…
I have been teaching and researching environmental impact assessment for over 30 years and it is still a topic that excites me. After all, what could be more challenging or relevant than figuring out how to deliver sustainable development? Trying to predict the consequences of development and putting in place effective measures to prevent adverse environmental and social effects all in the context of our intriguingly messy world of science, politics, governance, and public engagement is endlessly beguiling. For example, what might sustainable mining look like? I love learning from the wisdom of others, so I hope you enjoy the books on this list as much as I have.
Sometimes, what is old can be new again. This is a great book that lays out the fundamental theory and principles underpinning environmental impact assessment (EIA).
Groundbreaking of its day, many of the chapters provide pioneering insights into the intricacies of EIA that still resonate today. The technical, the theoretical, the art and science and strategy of EIA are all explored by the international contributors, many of whom were founders in the field.
This comprehensive treatment of environmental impact assessment (EIA) provides an authoritative contemporary review of theory and practice over the past ten years. EIA is viewed as both science and art, reflecting the concern both with technical aspects of appraisal and the effects of EIA on the decision-making process. Adopted in many countries, with different degrees of enthusiasm, since its inception in the early 1970's, EIA is established as a major procedure for assessing the environmental implications of legislation, the implementation of policy and plans and the initiation of development projects. EIA is increasingly an essential part of environmental management
I grew up in Ohio, just south of the Great Lakes. As a kid, I spent time on the Lakes fishing with my dad. I’ve been fascinated with these freshwater seas and their ecological richness ever since. My love for the Lakes eventually merged with my passion for early American history when I attended graduate school at Notre Dame. There, I began researching how Native peoples understood and utilized the unique geography of the Lakes. That work grew into my first book, Muddy Ground, and I anticipate the rest of my career as a historian will be dedicated to studying the environmental and human history of the Great Lakes region.
As you can already tell, I love a good travelogue. And as someone who was drawn to the Great Lakes originally via canoe, I found a fellow-traveler in Margaret Wooster.
Her vantage point comes from the hull of her boat, as she canoes and portages her way around the rivers that drain into Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, and the St. Lawrence River. In canoeing these waterscapes, she recounts the many centuries of history of the area but also shares her perspective as a conservationist when it comes to the challenges of protecting the Lakes and their rivers in our current moment.
Her attention to ecological detail, her rapt descriptions of wetlands riches, and her local storytelling invoke the intwined human and aquatic histories of this region.
As an expert in grass ecology and champion of sustainable design, John Greenlee has created meadows not only in the United States, but throughout the world for over 30 years. Some of his most notable gardens include the Getty Museum, the Norton Simon Museum in Los Angeles, and the savannas at Walt Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida. In addition to his consulting and design work for commercial and residential clients, John Greenlee enjoys sharing his knowledge by giving several presentations and lectures throughout the year on the use of natural lawns, native grasses, and meadow restoration.
Don’t be fooled by the small size of this very personal book by the incredible plantsmith Scott Ogden.
You would do well to find this book, now sadly out of print, as it focuses on the attributes of plants that are often overlooked. I’ve had it on my shelf for years and enjoy it constantly. Enjoying the garden at night is often an overlooked aspect of garden design.
Scott’s prose in this book is some of the finest garden writing ever written. Track down this book, you won’t be disappointed. Then walk outside and look at your garden at night with whole new eyes.
In The Moonlit Garden, Scott Ogden introduces readers to the wonder of the evening garden. Written with charm and elegance, this book will appeal to those whose gardens are a source of intellectual stimulation as well as physical beauty and repose.
It was disappointing comparing the rich diversity of animals on colorful book pages to the reality of forests, where I could only see trees. But as I learned about plants and I became a plant ecologist, I realized that plants have to be extremely tough because they can’t run away from dangers or animals who want to eat them. I studied plants in coastal habitats in California, Central America and Florida, and in forests in the Midwest. I love seeing how they change throughout the season and how they interact. I wish everyone would read as many books about trees as construction trucks!
I love this book because it teaches plant science. How do the trees actually grow so high?
There aren’t a lot of picture books that include how photosynthesis works or how water is transported within a tree’s trunk. This book explains the plant physiology behind tree growth. Trees are, after all, the tallest things on Earth, but I have found that few books explain how they get to be so tall. We sort of take it for granted that tall things were always tall, didn’t we?
This book compares some of the world’s tallest animals and landmarks to the tallest tree species in the world: the coast redwood, giant sequoia, and Sitka spruce. While this text repeats some of the same information as Redwoods by Jason Chin, this book has more explanation on the biology of plant growth.
Rex Weyler is a writer and ecologist. His books include Blood of the Land, a history of indigenous American nations, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize; Greenpeace: The Inside Story, a finalist for the BC Book Award and the Shaughnessy-Cohen Award for Political Writing; and The Jesus Sayings, a deconstruction of first-century history, a finalist for the BC Book Award. In the 1970s, Weyler was a co-founder of Greenpeace International and editor of the Greenpeace Chronicles. He served on campaigns to preserve rivers and forests, and to stop whaling, sealing, and toxic dumping.
My all-time favourite ecology book, playfully but rigorously exploring complexity, co-evolution, a living systems language, and knowledge itself. “The major problems in the world,” Bateson warned, “are the result of the difference between how nature works and the way people think.” In Bateson’s world, all divisions of nature are arbitrary. We only witness relationships, not things in themselves. Bateson links our mental process with evolutionary process and urges ecologists to see those patterns that connect the apparent parts of the whole.
A re-issue of Gregory Bateson's classic work. It summarizes Bateson's thinking on the subject of the patterns that connect living beings to each other and to their environment.
Evolution is the most general theory of biology that we have. I seek to employ evolutionary principles to provide a predictive framework for both current ecological interactions and interactions that occurred earlier in the history of life. A generation ago, the study of cooperation was revolutionized by the deceptively simple notion of “follow the genes.” Embracing another simple notion—follow the electrons—can have an equally large effect in illuminating cooperation. Connecting evolutionary biology to biochemistry, however, remains a challenge—many evolutionary biologists dislike biochemistry and are much more comfortable with the informational aspects of life (e.g., genes). The below “best books on bioenergetics” can help to bridge this gap.
Oxygen is critical to life as we know it, yet for much of the history of life oxygen was scarce to non-existent, and this continues to be the case in some modern environments.
While anaerobiosis is only a minor inconvenience to many microorganisms, what about complex multicellular organisms such as animals (aka metazoans)? Beginning with aspects of the physical chemistry of oxygen, this volume fills in the fairly stereotypical ways that animals cope with oxygen limitation, both temporally and spatially.
Notably, many animals have a much more sophisticated anaerobic metabolism than human beings.
Many multicellular animals do not require oxygen to live but respire anaerobically. Some of these have adapted to "hostile" environments, such as sulphide rich habitats, others live as parasites within host organisms, while others still can perhaps be said to look back on the early days of life on earth before anaerobic respiration had evolved. This comprehensive volume lays out detailed summaries of the strategies for anero- or anoxy-biosis employed by each major group of metazoan animals. It begins with a description of the physical chemistry of oxygen, followed by a dissertation on the perils - and opportunities - created…
27 years of teaching social and cultural theory to undergraduate and graduate students at the University of British Columbia have shaped the way I think about challenging works like Marx’s Capital. I’ve come to approach the classics of sociology not just as systematic scientific treatises, but also as literary works with a beginning, middle, and end, and as political projects designed to seize upon the power of words for practical purposes.
This book rocked my theory-world when I finally settled down to read it, long after it was first published and everybody was talking about it. Besides developing Marx’s idea of the ‘metabolic rift’ in the social-natural metabolism, brought on by the industrial revolution, it also traces Marx’s inspiration in the soil sciences of his day, ancient materialist philosophies of nature, and the disregard or distortion of Marx’s ecology during the Soviet era and in the West.
Progress requires the conquest of nature. Or does it? This new account overturns conventional interpretations of Marx and in the process outlines a more rational approach to the current environmental crisis. Marx, it is often assumed, cared only about industrial growth and the development of economic forces. John Bellamy Foster examines Marx's neglected writings on capitalist agriculture and soil ecology, philosophical naturalism, and evolutionary theory. He shows that Marx, known as a powerful critic of capitalist society, was also deeply concerned with the changing human relationship to nature. Marx's Ecology covers many other thinkers, including Epicurus, Charles Darwin, Thomas Malthus,…
