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Strategic environmental analysis (SEAN): a
framework to support analysis and planning of
sustainable development
Jan Joost Kessler
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Sustainable development
Strategic environmental analysis (SEAN): a
framework to support analysis and planning of
sustainable development
Jan Joost Kessler
Strategic Environmental Analysis (SEAN) is a
structured, participatory process to analyse
environmental problems and opportunities for
development, to identify main actors, and to
define strategic goals at early stages. Diverse ap-
plications in developing countries have refined
its framework, guidelines, tools and checklists.
It has an integrative focus on linkages of
environmental and socio-economic issues of
sustainability. Its analytical framework has
four clusters: environmental context analysis,
problem analysis, opportunity analysis and
strategic planning. It has succeeded in putting
concrete sustainability goals and environmen-
tal issues onpolicy-makers agendas and initiat-
ing participatory and interactive planning.
Keywords: sustainable development; strategic environmental
assessment; policy making
Jan Joost Kessler is with AIDEnvironment, Donker Curtiusstraat
7-523, 1051 JL Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Email: kessler@
aidenvironment.org; Web-site: www.aidenvironment. org.
The author wishes to thank friends and colleagues who have
contributed to develop the SEAN framework, including Franke
Toornstra and Jeroen van Wetten (AIDEnvironment), Albert
Heringa (Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV)). He
also acknowledges the anonymous reviewer who helped to im-
prove earlier versions. All field practitioners in the countries
where SEAN was applied are gratefully acknowledged.
S
USTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT is now a
concept which is accepted world-wide. Govern-
mental and non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) at different levels are working this concept
into operational terms in various ways. To support and
implement sustainable development requires major
adjustments in terms of decision-making processes,
the project cycle and the organisation of development
institutions.
In 1995, the Netherlands Development Organisa-
tion (SNV) requested AIDEnvironment to develop a
methodology that would allowintegration of environ-
mental concerns into development policies and
strategies in order to put into practice sustainability
objectives. Particularly in regions with limited
economic potential and a high dependency of day-
to-day living on the proper management of the envi-
ronmental resources in the immediate surroundings,
there is need for systematic environmental analysis to
answer such questions as:
What are existing insights and interests of different
stakeholders regarding proper environmental
management?
What social norms and environmental thresholds
are involved in defining environmental problems?
What is the problemperception by different actors?
Whose problem is it?
What are structural root causes of environmental
problems and how can these be tackled?
What are promising opportunities and initiatives to
improve both the economic and environmental
situation? What innovators and partners are
Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal December 2000 295
1461-5517/00/040295-13 US$08.00 IAIA 2000
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involved? How can coalitions be formed to tackle
complex problems and expand promising
initiatives?
How can environmental priorities be integrated
with economic, social and gender priorities? What
are priority long-termdevelopment goals that meet
sustainability criteria?
These questions can be addressed during environmen-
tal assessments of projects and programmes. How-
ever, to achieve fundamental change of policies and
strategic plans, a more proactive approach is required.
At early stages, root causes and key actors of environ-
mental problems (within institutional, political and
socio-economic spheres), and existing opportunities
and promising initiatives must be identified, to
highlight winwin options, strategic partners and set
realistic sustainable development goals.
The analysis must focus on the interrelations be-
tween environmental concerns and socio-economic
development concerns (such as poverty alleviation).
In developing countries, these interrelations are often
more direct, as the use of natural resources is the ma-
jor activity to meet socio-economic development
goals for most stakeholders (for instance, Morvaridi,
1997).
In many places the absence of a clear vision of the
future has led to confusion, lack of co-ordination and
the setting of incorrect development priorities. There
is a widespread need for an integrated (holistic,
multi-sectoral) strategic analysis and planning meth-
odology, which allows selective and focused imple-
mentation where opportunities occur, to make
development efforts more effective (Sterkenburg and
van der Wiel, 1999; Farrington et al, 1999).
Strategic environmental analysis (SEAN) brings
together elements from different conceptual and
methodological planning and environmental assess-
ment backgrounds, including in particular strategic
environmental assessment (SEA),
1
environmental
profiles and processes of designing environmental
strategies.
2
It is new by linking existing tools within a
systematic and participatory process.
SEANwas developed to address the challenges for
a more proactive and integrated planning process, in
particular the need to be:
Integrative and holistic by demonstrating the areas
of overlap between environmental and socio-
economic development issues and resulting
sustainable development goals;
Systematic to avoid critical environmental issues
being overlooked and allow opportunities for inte-
gration to be explored;
Proactive by being applied during early stages of
decision making, instead of being reactive and
defensive (and proposing compensating or miti-
gating measures, thereby affirming the apparent
contradiction between environmental and socio-
economic goals);
Supportive to strategic planning by being linked to
planning processes and leading to insights being
reflected in concrete goals and plans, the environ-
mental analysis being as intrinsic an element of
strategic planning as is economic and social
analysis;
Practical, light and flexible and aimed at defining
strategic priorities, to avoid policy makers getting
confused by the complexities and uncertainties in-
volved, while at the same time maintaining a sys-
tematic rigour to ensure that critical issues are not
overlooked;
Participatory, involving relevant stakeholders and
other actors, to negotiate trade-off, build up shared
insights and generate commitment to work out
agreed priorities.
This article reports on the main characteristics, expe-
riences and potentials for application of SEAN. One
case study from Atacora Province (Benin) is used to
demonstrate the main characteristics and to illustrate
some of the results.
To support application of SEAN, a toolbox has
been developed to provide practical guidance to po-
tential users. This includes guidelines for each anal-
ytical task and each process phase; it has a number of
checklists and provides theoretical background to
important concepts. A web-site has been established
giving updated information on publications, experi-
ences, trainers and local manuals and guidelines
(http:\\www.seanplatform.org).
Objectives and main characteristics of SEAN
Objectives
SEAN basically deals with the interactions between
ecosystems and human society, and aims to develop
insight in these complex interrelations and agree upon
strategic goals. The approach is anthropocentric be-
cause priorities are set, impacts are assessed and
norms are defined on the basis of human values, while
these are matched with ecological thresholds in envi-
ronmental stability and resilience.
SEANcan be defined as a participatory process be-
ing structured by an analytical framework, to analyse
the environmental problems and opportunities for
human development, to identify the main actors in-
volved, and to define strategic goals at early stages of
decision making or planning. Based on experiences, a
practical methodology has been worked out, with
guidelines, tools and checklists.
SEAN has the long-term objective to mainstream
environmental issues into development planning pro-
cesses by raising the level of knowledge on the envi-
ronmental context and its interrelations with the other
dimensions of sustainable development. Short-term
objectives are:
to analyse the environmental context of human de-
velopment, the opportunities and constraints;
296 Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal December 2000
Strategic environmental analysis
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to gain insight into the relations between envi-
ronmental key issues and other dimensions of
sustainable development (social, economic,
institutional issues);
to define a vision and strategic goals with relevant
actors, as inputs for planning of sustainable devel-
opment strategies at early stages of decision
making;
to stimulate and provide guidance to an interactive
process with actors involved.
SEAN has been applied as a framework for regional
planning by decentralised government agencies, to
bring together relevant actors, develop a common vi-
sion and strategic goals for regional development, and
by environmental NGOs to develop their own
strategy. This forms the basis for detailed planning or
policy formulation, at a sectoral or administrative
level.
Process and analytical framework
SEAN consists of a participatory process of creating
insights, mutual learning and making strategic
choices. This process is roughly structured by five
phases which can be briefly summarised as: prepara-
tion; scoping; detailed studies; synthesis and plan-
ning; follow-up and monitoring (Figure 1).
To structure analysis and planning during the
five-phase process, an analytical framework has been
developed, consisting of four clusters which hold ten
analytical tasks (Figure 2). The analytical framework
provides a logical structure which is necessary to en-
sure that relevant environmental issues are not over-
looked and cross-sectoral insights are generated.
Flexibility in terms of the emphasis on certain
process phases and analytical tasks is an important
characteristic of SEAN. Its application will depend on
the objectives, previous work that has been done,
identified gaps, available expertise and time, and
the required level of detail of the result. Short-cuts can
be made.
Conceptual and methodological basis
SEAN basically consists of existing concepts and
methodologies brought together within a logical
structure to guide a participatory process of analysis
and planning. The following concepts are the basis of
the SEAN process and analytical framework.
1. Multiple users and multi-functionality of environ-
mental systems. Environmental functions can be
classified as production, carrier, regulation and
cultural (information). Ecosystems have different
functions with variable value for stakeholders
now and for future generations.
2. Objective and subjective value judgements.
Matching the knowledge of insiders and outsid-
ers, formal and informal information sources,
quantitative and qualitative data, is essential to
build up a common understanding of the dynam-
ics and complexity involved.
3. Limits of acceptable environmental change. Al-
though difficult to quantify, different norms and
thresholds for acceptable environmental change
must be recognised to form the basis for defining
bottom-lines and desirable states for different
stakeholders.
4. Environmental problems as a normative percep-
tion. Environmental problems are defined as a
negative discrepancy between norms and stan-
dards of desirable qualities for human society and
the current situation (de Groot, 1992). Thus,
problem perceptions will vary between different
stakeholders and actors involved.
Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal December 2000 297
Strategic environmental analysis
Figure 1. The five phases of the SEAN process, and the
analytical tasks to be performed in each (in italics)
An analytical framework, consisting of
four clusters which hold ten analytical
tasks, provides a logical structure
necessary to ensure that relevant
environmental issues are not
overlooked and cross-sectoral insights
are generated
Figure 2. Analytical framework of strategic environmental
analysis, with detailed tasks within each cluster
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5. Social causality of problems and opportunities.
Proximate and root causes of environmental
problems, and factors favouring or disfavouring
the realisation and spread of opportunities, are
found in human society. Understanding motiva-
tions and (alternative) options (the psychology)
of the actors associated with these factors allows
the design of more effective and specific solution
strategies and partnerships.
6. Interrelationships between sustainable develop-
ment components. SEAN focuses on the areas of
overlap and the trade-off between environmental
and socio-economic development goals, to set
strategic priorities, identify winwin options and
areas of (potential) conflict.
7. Opportunities and initiatives as strategic
building blocks. Apart from tackling perceived
problems by developing solutions, a more
effective approach is that of focusing on existing
opportunities for change and promising initia-
tives at various levels.
8. Strategic partnerships. An effective strategy
should start out by collaborating with innovators
ready to adopt more sustainable development
concepts and technologies.
9. Micromeso-macro linkages. To overcome con-
straints (root causes) and benefit from opportuni-
ties (triggers), regional (meso) or local (micro)
level sustainable development requires insight
into the macro-level context (policies,
macro-economics and institutions).
Methodologically, SEAN combines a systems ap-
proach and an actors approach.
The systems approach is required to gain insight
into the interaction and dynamics between social,
economic and institutional factors in relation to en-
vironmental problems or opportunities. The aim is
to identify proximate and root causes, and possible
linkages with opportunities for change.
The actors approach is required to identify the key
actors influencing the system dynamics, both in a
negative and positive sense (opponents and propo-
nents). Schematic representations show the link-
ages of actors within different sectors and at
different levels, possibly with indication of power
relations and mutual interests or conflicts. It is im-
portant to address or involve both proponents and
opponents of desirable change in any strategic
plan.
The SEANprocess aims to be participatory and trans-
parent. In terms of participation, there is need for hori-
zontal and vertical integration of participants, by
involvement of insiders and outsiders and actors from
different institutional levels, the use of both local (tra-
ditional/indigenous) and scientific knowledge, and of
both formal and informal information sources. Partic-
ular attention is given to so-called absent
stakeholder groups, including future generations,
outside communities and critical nature values. These
absent stakeholders need to be represented by
environmentally or socially oriented organisations.
The SEAN process and analytical framework typi-
cally represent a rational structure of generating
insights and defining strategic priorities. However,
making strategic choices is a process that is only
partly based on rational considerations and logical
insight, particularly when complex and sensitive
trade-off relations exist (for instance, between envi-
ronmental and economic goals) and fundamental
changes (for instance, within policies or institutions)
are required. It is therefore essential that the SEAN
process is adjusted to local conditions, a diversity of
actors is actively involved, outputs are well communi-
cated, and the process is responsive to societal views
and unexpected opportunities (Figure 3). This under-
lines the importance of the SEAN process, as com-
pared to the analytical tasks to be performed.
The SEAN process strives for a balance between
requirements to develop a good product (that is, to
synthesise available information, views and percep-
tions) and requirements to assure a participatory and
interactive process based on equal footing (that is, to
generate commitment among different parties in-
volved). Reaching this balance seems an essential
characteristic of alternative mechanisms to improve
integration of environmental issues into policy mak-
ing (Bailey and Renton, 1997).
Positioning SEAN
SEAN brings together elements from different
conceptual and methodological planning and en-
vironmental assessment backgrounds, and is therefore
difficult to position. It is ideally applied at early stages
of the planning cycle. However, in most cases, exist-
ing plans and programmes have a strong influence,
and SEAN is being applied to make necessary
adjustments to integrate relevant environmental
issues.
SEAN can easily be confused with strategic envi-
ronmental assessment (SEA). The similarity of the
name is partly coincidence, but is also useful to illus-
trate the close relations. SEAN can basically be con-
sidered as an integrated and open-ended planning
tool, but shows similarity with SEA, aimed at
298 Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal December 2000
Strategic environmental analysis
Figure 3. SEAN as a process of rational analysis and
openness to socio-political events and
opportunities
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informing and influencing policy making processes at
early stages. This can be observed when looking at the
recently proposed performance criteria for SEA, most
of which are similar to requirements for integrated
planning.
While SEAN aims at early integration of environ-
mental issues in planning processes, to define sustain-
able strategies, plans and interventions, SEA would
assess in greater detail the impacts of a plan or strategy
before a decision is being taken. Thus, these two tools
are complementary (Figure 4).
Integrative, in what sense?
Reviews of SEA experiences (Sadler and Verheem,
1996; Thrivel and Partidrio, 1996) found relatively
few examples of integrated assessments, that is, iden-
tification of environmental, social and economic con-
siderations, trade-offs and policy options. What is
really needed is a more holistic approach which may
be called sustainability analysis (Dalal-Clayton,
1993).
3
Whereas SEANis first of all an environmental
analysis, it is integrative and holistic by establishing
linkages between environmental, social, cultural and
economic issues, and by focusing at the interrelations
and the areas of overlap (winwin options, if
existent).
To work out interrelations between sustainable de-
velopment dimensions, the following final goals have
been defined:
ecological: stability and diversity;
socio-institutional: autonomy, health, security and
equity;
economic: production and efficiency.
Based on these final goals, criteria and indicators for
sustainability are defined for each specific situation.
These criteria are used during the SEAN process to
make choices and set priorities. The interrelations be-
tween environmental and socio-economic criteria can
be of different types, for instance, management prac-
tices, natural resource endowments and entitlements,
cultural values, problemperceptions, and impacts and
causes of environmental changes.
During the SEAN process, the aim is to achieve
strong integration between the different components
of an integrated analysis process (Figure 5).
SEAN also aims to integrate attention for environ-
mental issues into formal planning procedures (for
instance, decentralised, spatial, sectoral planning).
This is necessary to ensure that relevant priorities aris-
ing from the SEAN process are being reflected in
concrete plans (Eggenberger and Partidrio, 1999).
Difficulties in integrating analysis and planning pro-
cesses are partly a result of the distinctive nature of the
professionals involved in both fields (Lichfield,
1999). This might be because an integrated analysis
must be holistic, while action planning unravels com-
plexity into distinctive parts to allow concrete deci-
sion making. Planning is a complex task with its
multiple objectives and elaborated procedural and
institutional articulation. Current globalisation pro-
cesses and changes to the regulatory and institutional
frameworks in many countries further complicate this
task. SEAN aims to support integrated analysis and
planning, by:
being initiated early in the decision making pro-
cess, similar to (spatial) planning;
actively involving planners and decision makers in
the process;
generating outputs that are useful for planners:
guidelines; criteria and norms for environmental
management, strategic goals and priorities, key ac-
tors to involve, opportunities and winwin options,
tasks and functions for institutions to fulfil, and so
on.
Experiences and potential application
Experiences
SEAN was developed through experiences in a num-
ber of developing countries: Zimbabwe, Ghana,
Benin and Nicaragua, and has by now been applied
under different conditions, by different organisations,
including the SNV, Netherlands Directorate General
Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal December 2000 299
Strategic environmental analysis
Figure 4. Position of SEAN in relation to other
environmental assessment methods
Figure 5. SEAN as part of an integrated sustainability
analysis, with strong linkages between the
different dimensions
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for Development Aid (DGIS), Dutch co-funding
organisations, the International Union for the Conser-
vation of Nature (IUCN) and the World Wildlife Fund
(WWF). The objectives in implementing SEAN were
in each case different, which can be illustrated by the
following case studies:
Formulation of sustainable development plans at
municipality and regional level in Nicaragua and
Honduras (for instance, SNV, 1998);
Formulation of a strategy on sustainable develop-
ment by Botswana NGOs (www.envngo.co.bw);
Formulation of strategic plans at provincial and
district level in Benin (for instance, CBDD, 1997);
Formulation of Partners for Wetlands projects for
WWF (van Wetten, 2000).
The main outputs of these applications have been:
Concrete results: analysis of environmental prob-
lems and opportunities, identification of key issues
and key actors to address: strategic goals and
priorities, outlines of a vision, sectoral priorities
and inter-sectoral programmes and action fields.
Process results: awareness among various
stakeholders, networking, adjustments of policy
framework, improved co-ordination, creation of
strategic partnerships and coalitions between
private sector, civil society and government
institutions (Box 1).
Potential applications and users
Based on the experiences obtained so far, it appears
that the SEAN process and analytical framework has
most potential to support and provide inputs in early
phases of policy making or planning processes that
are relatively open-ended and have a broad, holistic
sustainable development perspective. Insights are
generated into key issues relevant to developing envi-
ronmental or sustainable development strategies. The
SEAN process and analytical framework is useful to
structure the participatory and interactive process of
defining strategic sustainable development goals and
options. The level of integration can vary.
SEAN has so far been applied both as an informal
and as a formal planning process. In the first case, the
process was initiated by (environmental) NGOs or do-
nor agencies, with the aim of stimulating public
awareness, and/or setting strategic goals and develop-
ment options as an alternative to formal goals (for in-
stance, the case of NGOs in Botswana using SEANto
develop their own strategy). SEAN can be used by
NGOs and countervailing powers to identify and
make known political and institutional root causes of
environmental problems, which might be too sensi-
tive to identify in formal processes.
As a formal process, SEAN has been used to sup-
port decentralised development planning. The infor-
mal application appears to have much potential in
situations in which governmental structures have
limited legitimacy or commitment to implement
sustainability objectives, the formal application has
potential when a legitimate owner exists and wants
to put into practice a sustainability vision.
SEAN can be applied to different (administrative
or planning) areas, to sectors or to single steps in the
planning process. The focus might be a bioregion (for
instance, for management planning of protected ar-
eas). SEANhas been applied to defining priorities for
a forest management plan (Honduras) and a strategy
for wetland management (Benin). In cases of a sec-
toral application, the analysis should work out link-
ages with other sectors. The SEAN analytical
framework has been adjusted to carry out an analysis
of the environmental impacts of structural adjustment
programmes (Kessler and van Dorp, 1998).
SEAN particularly addresses micro-meso-macro
dynamics, and brings together actors fromvarious in-
stitutional levels (vertical integration) during a partic-
ipatory process (Bass et al, 1995). In many
developing countries, good opportunities and de-
mands for such support occur at sub-national (meso)
levels where linkages can be made with ongoing de-
centralisation processes. The meso-scale is suitable
for application because it meets the requirement of
stakeholders being able to perceive concrete issues in
300 Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal December 2000
Strategic environmental analysis
Box 1. SEAN results from various countries
Some results of various SEAN applications are:
Insight into the risks of environmental degradation in the
region concerned, consequences for socio-economic
development goals, development trends that pose risks
for the environment, thinking in transversal (inter-sec-
toral) ways;
Insight among policy makers into the importance of
biodiversity and natural resources for economic develop-
ment in their region, thinking in terms of opportunities and
benefiting from innovators instead of acting in a defen-
sive way;
Strategic partnerships and forums of exchange, bringing
together stakeholders on the basis of common interests
and concerns;
Local and regional authorities and communities making
claims to the national level about the need to provide re-
sources and legal support to implement local level sus-
tainable development;
Enhanced collaboration and co-ordination between de-
velopment actors such as universities, regional authori-
ties, projects, NGOs and donors;
Training of various participants in use of environmental
assessment tools.
The SEAN process and analytical
framework has most potential to
support and provide inputs in early
phases of policy making or planning
processes that are relatively
open-ended and have a broad, holistic
sustainable development perspective
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their environment and express themselves, and the
requirement of policy makers being sufficiently
informed and able to negotiate with stakeholders
(Hoefsloot and van den Berg, 1998). Representatives
from the community level, public sector and private
sector must be involved.
Similar potential occurs in developed countries,
where municipalities are making their own green
development plans. The resulting strategic goals and
sustainable development options can be used to work
out concrete projects and action plans, and to define
institutional requirements (for instance, for reform
and capacity building) based on institutional func-
tions to be performed. The resulting key issues for
sustainable development within an area or sector pro-
vide relevant inputs for more specific analyses or
studies, possibly including project environmental im-
pact assessment (EIA) or sector-wise SEA.
Conducting the SEAN process and using the
analytical framework varies for each application,
depending on concrete objectives, budget and time re-
quirements and earlier work that has been done.
For instance, in several cases the use of the SEAN
framework was limited to one scoping workshop
(phase 2, see Figure 1), as a guideline to define key is-
sues based mainly on existing information. Another
element of flexibility is the level of integration be-
tween SEAN and social, economic or institutional
analyses.
In line with its flexibility, the time required for ap-
plication of SEAN may vary from a few weeks (in
cases of application such as a scoping workshop only)
to several months (in cases of application of all
phases).
4
The outputs can easily be biased if the analy-
sis is carried out too quickly; this is a common weak-
ness of less rigorous assessment tools (for instance,
English, 1999). Time and budget requirements mainly
depend on:
the required level of detail and the existence and
availability of relevant data and information (for
instance, environmental action plans, rapid rural
assessments, land-use surveys);
experience and expertise of the core SEAN team
responsible for execution of the tasks;
level of application, complexity of the situation and
occurrence of sensitive issues;
effectiveness of local co-ordination and clarity of
ownership.
Based on the experiences, the potential users of SEAN
can be defined as planners and decision makers with a
relatively high level of expertise and responsibilities
within their organisations, both within government or
NGOs, projects or donor agencies. It has an educa-
tional and awareness-raising value, because of its
transparent, practical and participatory character. The
applications were executed with limited external sup-
port, but a good moderator is essential to co-ordinate
the process and communicate information to relevant
actors.
Case-study of Atacora
Objectives and participants
The objectives of applying SEANin Atacora province
(Benin) were:
1. to analyse the existing problems and opportuni-
ties within the region;
2. to define a common vision and strategic goals for
sustainable development that integrates environ-
mental with economic and socio-institutional
issues;
3. to create synergy and co-ordination between
ongoing development projects and activities by
involving local decision makers and other rele-
vant actors;
4. to define regional institutional capacity dev-
elopment to support the decentralisation
process;
5. to address the poverty and environmental fragility
of the province.
Participants and parties involved were:
Funding agencies: The Centre Bninois pour le
Dveloppement Durable in Benin and SNV which
runs several projects in the province.
Steering committee: including representatives
from the Ministry of Planning, local government,
NGOs and funding agencies.
Owner of the SEAN process and outputs: the
elected prfet of the province.
Participants: during workshops and field work,
representatives of local communities, projects,
NGOs, local government, private sector, donors
and central government were involved. Special at-
tention was given to gender equity.
SEAN executive team: a local moderator
(GERAM Bureau dtude), two staff from local
projects and two from provincial services, one
SEAN expert (AIDEnvironment).
Technical advisors: on an ad hoc basis advice has
been obtained from university experts.
In total, about 25 different organisations participated,
and several actors joined voluntarily. Participants
were involved in workshops (debates), joint analyses
and feedback. These were used to discuss outcomes
and set priorities.
SEAN analysis and planning process
In Atacora Province, the SEAN process phases (Fig-
ure 1) were applied in the following way:
1. Preparation: this critical phase included defining
objectives, lobbying at national level, selecting
participants, discussion on ownership, reviewing
relevant experiences, and training selected parti-
cipants on SEAN.
Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal December 2000 301
Strategic environmental analysis
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2. Scoping: during this phase, two workshops were
held, one at village level and one at provincial
level, to capture existing knowledge by going
through the SEAN analytical tasks with selected
participants. Results of the village workshop were
inputs to the provincial level workshop.
3. Detailed studies: detailed studies were under-
taken on a number of identified key issues. This
involved interviews and surveys to capture
views and perceptions of certain social groups
(women, pastoralists, children, and urban set-
tlers), detailed studies on certain themes (for
instance, soil fertility, migration patterns,
trans-boundary pastoralist movements, agricul-
tural extension and local traditions) and on
certain sectors (for instance, gold mining, cotton
production).
4. Synthesis and planning: this phase brought
together the insights and views generated in pre-
vious phases, during a workshop, to define a com-
mon vision and strategic goals on sustainable
development in the province.
5. Follow-up and monitoring: this ongoing phase
focuses on supporting and strengthening imple-
mentation of the strategy, working out action
plans, ensuring feedback of results to stake-
holders, setting-up a monitoring system, and
legalising the resulting strategy.
As illustrated earlier (Figures 1 and 2), the ten analyti-
cal tasks, classified in four clusters, provide a logical
structure for the analysis and planning activities un-
dertaken during the SEANprocess, to ensure that rele-
vant issues are not overlooked and cross-sectoral
insights are generated. Final results of each analytical
task are achieved in phase 4, by synthesising results
from the previous two phases (scoping and detailed
analysis).
Concrete results
The following concrete results were obtained for each
analytical task during the SEAN process in Atacora
Province. They are summarised as being acquired
during phases 2 (scoping), 3 (detailed studies) and 4
(synthesis and planning).
Results from cluster I of analytical framework
Ecological system human society context analysis
Task 1: The main stakeholders were identified, in-
cluding gender distinctions, and the main environ-
mental functions on which they depend, directly or
indirectly. Environmental functions were classified as
production (10), carrier (6), regulation (8) and cultural
(3). Priorities among environmental functions were
set by the perceived socio-economic value for
stakeholders, based on studies and questionnaires.
Descriptions were made of stakeholders, resource-use
systems and environmental functions.
Task 2: An assessment was made of past and present
trends of each of the environmental functions, in
terms of changes in quantity and/or quality, flows
and/or stocks. Use was made of various types of indi-
cator: state, pressure and response indicators, direct
and indirect indicators, those based on scientific and
local knowledge. Indicators were discussed during
workshops. Causeeffect chains were elaborated to
showthe interrelations between trends of different en-
vironmental functions. Changes were determined of
relevant economic, social, institutional and political
issues, and how these changes influence the environ-
mental trends (in terms of threats and opportunities).
Task 3: Impacts of current environmental trends were
assessed, looking at consequences for present
302 Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal December 2000
Strategic environmental analysis
Final goals, key issues
or indicators
Environmental trends

Present stakeholders Absent stakeholders

Incomes Efficiency Health Conflicts Equity Outside
communities
Future gen-
erations
Nature
bio-diversity
Production of cereal
crops
Production of cotton
/+ ? ! ! ! !
Soil fertility
Soil protection
$ ! ! !$ ?
Space for forest
Forest products
Wildlife products
Timber exploitation
/+ 0 ?
Urban settlements
Pollution of soil and
water
+ ? !$ ! 0 0 ! ?
Figure 6. Summary of task 3: impacts of priority environmental trends on key issues for stakeholders (each sign based on
documented evidence)
Legend: = direction of trends of environmental changes
0 = no impact
= negative impact
+ = positive impact
! = high risks
$ = serious economic consequences
? = unknown impact
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stakeholders, for outside communities (off-site
impacts), for future generations (by extrapolating
current trends) and for natural values (biodiversity).
Results were synthesised by means of a trend-
impact matrix (see Figure 6). The impacts on
stakeholders were assessed for priority concerns:
incomes; efficiency of income generating activities;
health; resource conflicts; and equity. Risks or eco-
nomic consequences were assessed in a qualitative
way.
Task 4: Norms, standards and thresholds involved
were assessed in two respects:
Bottom-line: when will current trends lead to
collapse of environmental functions, or to unac-
ceptable change as regards social or economic
criteria for certain stakeholders;
Ideal situation: what is the desirable situation for
different actors, in terms of environmental quali-
ties in their surroundings and socio-economic
values of livelihood systems.
As norms are difficult to assess, standards are gener-
ally absent and thresholds not known, a qualitative
assessment was made using insights and views from
different actors involved.
Results from cluster II of analytical framework
Environmental problem analysis
Task 5: Using a checklist and relevant information
fromtasks 14, environmental problems were defined
in a transparent manner. In total four priority environ-
mental problems were defined: decline of soil fertil-
ity; decline of cereal grain production; deforestation
and decline of the availability of forest products; and
decline of urban living conditions. Each environmen-
tal problemwas described in detail to make sure there
is a common understanding about the why, where, for
whom and since when of each problem. A good un-
derstanding of each problem definition is essential
before analysing its causes.
Task 6: Based on the actor-in-context approach, for
each environmental problem were defined: the main
causing activities; primary actors involved; their
motivations and alternative options; underlying fac-
tors or root causes; secondary actors involved; and so
on. An actors field illustrates the interrelations be-
tween different actors involved (Figure 7). The main
underlying factors and the associated actors are sum-
marised in Box 2.
Results from cluster III of analytical framework
Environmental opportunity analysis
Task 7: The main environmental opportunities were
defined, classified as ecological (for instance, poten-
tials for certain cash crops), economic (for instance,
emerging markets for certain products or services)
and institutional (for instance, decentralisation
process), and local initiatives and associated actors
(for instance, initiatives of forest co-management).
Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal December 2000 303
Strategic environmental analysis
Norms, standards and thresholds were
assessed: when will current trends
lead to collapse of environmental
functions; what is desirable for
different actors environmental
qualities in their surroundings and
socio-economic values of livelihood
systems
Figure 7. Result of task 6: simplified actors network,
with some examples, showing linkages
between actors, obtained through insight into
underlying factors that influence options and
motivations of actors
Box 2. Result of task 6: main underlying factors for
environmental problems in Atacora province
(not indicated are the actors and institutional
levels involved)
Increasing incidence of drought even in sub-humid
zones
High-level of seasonal rural emigration and lack of in-
vestment of revenue in area of origin
Low-level of education among rural farmers
Poverty and poor access to credit
Lack of organisation and power in civil society
Predominance of traditional regulations of access and
control of land resources
Levelling, a strong social phenomenon discouraging pri-
vate initiative (jealousy)
Prevailing negative elements of local traditions
Poor organisationof productionsectors other thancotton
Limited income opportunities outside agricultural sector
Non-application of organic fertilisers to improve soil
fertility
Absence of a good pastoral legislation and planning in
which relevant actors have been involved
Poor quality of urban development plans, poor manage-
ment of urban wastes
Poor agricultural extension services
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Priorities were set and packages of interrelated
opportunities were formed, that is, opportunities that
can reinforce each other.
Task 8: The opportunities were elaborated in terms of
their potential to tackle underlying factors of environ-
mental problems (winwin options) and to enhance
sustainable development. Actions required to support
further realisation of opportunities, including build-
ing strategic partnerships. Use was made of an
opportunity-impact matrix. Priorities were set on the
basis of the potentials and constraints to realise op-
portunities in a sustainable way.
Results from cluster IV of analytical framework
Strategic planning and follow-up activities
Task 9: Information from previous tasks was syn-
thesised by defining a vision and strategic goals for
development of the region, definition of sectoral pri-
orities and inter-sectoral themes as strategic options
based on the main opportunities (the inter-sectoral
themes create synergy between sectoral priorities),
and establishment of coalitions with strategic part-
ners (see example in Box 3). Action plans were
worked out for strategic choices. Required change
within institutions involved was obtained by match-
ing, in a participatory way, strategic choices result-
ing from the SEAN analysis, with results of an
institutional analysis (existing capacities, strengths
and weaknesses of the institutions involved), as
illustrated in Figure 8.
Task 10: A follow-up strategy was elaborated, in-
cluding issues internal to the implementing institution
(institutionalising the SEAN process, definition of a
structure responsible for co-ordination), establish-
ment of an environmental monitoring system with in-
dicators and procedures to adjust strategies or
policies, and priorities for external communication
and capacity building.
Conclusions and challenges
Added values
It appears that SEAN meets a demand by develop-
ment organisations to support:
taking into consideration environmental issues
early in decision-making processes;
looking at the environment in a proactive and posi-
tive way, for development purposes;
integrating environmental issues with results from
social and economic analyses, with a holistic sus-
tainable development perspective;
defining key actors that must be addressed and in-
volved to move forward.
SEAN has been successful in putting environmental
issues on the agenda of policy makers, of raising
awareness on the need to address environmental goals
for socio-economic development purposes, of defin-
ing concrete sustainability goals and potential part-
nerships, and in initiating participatory and
interactive analysis and planning processes. The level
of integration (in terms of development dimensions
and of the planning process) has been variable. SEAN
can be applied as a whole (all ten tasks) or, ideally, se-
lected tasks can be used to upgrade existing planning
processes.
Comparison with other tools and frameworks
Based on SEANpractice, some comparative strengths
of SEAN emerge, as compared to other planning and
assessment tools as shown in Table 1.
304 Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal December 2000
Strategic environmental analysis
Box 3. Results of task 9: strategic goals and
inter-sectoral themes
The ecological orientations were:
Maintenance and management of biodiversity, plants
and animals in forests
Maintenance of soil fertility
Improving the integration of trees in land-use systems
Better control and management of grazing and livestock
densities
Improvement of urban living conditions
Intervention criteria were defined for each orientation. These
can be applied to assure that relevant environmental issues
are integrated in plans and interventions. For instance, the
intervention criteria associated with the strategic goal main-
tenance of soil fertility were defined as:
Application of best available soil conservation and fertility
management techniques
Strengthening of extension of soil fertility maintenance
Analysis of long-term impacts on soil fertility
Use of organic fertilisers where possible.
Several inter-sectoral themes (or strategic development op-
tions) were elaborated (indicating: main objectives, sub-ob-
jectives, expected results and activities, and linkages with
ecological orientations). Some examples are:
Cattle livestock intensification and development of mar-
kets for cattle meat and dairy products
Development of gold and quartzite exploitation
Improvement of urban living conditions and preventive
health care.
Figure 8. Linking SEAN outputs with results of an institu-
tional analysis to define desirable institutional
reform
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Requirements for successful application of SEAN
Some preconditions and constraints during SEANap-
plications are structured by SEAN process phase.
Phase 1: Preparation
1. Political power and a strong demand from a local
owner (government organisation (GO) or NGO)
are two major conditions to apply SEANsuccess-
fully. Ideally, the owner or initiating organisation
has a vision on sustainable development. This is
often associated with the perception of high de-
pendency of human livelihoods on proper man-
agement of environmental resources, the need to
co-ordinate development efforts, and the need for
an embracing strategic vision. In addition, the
owner should have sufficient power and available
resources to implement the resulting strategy. A
sense of ownership by the leading organisation
must be guaranteed before, or generated during,
the process among the participating actors.
2. There is need for sufficient time, information
supply and a diversity of motivated participants
to generate newinsights, agree on key issues and
stimulate creativity. Participatory processes take
time to avoid biased outputs and to generate
commitment. Although the SEAN process
should be driven by the stakeholders involved
and according to their time perspectives, tangi-
ble results must be acquired within certain time
limits.
Phases 2-4: Scoping, analysis and synthesis and
planning
1. The presence of a good moderator is critical to
ensure fruitful communication and interaction.
Participants often need to learn to think in terms
of tackling root causes benefiting fromopportuni-
ties and strategic partnerships, instead of solving
problems. Abalance should be struck between the
rational analytical process, to ensure that critical
issues are not overlooked, and stimulating cre-
ativity and innovative views.
2. Participants from the private sector must be ac-
tively involved to identify economic opportuni-
ties and to forge partnerships between public
services, civil society and the private sector.
Coalitions between these different actors are a
prerequisite to achieving major change in line
with set strategic goals.
3. In case of conflicting relations between certain
participating actors, separate workshops can be
organised with different actors. Different out-
comes of the analytical process would then be
confronted at a later stage. Integration would fo-
cus on the overlap of conflicting views.
Phase 5: Follow-up and monitoring
1. The SEAN process must be continuous, new de-
velopments and initiatives might require adjust-
ments of the strategic goals. Therefore, before or
during the process, commitment must be created
to establish responsibilities for regular updating
on the basis of monitoring, and for communica-
tion of results to communities and adjustments on
the basis of feedback.
2. Whereas the strategic goals are generally pre-
sented in terms of brief headlines and objectives,
the richness of the data generated during the
SEAN process (local initiatives, innovating ac-
tors, opportunities) must be the basis to formulate
concrete action plans.
Challenges
Challenges to develop and improve SEANfurther pri-
marily focus on the process, and not on the analytical
tasks. Participation and interaction during the process
have become the norm. However, further refinement
is required to integrate relevant findings in a formal
planning process. During the process, choices will
need to be made in a participatory way, but one should
also ensure that within a certain time perspective tan-
gible results are obtained.
This requires making flexible use of the SEANana-
lytical framework, to stimulate a process that guaran-
tees commitment, and that captures societal change. A
balance should be struck between analytical rigour (to
ensure that critical environmental and social issues
are not overlooked) and ensuring motivated
participation.
Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal December 2000 305
Strategic environmental analysis
Table 2. Comparison of SEAN with other planning and
assessment tools and frameworks
Comparison with Comparative strengths of SEAN
Strategic
environmental
assessment
(SEA)eg Sadler and
Verheem, 1996;
Thrivel and
Partidrio, 1996
Is more open-ended and flexible, takes
an inter-sectoral focus;
Supports decision making and planning
processes at early stages by defining
strategic sustainable development
goals and options;
Is initiated by a legitimate government
organisation or NGO, has so far been
applied in both an informal or formal
way;
Does not require a large data set and
uses qualitative information mainly.
Integrated
environmental
assessment
(IEA)
5
EEA, 1995;
Nooteboom and
Wieringa, 1999
Is integrative in terms of focusing on the
interrelations between sustainable de-
velopment dimensions;
Particularly looks at opportunities,
promising initiatives and innovators;
Identifies root causes of environmental
problems and the actors associated;
Aims at building up strategic partner-
ships and coalitions.
Integrated regional
land-use planning
(IRLP)Warner, 1996
Analyses environmental problems and
addresses root causes and alternative
opportunities;
Is more open-ended, proactive and
inter-sectoral;
Sets strategic development goals, does
not aim to develop concrete spatial
plans, but support planningprocesses.
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Remaining analytical gaps can be addressed at a
later stage, during subsequent cycles of the SEAN
process. In line with experiences with sustainable re-
gional planning in Australia (Dore and Woodhill,
1999), SEAN needs to be developed further as a
process with a primary goal of supporting adaptive
learning to enhance sustainable development, and not
as a one-time exercise.
Experiences with SEAN and other sustainable de-
velopment processes at local and regional levels must
be brought together to propose practical tools and
define critical requirements for the process to lead to
desirable results. We found a strong demand for
practical tools to support decentralised planning of
sustainable development in developing countries.
Specific challenges identified through feedback
from SEAN experiences are:
Strengthening integration between development
dimensions
During the SEAN process, stronger integration must
be achieved between tools that focus on the different
sustainable development dimensions (Lee and
Kirkpatrick, 1997), for instance, between SEAN, pov-
erty, economic and institutional analyses. Strong inte-
gration is required to achieve institutional and
political changes in order to support and implement
sustainable development strategies (Gouldson and
Murphy, 1996). Strong integration requires time and
close co-ordination efforts, which should be compen-
sated for by more efficient and non-conflicting
policies and plans.
The case studies have revealed that strong integra-
tion leads to some proposals of fundamental changes.
When integration is weak, changes being proposed
tackle symptoms at best, and the process can be final-
ised more rapidly.
6
To meet the full potentials of
SEAN, strong integration with analytical tools
addressing other development dimensions must be
developed (Figure 5). Instead of expanding the SEAN
framework, modules and tools from other analytical
methodologies must be identified to strengthen inte-
gration. This requires a limited number of well-
defined meeting points along the process, starting
with agreement on common principles and goals (see
Post et al, 1998), andthe concepts at the basis of SEAN.
Integration of procedures into formal planning
processes
Where SEANhas beenmost commonlyapplied(Benin
and Honduras), initiatives are being taken to integrate
(elements of) the SEAN process into formal planning
procedures. This would include formalising moments
of public hearings and feedback, legalising the status of
the results, and designation of an independent body to
guarantee the quality of SEAN processes. In addition,
more practical tools are neededtotranslate the analyt-
ical results into a concrete strategic plan.
Emphasising the analysis of extra-regional factors
SEAN takes as the starting point of analysis the
local/regional perspective, and then moves outwards
to identify factors and actors at higher levels. Comple-
mentary to this approach, the system can be analysed
by starting out fromthe extra-regional context (that is,
national and international factors and actors, threats
and opportunities). This would focus on political eco-
nomics in a broad context. Recent experiences using
SEAN to develop strategies for WWF have shown
that extra-regional factors are determinant with re-
spect to sustainable development options in a regional
setting (van Wetten, 2000).
Establishing effective monitoring systems for adap-
tive management
Defining a common vision and strategic goals is im-
portant as livelihood and environmental management
systems are becoming more complex and more uncer-
tainties are involved.
7
It raises the question of how to
conceive the plan, which contents are necessary and
how to manage the plan, in order to be functional in
an unpredictable and dynamic context.
As a result, the need for more adaptive manage-
ment systems based on strategic goals has been
emphasised. An effective monitoring systemis a criti-
cal component of such systems. A manual was pro-
duced on how to design a monitoring system that
focuses on the key issues identified during the SEAN
process (Kessler, 1998). Different types of strategic
plans and associated monitoring systems, resulting
from SEAN and other integrated analyses, can be
tested to meet requirements for adaptive management
in situations of complex change.
Notes
1. Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) may be defined as
a systematic process for evaluating the environmental conse-
quences of proposed policy, plan or programme initiatives to
ensure they are properly included and appropriately ad-
dressed at the earliest possible stage of decision making, on a
par with economic and social considerations (Thrivel et al,
1994; Sadler and Verheem, 1996). SEA was developed to ad-
dress environmental issues at the strategic level of (sectoral)
policies and programmes that set the basic framework for
project identification.
However, in practice a certain dichotomy exists as regards
its application (Dalal-Clayton and Sadler, 1998). Most formal
SEAexperiences aimto assess environmental impacts of sec-
toral plans and programmes and of existing regional develop-
ment plans, mainly in the areas of energy, transport and waste
management. Thus, SEA has basically been applied as an ex-
tension of environmental impact assessment procedures and
approaches, to facilitate strategic decisions. For such cases,
SEA aims to mitigate negative environmental impacts mainly
by proposing alternative policies, mitigating and/or compen-
sating measures. There have been fewspecific applications of
informing and influencing policy making processes at early
stages.
2. Some relevant experiences are those with environmental strat-
egies and green plans, mainly at national level (Carew-Reid et
al, 1994). Fromthese experiences lessons were drawn, on the
basis of which three elements of a successful strategy were
identified (Margulis and Bernstein, 1995): identifying priority
problems; defining priority actions; and ensuring effective im-
plementation.
3. Sustainability analysis is a generic term which embraces the
aimof assessing the extent to which projects, programmes and
306 Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal December 2000
Strategic environmental analysis
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policies are able to satisfy the goals and imperatives of sustain-
able development, particularly the integration of environmental
and development in decision making (Dalal-Clayton, 1993).
4. For comparison purposes, processes of participatory land-use
planning (Hoefsloot and van den Berg, 1998) or integrated re-
gional land-use planning (Warner, 1996) generally take up to
three years.
5. Integrated environmental assessment can be defined as: the
interdisciplinary process of identification, analysis and ap-
praisal of all relevant natural and human processes and their
interactions which determine both the current and future state
of environmental quality and resources on appropriate spatial
and temporal scales thus facilitating the framing and imple-
mentation of policies and strategies (EEA, 1995).
6. One could distinguish a spectrum of sustainability that varies
from surface appearances on very visible phenomena (for
instance, tree planting and land reclamation), to less tangible
and visible problems (for instance, water quality and waste
disposal), to a system approach within sectoral or physical
boundaries, and finally towards a holistic approach that
clarifies inter-sectoral linkages, off-site effects and long-term
perspectives for future generations (adapted from Ravetz,
1996).
7. This is partly the result of globalisation, partly because of the
complex dynamics in the interrelations between population
growth and pressure on scarce natural resources, and the de-
clining stability of ecosystems under pressure.
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