| 1. |
- Markus, Eric
(författare)
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A Strategy without a Strategy : the Öresund Bridge and its impacts
- 2006
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The presentation focuses on the Öresund Bridge (fixed link) as a contextuating decision and project. The impacts and influences of the bridge on the development alternatives of the region are discussed and the conclusion is that it is possible to see the Öresund bridge as a 'strategy without a strategy'.
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| 2. |
- Markus, Eric, et al.
(författare)
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Lessons from the handling of alternatives in two international bridge projects
- 2008
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The handling of alternatives in two international projects - the Detroit River International Crossing (Canada-USA) and the Öresund Bridge (Sweden-Denmark) – is compared and analysed. In impact assessment, and in planning, alternatives play an important role. They entail the formulation of different ways to reach a predetermined goal of a project or plan. They can be used to justify the main alternative, or to question the predetermined goals of an endeavour. Large-scale infrastructure projects are often politically and financially sensitive and have significant environmental and societal impacts. It is therefore interesting to investigate the handling of alternatives in these case-studies – in impact assessment and in planning – to analyse the use of alternatives. In the two projects, both of which are fixed links across a body of water and an international boundary, two similar cases in different jurisdictions and systems are analysed. Useful comparisons can be made about why differences in the handling of alternatives occur and lessons can be learnt about what matters and contributes to a “more rational” handling of alternatives in impact assessment; whether it be legislative systems, individual process actors or technical skills.
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| 3. |
- Markus, Eric
(författare)
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Alternatives and Assessment in Large-scale Projects : The Öresund Bridge Case
- 2007
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Öresund bridge between Malmö, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark is a contested large-scale infrastructure project with significant strategic impacts in a number of fields ranging from transport and regional policy to taxation and welfare issues. A case study focusing on the bridge’s long decision-making history, and especially on the handling of alternatives in decision-making and impact assessment, shows that the ‘reasonable alternatives’ and environmental concerns have changed over time. Several reasons for this can be identified, including: the role and purpose of urban and land-use planning, the perception of ‘the environment’, the role of experts and the public, and (not least) the question of what the purpose of the bridge was. Large-scale projects can be seen as creating a wider context for further planning and development. Should these contextuating decisions therefore be treated as (EIA) projects or (SEA) plans? How alternatives are handled in a meaningful way in impact assessment is dependent on whether the approach taken is that of the project (EIA) approach, or the planning (SEA) approach. How all these factors are treated in an assessment process will also have wider implications for the effectiveness and outcome of the assessment.
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| 4. |
- Markus, Eric, et al.
(författare)
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Applying good EIA practice criteria to SEA : the Öresund Bridge as a case
- 2003
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The paper is concerned with the evaluation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and good EIA practice criteria. It also looks at the applicability of such criteria to Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). This is done though a closer examination of three good practice criteria proposed by Westerlund: the basis for the decision criterion, the result criterion and the alternative criterion. A connection is made with the Swedish Öresund Bridge project and the criteria are problematized in light of this project. The discussion is also linked to the issue of rationality in strategic decision-making. The paper argues that seeing SEA as an EIA analogy is not purely straightforward.
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| 5. |
- Markus, Eric
(författare)
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Environmental Assessment, Alternatives and Large-Scale Infrastructure Projects – The Öresund Fixed Link Case
- 2006
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Large-scale infrastructure projects – here exemplified by the Öresund fixed link (bridge) between Malmö, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark – exhibit several characteristics typical to plans: they have far-reaching impacts beyond the immediate geographical area of the project, they can be seen as ‘contextuating decisions’ for further planning and development, and they often evolve and change over time. This has implications for the impact assessment of these kinds of projects: should they be treated as projects (EIA) or plans (SEA)? Looking at the case study of the Öresund fixed link, its decision-making process and impact assessment, in conjunction with the environmental concerns and arguments raised, it is clear that the issue of alternatives in the impact assessment is largely dependent on whether the approach taken is that of EIA, i.e. the project approach/mode, or SEA, i.e. the planning approach/mode.
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| 6. |
- Markus, Eric
(författare)
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SEA and Alternatives
- 2005
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This contribution looks at alternatives in SEA and questions the view that SEA is (or ought to be) a policy-level version of EIA. The contribution briefly presents the case study of the fixed link between Sweden and Denmark, its decision-making process, and discusses some general conclusions drawn from this study to EA and planning. The focus is on the handling of alternatives in SEA. From this perspective, some of the theoretical and empirical difficulties with alternatives in strategic decisions and assessment are identified and discussed. Projects can also be seen as shaping (or strongly influencing) policy formulation, this reinforcing the argument that linear, rational planning is not what de facto happens on the ‘non-project’-level. There are difficulties in the handling of alternatives if SEA is applied as a “clone” of project-EIA.
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| 7. |
- Markus, Eric
(författare)
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Sustainability through Assessment : Mission Impossible?
- 2005
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The presentation looks at the issues of environmental (impact) assessment, urban and land use planning and decision-making. Environmental assessment is often seen as a tool that, when applied correctly and expertly, will make planning and development more environmental, environmentally benign, or even environmentally optimal. The presentation critically discusses environmental assessment and its functioning – especially in urban planning and public decision-making. Whilst it can be seen as concerned with predicting future impacts of decisions on the environment, assessment can be characterised it as a reactive tool, rather than a proactive one. Environmental (impact) assessment is also closely connected to the political processes of public policy and decision-making and the presentation attempts to point out a number of caveats when assessing policy or political decisions.
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