The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) through its Environmental Monitoring and Governance (EMG) programme, is the lead regional development agency on EIA capacity building in the region, with over 25 years supporting environmental assessment awareness and training programmes.
In recognition of the growing needs for strengthening EIA and SEA capacity building in the Pacific, there was a strong demand by SPREP member countries for a tool to support environmental assessment capacity building in the region. In line with Regional Goal 4 of the SPREP Strategic Plan (2017-2026), the Pacific Network for Environmental Assessment (PNEA) – an online community of practice for all Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Environmental and Social Safeguard (ESS) practitioners in the Pacific region – was created in 2016 to support government officials from Pacific Island Countries and Territories who work with environmental assessment and safeguards.
The PNEA portal promotes and links the work of SPREP with its members, donors as well as current and future partners to increase and extend its capacity building efforts in the region. Far from being just a website, the portal complements SPREP’s current capacity building program for EIA and SEA - including the recently launched Regional EIA Guidelines, the Coastal Tourism EIA guidelines, and SEA guidelines. The network has grown to become the largest and fastest growing community of practice for Impact Assessment and Safeguards practitioners across the Pacific Islands.
In addition to providing access to EIA and SEA reports, news, highlights, and events across the Pacific region, the PNEA portal also facilitates trainings, connects, and links EIA practitioners and provides access to the best tools and guidance to strengthen regional practitioners.
The core principles of the PNEA include:
- Capture and share existing knowledge in the EIA and ESS (both regional and global) space to assist regional practitioners improve their practice.
- Stimulate learning by serving as a vehicle for authentic communication, mentoring, coaching, and self-reflection
- Encourage collaborative processes and facilitate dialogue to enable the free flow and exchange of ideas, information, and expertise in a shared Pacific context.
- Provide support and assistance to help practitioners transform their practice to accommodate changes in policy, practice, needs and technologies.
The PNEA is user-friendly and can be used by anyone – from seasoned EIA and SEA professionals to those with no prior experience in environmental assessments. The PNEA can help you get in touch with other environmental assessment specialists and experts from around the region and as well as the in-house EIA specialists at SPREP.
Become a member today and exclusive access to relevant training materials, best practice guidelines, EIA and SEA reports, member discussion forums and much more.