Integrated assessment is a new tool that joins the current suite of impact assessment tools. Like all impact assessments, the aim of integrated assessment is to assess the potential outcomes of strategies, policies and plans while they are still in draft form ahead of their approval and implementation (here, broadly termed ‘draft proposals’). The assessment identifies the changes authors need to make to a draft proposal to achieve its desired outcomes.
Integrated assessment is a structured way to predict the potential effects of a strategy, policy or plan during early iterations (here, broadly termed a ‘draft proposal’) and recommends ways to improve the draft proposal. It focuses on the four pillars of sustainability – social, economic, cultural, and environmental – and provides a process to truly engage multiple agencies, stakeholders and potentially affected communities.
Integrated assessment is firmly grounded in the impact assessment tradition as a prospective tool and this guide is for policy makers, planners and impact assessment specialists to use when they are seeking to improve the quality of draft proposals