Is public participation in the pipeline? a social impact assessment of marine waste disposal in southern kwazulu-natal

摘要

There is a growing pressure, both internationally and particularly in South Africa, to include people in a more democratic form of environmental management necessitating a more holistic and interdisciplinary approahc. Within this context, the paper documents a case study of publci participation in the regulation of marine waste disposal. This involves examining the social input, via a Social Impact Assessment, into the decision-making procedure for the issuing of permits for marine waste disposal via three marine pipelines along the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The SIA was designed to elicit the substantive social issues and facilitate a process aimed at consensus-building among stakeholders. The SIA revealed that such processes, while elngthy and costly, can rovide the basis for sustainable environmental management if institutionalised mechanisms are set up through which the partnerships can e fostered and informed contributions made towards the environmetnal decision-making process. direct C 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd on behalf of the IAWQ. All rights reserved.