IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wsi/jeapmx/v12y2010i03ns1464333210003632.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Policy Window Opens: Strategic Environmental Assessment In York Region, Ontario, Canada

Author

Listed:
  • DENIS KIRCHHOFF

    (Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L3G1, Canada)

  • DAN MCCARTHY

    (Social Innovation Generation, Department of Environment and Resources Studies, University of Waterloo, Canada)

  • DEBBE D. CRANDALL

    (Save the Oak Ridges Moraine Coalition, Canada)

  • LAURA MCDOWELL

    (Engineering Water and Wastewater Branch, Transportation and Works Department, Regional Municipality of York, Canada)

  • GRAHAM WHITELAW

    (School of Urban and Regional Planning, School of Environmental Studies, Queen's University, Canada)

Abstract

Government agenda setting has been a focus of research in the field of policy sciences for over two decades. The concept of a policy window is explored as a driver of governmental agenda setting. The Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada was chosen as a case study for exploring the application of strategic environmental assessment at the municipal level through a policy window lens. Problem, policy and political streams converged to provide the necessary conditions for improved environmental assessment and infrastructure planning in York Region. A focusing event and the resulting crisis motivated stakeholders to identify and act on the problem. An SEA-type approach was initiated as one key response. A variety of activities were initiated by York Region including the development of a Sustainability Strategy, synchronisation of master planning, wider consideration of alternatives at the master plan level and improved public consultation. Conclusions are drawn and several recommendations are presented and discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Denis Kirchhoff & Dan Mccarthy & Debbe D. Crandall & Laura Mcdowell & Graham Whitelaw, 2010. "A Policy Window Opens: Strategic Environmental Assessment In York Region, Ontario, Canada," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 12(03), pages 333-354.
  • Handle: RePEc:wsi:jeapmx:v:12:y:2010:i:03:n:s1464333210003632
    DOI: 10.1142/S1464333210003632
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S1464333210003632
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1142/S1464333210003632?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pietro Caratti & Holger Dalkmann & Rodrigo Jiliberto (ed.), 2004. "Analysing Strategic Environmental Assessment," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3149.
    2. Thomas B. Fischer, 2006. "Conference Report: "Conclusions Stream C: Linkages Between Sea And Other Assessment Or Planning Tools"," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 8(04), pages 495-504.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lee, Norman, 2004. "Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice in Integrated Assessment," Impact Assessment Research Centre (IARC) Working Papers 30575, University of Manchester, Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM).
    2. Bartolini, Carlo & Vanin, Sarah, 2007. "The role of the SEA in planning and programming processes," Problems of World Agriculture / Problemy Rolnictwa Światowego, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, vol. 1(16), pages 1-9, March.
    3. Ivar Lyhne, 2011. "Between Policy-Making And Planning Sea And Strategic Decision-Making In The Danish Energy Sector," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 13(03), pages 319-341.
    4. Rodrigo Jiliberto Herrera, 2007. "Strategic Environmental Assessment: The Need To Transform The Environmental Assessment Paradigms," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(02), pages 211-234.
    5. Juan Carlos Tejeda González & Ma. Catalina Alfaro De La Torre & Pedro Medellín Milán, 2014. "Present Status Of The Implementation Of Strategic Environmental Assessment In Mexico," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(02), pages 1-20.
    6. Claudia Kis Madrid & Gordon M. Hickey & Michel A. Bouchard, 2011. "Strategic Environmental Assessment Effectiveness And The Initiative For The Integration Of Regional Infrastructure In South America (Iirsa): A Multiple Case Review," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 13(04), pages 515-540.
    7. Zhixi Zhu & Huizhi Wang & He Xu & Hongtao Bai, 2010. "An Alternative Approach To Institutional Analysis In Strategic Environmental Assessment In China," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 12(02), pages 155-183.
    8. Francois Retief, 2007. "A Quality And Effectiveness Review Protocol For Strategic Environmental Assessment (Sea) In Developing Countries," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(04), pages 443-471.
    9. Debojyoti Mukherjee & Asha Rajvanshi, 2016. "Application of Strategic Environmental Assessment as a Land Use Planning Tool in India : A Case of Gurgaon-Manesar Development Plan, Haryana, India," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(02), pages 1-21, June.
    10. Ross Marshall & Thomas Fischer, 2006. "Regional electricity transmission planning and SEA: The case of the electricity company ScottishPower," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(2), pages 279-299.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wsi:jeapmx:v:12:y:2010:i:03:n:s1464333210003632. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Tai Tone Lim (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.worldscinet.com/jeapm/jeapm.shtml .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.