22 June 2009
The increasingly important topic of Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) was recently discussed among civil society organizations in Bogota, Colombia. Participants in the event discussed the ways in which the SEAs can be most effective and how to overcome certain challenges in applying the SEAs to certain projects. Infrastructure and sustainable development topics are also covered in this SEA bulletin.
View the complete Bulletin (Parts I & II) with images in PDF format:
This BICECA Bulletin consists of a rapporteur's report for a two-day workshop on SEAs and Sustainable Development, convened by civil society organizations (CSOs) from 10 South American countries that invited the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to engage in dialogue about the use and misuse of Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) The workshop, which was held in in Bogota, Colombia (Dec. 2 and 3, 2008) featured presentations on the IDB's progress in developing a strategic decision making system that includes clearer rules for SEAs. CSOs presented lessons learned and recommendations for more effective use of SEAs drawn from a decade of experience with high risk infrastructure projects.
The IDB produced an SEA Guide in June 2009, which will be applied to "strategic projects" that the Bank finances in the future.
Click here for more information about the presentations and background documents from the SEA workshop.
Monthly BICECA Bulletin - Building Informed Civic Engagement for Conservation in the Andes-Amazon – A Project of the Bank Information Center (BIC). This bulletin is a publication by civil society for civil society and its contributions are from various sources and countries. Its authors are generally researchers that study and work on questions related to the IIRSA.
If you have any comments or questions, or if you wish to contribute to this publication, please contact the BICECA Manager Vince McElhinny at or Christian Velasquez-Donaldson at