Integrating health indicators into the environmental impact assessment

Abstract

In recent years, the interdependency of population health and the environment has been widely explored by both academic and professional literature. Salutogenic strategies and cultural ecosystem services are distinct but complementary attempts in bringing the two fields together. Therefore, legislative environmental measures, such as the environmental impact assessment (EIA), could be better equipped to mitigate the negative impact of human development if they also included health assessments. In the European context, the theme of health in the EIA is becoming increasingly important. However, the practical checklists for the EIA reviews lack a robust and standardised list of health impacts. First, this paper drafts such a list starting from academic and professional literature and further reorganising the information into a checklist fit to the European format. For each impact, qualitative and quantitative measures are presented together with alternatives as adaption and mitigation measures. Using a GIS platform could streamline and standardise the EIA procedure, as well as provide a base for monitoring and stakeholders interaction.