Commentary资料文件与下载

COMMENTARY 解说

In this reading, "Effectiveness in Social Impact Assessment: Aboriginal Peoples and Resource Development in Australia," Ciaran O’Faircheallaigh explores the features of an effective social impact assessment (SIA) by looking at the case of oil and gas development on aboriginal land. He acknowledges that there are competing definitions of SIA effectiveness, highlighting that effectiveness may look different to stakeholders with divergent interests.

该阅读材料为《社会影响评估实效：澳大利亚原住民与资源开发》，作者：夏兰•欧费尔切莱。作者从原住地的石油天然气开发案例着手，探讨了有效的社会影响评估该具备哪些特征。他认为，对于SIA有效性，目前存在多种互相矛盾的解释，这说明对不同的利益相关方而言，SIA的有效性也不同。

The article explains that developers have historically excluded aboriginal groups from impact assessment efforts and ignored their concerns. This has led to projects that made their lives even more difficult, furthering their marginalization. In the Australian context, this has involved resource development on aboriginal lands.

文章解释说，开发商一如既往地将原住民群体排除在了影响评估工作之外，忽略了他们的需求。如此一来，项目开发让原住民的生活更加困难，加剧了他们的边缘化。在澳大利亚，这已经涉及到了对原住民土地资源开发的问题。

Recent efforts to legitimize the claims of Australian aboriginal groups and state recognition of their traditional land rights has accorded them more say in the development of their lands. The author holds up SIA as a tool for aboriginal groups to further realize their interests by ensuring that development of their lands benefits them.

最近，澳大利亚正试图将原住民群体的要求合法化，政府承认了原住民传统的土地所有权，让原住民在自己土地开发问题上拥有更多的发言权。作者提出，原住民应该通过SIA这一工具确保当地土地开发为自己带来效益，进一步保障原住民利益。

O’Faircheallaigh points to two levels of SIA effectiveness. First, aboriginal groups themselves must control the SIA process to ensure their interests are taken into account. The findings of aboriginally-controlled SIAs can be used as a basis for negotiating legal agreements. Second, while aboriginal control is a prerequisite for SIA effectiveness, it must be paired with a range of specific activities. O’Faircheallaigh lists ten:

作者指出SIA的有效性体现在两个层面。首先，原住民群体本身必须控制SIA过程，确保其自身利益也在众多考虑因素之内。原住民控制下的SIA结果可用作谈判法定协议的基础。其次，在原住民控制成为SIA有效性的先决条件时，还必须将其与一系列特定活动进行配对。以下是作者列出的十项活动：

1.   Understand the nature and extent of impacts likely to be associated with the proposed project 理解拟开发项目可能产生的影响的性质及范围;

2.   Conduct an initial estimation of the ‘sphere of impact;’ 初步估计“影响范围”

3.   Explore the existing social, cultural, economic, and political conditions within the ‘sphere of impact;’ 在“影响范围”内探讨现有社会、文化、经济及政治环境

4.   Uncover the values and priorities of affected groups/peoples; 发现受影响群体/人群的价值观及优先级；

5.   Communicate the nature and extent of impact factors and key baseline data to the affected groups in a form they can readily comprehend; 以简洁明了的形式向受影响群体传达影响因素及关键基线数据的性质与程度；

6.   Revisit issues of impact factors and ‘sphere of impact;’ 再次讨论影响因素及“影响范围”等问题

7.   Understand the nature and extent of likely social impacts if there is no intervention to minimize costs and maximize benefits, given the values/priorities of affected groups;在没有调停措施、无法降低成本并将效益最大化的情况下，考虑到受影响群体的价值观/优先级，理解可能产生的社会影响的性质及程度；

8.   Communicate proposed strategies to affected groups to enable them to make informed decisions in relation to proposed projects 向受影响群体传达拟采取的策略，让他们在知情的前提下做出与拟开发项目相关的决定;

9.   Negotiate  agreements with decision makers that spell out mechanisms to ensure the strategies are implemented 与阐明机制的决策者通过交涉达成协议，确保策略得以实施;

10.  Monitor impacts and effectiveness of strategies throughout a project’s life and reconsider project parameters and adjust strategies as required 在整个项目过程中，监控策略的影响及实效，重新考虑项目参数，必要时调整策略.

O’Faircheallaigh concludes by emphasizing that SIAs are inherently political. Effective SIAs must first acknowledge and then manage these politics. They must also be ongoing --  recommendations should be translated into action both upon the approval of a project and through the life of a project to ensure compliance.

在书的结尾，作者强调说，SIA本质上是政治因素。有效的SIA必须首先意识到这些政治观念，然后才能对其加以管理，这个过程必须是持续的。一旦项目获得批准，在整个项目开展期间，必须将建议转化成行动，确保规定由始至终地执行。

Reflection questions 思考问题:

1.   What responsibilities do socially responsible real estate developments have towards historically marginalized groups? How can SIA play a part in fulfilling these responsibilities?

有社会责任感的房地产开发项目对于历史上被边缘化的群体负有什么样的责任？SIA如何在这些职责的履行方面发挥作用？

2.   Does a socially-responsible developer have a duty to continue monitoring the impacts of their project after development?

有社会责任感的开发商是否有责任继续监控项目开发后的影响？