Current planning practices in Europe are affected by new regulations aiming at environmental protection and risk reduction, however, planning professionals often face difficulties in properly implementing the principles given by the norms. This paper discusses the influence of the introduction...

This paper provides an overview of the way biodiversity issues are dealt with in strategic environmental assessment (SEA) for spatial plans in the Netherlands. Spatial plans are selected as subject of study because 50 percent of all SEA studies executed in the Netherlands are carried out for...

The objective of the Analytical Strategic Environmental Assessment method is to provide a complementary and decision-centred approach to the SEA process. The focus is to evaluate the decision-making process instead of the quantitative output of an assessment. Thus, the project provides a...

Small islands due to their small size face environmental risks, because of the pressures arising from the projects and actions aiming at economic development. Forests constitute vulnerable ecosystems that change at great speed. In most of the occasions the change is downgrading. The right...

Urban development combined with city expansion, has brought irreversible consequences for land use and environmental degradation. The balance between stability in urban areas and biodiversity, relates in essence to sustainability and economic development. This economic development in southern...