Human health, living conditions and comfort, sources of livelihood and material property

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used are assessed. The environmental impact assessment does not include the assessment of impacts related to the val-ue of immovable and movable property.

The assessment is managed by an expert specialised in the assessment of social and health impacts (M.Sc./M.Sc.

(Agriculture and Forestry) or other appli-cable education). In addition to design data, the material utilised in the impact assessment includes the following:

– The manual on human impact assessment (HIA) (STAKES 2009) – Guidelines from the Ministry of

Social Affairs and Health (such as Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 1999)

6.2.2 Communication and dialogue Communication and stakeholder dia-logue related to the project will be start-ed alongside the EIA procstart-edure. In its en-tirety, the railway tunnel project between Helsinki and Tallinn is likely to arouse interest as well as critical discussion among the stakeholders. An open and active dialogue that allows for bringing up the views of different parties as well as the environmental and social impacts of the project are central to the EIA pro-cedure. An effective dialogue will broad-en views on both sides of the table. Opbroad-en dialogue and proactive communication may also improve the acceptability of the decisions, and even difficult matters can be accepted when their preparation is considered to be open.

The framework of the EIA interaction consists of the authority and monitoring group meetings and public events in-cluded in the EIA procedure. These are supplemented by an open dialogue tar-geted towards the residents and other stakeholders. The below figure (Figure 6-2) presents the layered structure of the dialogue aimed at the audience.

Figure 6-2. Levels of communication and interaction aimed at the public.

Map survey/resident survey

Provides detailed information about the project Compiles opinions on the project

Public events

Communicating about the project’s environmental impact assessment Opportunity to ask questions

Resident panel

Dialogue about the project and the environmental impact assessment Influencing the project plan

Thematic workshops

Detailed thematic communication about the project Detailed views and opinions

Opportunity to develop the views through dialogue

167 Authority meetings

Meetings are arranged during the EIA procedure among the EIA liaison author-ity (Uusimaa Centre for Economic Devel-opment, Transport and the Environment) and the other key authorities related to the implementation of the project. The project begins with an advance negoti-ation pursuant to the EIA Act, in addition to which at least one authority nego-tiation will be held during the EIA pro-gramme stage and another during the EIA report stage. The goal of the negoti-ations is to facilitate the management of the complex of the assessment, design and permit procedures required for the project as well as information exchange between the Project Developer and the authorities, to improve the quality and usability of the studies and documents and to streamline the procedures.

Steering- and monitoring groups A steering and a monitoring group will be compiled to support the EIA procedure;

their purpose is to promote the transfer and exchange of information between the Project Developer, authorities and other relevant stakeholders. The rep-resentatives of both groups follow the progress of the environmental impact as-sessment and present their opinions on the drafting of the environmental impact assessment programme, assessment re-port and the studies supre-porting it. When inviting representatives for the steering or monitoring group, the aim is to form a composition whose members

central-ly represent those citizens and groups whose living conditions or interests may be affected by the project.

Two monitoring group meetings are arranged during the EIA procedure; one at the EIA programme drafting stage and another during the drafting of the EIA re-port.

Public events

Open communication and discussion events are arranged during the EIA pro-cedure in cooperation with the EIA liai-son authority and the project’s resident panel. The event arranged during the EIA programme stage presents the pro-ject and the prepared plan in order to assess its environmental impacts. The public has the opportunity to present its views and ask questions about the pro-ject, the examined alternatives and the EIA procedure. A similar public event will be arranged following the completion of the assessment report. At this stage, the event is arranged to present the progress of the project and the results from the environmental impact assessment. The public has the opportunity to present its views of the performed environmen-tal impact assessment and its compre-hensiveness. More detailed information regarding the events is published in the local newspapers and other publications chosen by the authority.

Project website and social media A dedicated website will be set up for the project for the purpose of providing

infor-mation regarding the project and the pro-gress of its planning. The website serves the general communication of the project and provides sufficiently comprehensive information regarding the project itself, its rationale and environmental impacts and the progress of the EIA procedure.

The website is actively maintained as the project progresses.

Resident survey

A resident survey will be implemented in relation to the assessment, either as a map feedback survey or another type of Internet-based survey. A survey im-plemented as map feedback allows for presenting and visualising the project’s functions clearly based on location, and the responses can also be focused on a perceived affected location. In order to support the map feedback, open and structured questions may be created for focusing the data collection.

The analysis of the survey materi-al utilises the key methods of statisticmateri-al analysis, such as cross-tabulation and different types of correlations, and qual-itative documentation analysis methods that supplement the results. The survey maps the general attitude of the differ-ent stakeholders towards the project and any related personal concerns. The sur-vey is used to analyse the current use of the area and, on its basis, the potential impacts of the project, and to look for means to mitigate the impacts. Experi-ential data compiled with the survey can be compared to the impacts assessed

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by other means. The survey also serves project communication.

Resident panels

The resident panel allows those interest-ed in the project to engage in dialogue regarding it throughout the EIA proce-dure. Volunteers interested in the project are invited to participate in the resident panel. Information regarding the panel is provided on the project’s website, along-side the other media information and to-gether with the resident survey.

The resident panel allows for express-ing opinions and views related to the project, and for relaying other experience and requests for regional development from those living and operating in the ar-eas. Specific, short surveys can also be directed at the volunteers in the resident panel in order to clarify specific themes, and discussion events and workshops can be arranged on topics that are of

special interest to the people affected by the project. The resident panel increases the transparency of the planning, reduc-es prejudice due to appropriate commu-nication and offers the residents an op-portunity to influence the planning.

Workshops

Workshops will be arranged during the EIA procedure that focus on individu-al topics or that are targeted towards specific stakeholders. The topics of the workshops will be specified during the EIA procedure in order to take into ac-count topics arising during resident panel activities. Based on preliminary assess-ments, workshops for stakeholders could involve fishers operating in the sea area and residents or recreational users of the nearby areas of the planned stations and service tunnels; topical workshops could include the effects of the project on the economic life, for example.

The workgroups review questions and problems from the different stake-holders, allowing their views and expe-riences to be taken into account in the environmental impact assessment. The events are discussion events with a low threshold and their purpose is to provide information on the project, answer any questions and concerns and collect ad-ditional information as regards impacts on humans. For example, map material can be used in the workshops to review the areas in the project environment and the key functions for different groups contained therein; afterwards, the impor-tance of the project to the stakeholders can be discussed, and identified adverse impacts and opportunities for mitigating or compensating for them can be re-viewed.

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