An Introduction to Cumulative Impact Assessment – Why and Where to Begin?
Background Chemical and non-chemical stressors are not evenly distributed in an environment, nor do they operate in isolation. Similarly, people are not exposed to one stressor at a time, but rather are subject to multiple types of stressors from the natural, built, and social environments simultaneously. Cumulative impacts research that focuses on the totality of exposures (both beneficial and adverse) from such stressors on human health and well-being is needed in order to address overlapping environmental, social, and economic impacts. Cumulative impact assessment (CI assessment) is a tool that can be used to assess such cumulative exposures. This webinar series highlights efforts to advance this practice in the absence of standardized guidance.
About the Webinar Series This webinar series is being co-organized by HEI’s Community Health and Environmental Research Initiatives program and Energy research program as part of a special project aimed at providing a roadmap that can inform CI assessment using example contexts from oil and gas communities in the United States. This series of webinars inform the conceptualization of the project and aims to bring together voices from academia, government, industry, and communities across the field of impact assessment.
Overview of the Webinar This webinar, co-organized by HEI Energy and HEI’s EJ program, will introduce the topic of cumulative impacts research and cumulative impact assessment. The primary goal is to gain a broad understanding of cumulative impact assessment, and the challenges and opportunities associated with designing and conducting these assessments.
The speakers will address the following questions:
1. What is cumulative impact assessment? How are cumulative impacts defined? How can these assessments contribute to health-protective decisions?
a. What types of chemical and non-chemical stressors and combinations of stressors are included in a cumulative impact assessment?
b. What types of approaches are used to conduct cumulative impact assessment?
2. What are the challenges and opportunities with cumulative impact assessment and underlying research in various policy contexts?
3. What do we need to understand about cumulative impact assessment to get the design right? What data and information do we need?
Sessions
Welcome and Introduction
Putting community first in assessing cumulative impacts
An environmental health and justice perspective on cumulative impacts
A social science perspective on cumulative impacts
Panel Discussion with Q&A
Location
United States
Virtual meeting space
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