Closing the implementation gap: understanding sustainability trade-offs in regulatory decision-making pathways

Overview

Regulatory decision-making in Australia relies on the evidence provided in environmental impact assessments (EIA) of supporting project applications.  The minister must take a range of matters including the principles of ecologically sustainable development (defined in Section 3A of the EPBC Act) into account using the EIA as evidence when making decisions. Yet these decisions are increasingly constrained by complex sustainability trade‑offs (Gibson and Fonseca, 2022), where regulators must balance ecological protection, economic development, and social expectations amid growing uncertainty and competing priorities (Mottee, 2022).

The quality of the supporting evidence plays a significant role in understanding the consequences of such trade-offs (Morrison-Saunders and Pope, 2013). Often prepared by consulting EIA practitioners under time and budget pressure to deliver from clients, this work is undertaken with professional judgement, without the requirement to reference current research in sustainability. There remains a gap between research and practice in applying cutting-edge evidence for impact assessments, despite the often irreversible and long-term environmental consequences of these decisions (Baresi et al., 2017; Fonseca and Gronow, 2022). For example, the destruction of known sites of First Nations and national significance at Juurkan George in Western Australia (Oliveri et al., 2022).

Through this research we want to understand more about this implementation gap in regulatory decision-making, its causes and consequences, with the view to explore opportunities to close the gap. The aim is to develop a framework and action plan to support this.

This student project will provide an important role in reviewing the related disciplinary literature and the project documentation of several major projects that supports these regulatory decision-making processes. The final output of this student project will be a short report that documents these findings, as well as, an opportunity to co-author a conference paper and future publication in a Q1 journal.

Research activities

The student will work with the supervisory team to examine how sustainability trade-offs are represented in research, policy and practice. The project will involve a combination of literature review, document review, qualitative analysis and synthesis of findings.

The student can expect to undertake activities such as:

• reviewing academic literature on environmental impact assessment, sustainability trade-offs, project management, statutory planning, regulatory decision-making and the research-practice gap
• identifying key concepts, frameworks and debates relevant to sustainability assessment and evidence-informed decision-making
• reviewing selected environmental impact assessments, major project documentation, statutory planning materials, policy documents and regulatory guidance
• undertaking content analysis to examine how sustainability trade-offs are described, justified and assessed in project documentation
• reviewing relevant environmental and planning legislation, including current requirements and proposed or emerging amendments where relevant
• developing or applying a simple coding framework to organise evidence from documents and literature
• comparing how different types of evidence are used to support claims about environmental, social, economic and cultural impacts
• identifying examples where current research appears to be well integrated into practice, as well as examples where evidence gaps or weak links are apparent
• documenting findings in a short, structured report for the research team
• participating in regular meetings with supervisors to discuss emerging findings, refine the analysis and connect the student's work to the broader research project.

Outcomes

The student's work will contribute to the broader research aim of understanding and addressing the implementation gap between research and practice in regulatory decision-making.

Expected outcomes of the student project may include a combination of the following:

• a short findings report summarising the literature review, document analysis and key observations
• a preliminary synthesis of how sustainability trade-offs are framed in selected Environmental Impact Assessments and related project documents
• an annotated summary of relevant academic and policy literature
• a document review matrix or coding summary that can be used by the research team in later stages of the project
• identification of recurring evidence gaps, assumptions, decision-making tensions or examples of good practice
• practical recommendations for how research evidence could be better incorporated into environmental impact assessment and regulatory decision-making processes.

The outcomes of the results will be theorised in context of disciplinary literature and current practice, to further knowledge in bridging the implementation gap between research and practice. The student's work will contribute towards co-authorship of a conference paper for the International Association of Impact Assessment (IAIA27) and a workshop session at the conference.

Skills and experience

The ideal candidate will have an interest in:

• environmental planning
• project management
• sustainability
• infrastructure decision-making
• public policy.

Some emerging knowledge of Australian urban planning principles, environmental impact assessment processes, or planning and environmental legislation would be beneficial.

The student does not need to be an expert in all areas of the project. However, the project would suit a student who is curious, organised and comfortable working with complex written materials such as project reports, policy documents, legislation and academic literature.

Ideal skills and attributes include:

• interest in environmental impact assessment, statutory planning, sustainability assessment or major infrastructure projects
• some experience with qualitative research methods, literature review or document analysis
• strong reading, writing and analytical skills
• ability to identify themes, patterns and gaps across different types of documents
• ability to work independently while also participating in regular supervisory discussions.

Keywords

• urban planning
• environmental impact assessment
• project management

Contact

Contact Lara Mottee via email lara.mottee@qut.edu.au.