Crossing Boundaries and Jurisdictions: Implications for Public Participation Highlighting Canada and Europe

The widespread adoption of impact assessment (IA) across virtually all jurisdictions and institutions globally is cause for celebration. However, this coverage does create some unique cross-border problems when one or more IA processes are invoked for a project or undertaking. In this chapter, we contemplate the implications of cross-border IA for public participation through considering the conventions and agreements designed to address this complexity, as well as our experiences with specific IAs. We begin by reflecting upon the language of cross-border assessment, and the approaches to managing such situations. We conclude by proposing a research agenda for identifying ways to maximize participation in cross-border IA.