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Project Summary Project Description Application of Tools Opinion of Tools Decision making process Contact Details

Opinion of tools

Name of the case study
Procedure for Environmental Assessment of local regulation in Copenhagen


Name of tool
Procedure for Environmental Assessment of local regulation in Copenhagen

Opinion of tool - argumentation for choosing the tool

The process for the implementation of the tool is voluntary, decided by the Copenhagen City Council. Due to this political decision, it is obligatory for the departments to participate in the process. The process is somehow parallel to an SEA-procedure (but includes more features than an SEA). The initiative for choosing the tool was taken by the municipality of Copenhagen.

There was no knowledge of other tools. Experiences on SEA were collected from other municipalities at the beginning of the process (including the municipality of Hillerød and Local Government Denmark (LGDK). However, the general impression was that these municipalities were not so long in their process, that their experiences could be useful.

Opinion of tool - barriers for the tool implementation
The main problems identified (from the first evaluation) were:
• The aim and the target group for the assessments were unclear
• Unclear ambition level of the assessment in the guidelines
• Ambiguous concept of environment in the guidelines and tools
• Lack of attention on environmental assessment
• Long process

This revealed a need to simplify the assessments, and make them more oriented for the politicians, as the primary target group.

A main and general barrier is the departments’ motivation towards sustainability, which is a precondition to use the assessment procedure actively. However, there seems to be a positive development in this.


Opinion of tool - assessment by tool users
It is too early to say whether there were measurable improvements as a result of the tool implementation.

Too early to say whether there were any spun-off’s or unintended consequences.

It is expected that the procedure will mainly be used in the Department of Building and Technique and the Department of Environment and Supply, where the assessments are most relevant.

Whether the actors will recommend it or use it in other cases will depend on the second evaluation.

Opinion of tool - reviewer\'s assessment
The procedure is a positive step in the local environmental policy. For each major decision, it provides politicians with an overview of the environmental goals related to this subject, and how the goals will be affected by the present project / plan.

There is still a need to develop the methodology on some points, however, in a form that allows integration in the existing procedures.

What tools were used to assess sustainability?

Procedure for Environmental Assessment of local regulation in Copenhagen

More information

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