154 STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT IN POLICY AND SECTOR REFORM
Selectivity, timing, and sequencing of I-SEA is critical: In many instances, local capacity and government resources are limited for making environmental policy analysis. Hence, as indicated in World Bank (2005) and in Ahmed and Sánchez-Triana (2008), there is a need to be selective in the choice of I-SEAs in relation to proposed and envisioned discrete policy changes. Although policy formation is a continuous process, there are windows of opportunity for discrete interventions, and in order to have identified and (publicly) endorsed the official environmental priorities, there is a need to select key policy processes strategically and very selectively. From an environmental point of view, some policy processes or reforms are more important than others. Although some aspects or elements of I-SEA are continuous, the timing and sequencing of discrete I-SEA interventions are critical to achieve impact in the policy formation process. Linked to this is the fact that priorities arrived at in a policybased I-SEA are certainly not eternally valid, and may have to be revisited and redefined. Hence, as indicated in World Bank (2005), priority-setting processes should take place periodically in light of policy revisions, new information, new research knowledge, changing preferences, and changing institutions. Accordingly, tools and criteria for priority setting should be revisited and possibly also redefined.
5. STRENGTHENING STAKEHOLDER REPRESENTATION As indicated in the section on policy processes, the involvement of a variety of stakeholders in decision making increases the likelihood that solutions to complex problems like sustainable development will emerge. This section begins by briefly discussing different types of stakeholder representation before identifying common obstacles to “sound” participation and how these can be overcome. The section ends by identifying key challenges for I-SEA in relation to stakeholder representation. 5.1 Perspectives on Stakeholder Representation Participation or representation? Representation of stakeholders in policy processes may be defined as the way in which affected groups can have an influence on public policy. There are gradations of difference between participation by representation and direct participation: representation can also be indirect participation by means of actors (organizations or people) who represent a stakeholder group. For example, a nongovernmental organization or a ministry of indigenous people may represent indigenous people. Different types of stakeholder representation: Five intensities of involvement by stakeholder groups, which have an increasing degree of influence on the outcomes of a public policy process, can be distinguished (Edwards 2007):7