Community Environmental Assessment in rural Kenya - Decision making for a sustainable future

Community Environmental Assessment (CEA) involves the adaptation of traditional Environmental Impact Assessment (ETA) practice to include various approaches to assessing development and utilizes more adaptive tools for involving the public and for facilitating the assessment of small local projects. Such local approaches to ETA have developed over the past decade or so as part of the shift in international development work toward more bottom-up approaches to development.;This research explored CEA processes that had been undertaken in rural Kenya using a qualitative multi-case study approach. Two CEAs conducted for rural water supply projects were chosen as detailed case studies for this research --- Mwasima Nuru and Chumvi. The Mwasima Nuru project was constructed to meet the water needs of 12 small communities in the Taita Hills region of eastern Kenya and the CEA had been conducted one and a half years prior to this research. In contrast, the Chumvi CEA was conducted just months before the research and the project, located on the western slopes of Mt. Kenya, had yet to begin construction.;Semi-structured interviews, through the help of local interpreters, were undertaken with community CEA participants as well as non-participants. Participants were asked to reflect on their involvement in CEA activities and what changes in thinking and behaviour developed as a result. Non-participants were given an opportunity to share indirect experiences they had with the CEA process. Along with these community interviews, professional interviews and document reviews were conducted in order to determine opportunities for increased community benefits and future advancement in CEA practice.;In terms of process, findings indicated that while CEA process excelled in areas such as the setting for CEA activities and PRA methodology (transect walks, community mapping, & informal interviews), it faltered in others. Giving appropriate notice to communities, the high cost of assessments, the way in which results were presented back to communities, the consideration of project alternatives, and training opportunities for community members all presented themselves as weaknesses in the CEA processes considered.;Outcomes were also considered against the backdrop of transformative learning theory --- a comprehensive theory of how adults learn. The research revealed that CEA participants learned much, in terms of instrumental learning, such as gaining new information and skills in regards to soil erosion, tree planting, and pipeline maintenance In contrast, few participants reported communicative learning outcomes. Those who did described how their understanding and behaviours changed in regards to issues such as environmental sustainability, creation stewardship, and group unity. These outcomes might be based in part on the fact that CEA processes were found to be geared more towards facilitating instrumental, as opposed to communicative, learning outcomes.;Finally, recommendations are put forth to give future CEA practitioners guidance on how CEA processes may be improved in order to better meet the needs of rural Kenyan communities. Eleven key points for consideration are outlined which highlight a number of strategies that aim at improving community participation and learning. The recommendations include: using alternative community representatives to enter a community, minimize donor perception of the CEA team, establishing a price for the use of traditional knowledge, giving adequate notice to participants, inviting youth & women, obtaining a commitment from community participants to inform the larger public, application of learning methods to small group work, build political capabilities, ensure management capabilities, incorporate mitigation measures in funding requirements, and providing a pictographic representation of the CEA report.;Rural Kenyans will benefit from the implementation of such recommendations through being empowered to take a more central role in decision making processes that affect their communities. Such adaptations to CEA process should lead to more democratic decisions and should enhance the environmental sustainability of small scale community projects enabling local peoples to more readily combat poverty.