Developing a toolkit for health input into plan-making through Strategic Environmental Assessment in Ireland

In this paper, research that informed the development of a toolkit for environmental and planning regulators in Ireland is presented. The toolkit seeks to enable the proportionate consideration of health impacts in Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for plan-making. SEA is a legally required ex-ante assessment that promotes environmentally sustainable development. It identifies the significant environmental impacts of policies, plans or programmes while they are being developed, aiming at avoiding or mitigating significant negative environmental impacts. The research included reviews of guidance, design of a database, preparation of case studies, and consultation with experts across SEA, Health Impact Assessment, and public health. The opportunities that SEA presents for public health authorities to work with colleagues in territorial- and town-planning are discussed. For example, SEA requires strategic planning documents to take account of the protection and the promotion of health and wellbeing, as well as the reduction of inequalities in health, and through that the protection of the environment and the promotion of sustainable development. Challenges remain, e.g. the absence of co-ordination between authorities for environmental planning and for public health as well as resourcing and methodological difficulties. The toolkit forms the basis for future guidance for addressing health in SEA.