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HIA is a rapidly evolving tool, which is mandatory in many countries at global level.
The aim of the course is to introduce characteristics and process of HIA (also from a comparative standpoint), as well as discuss how national guidelines and requirements for HIA influence the outcome; moreover, a part of the course will be specifically devoted to the application of AI to HIA. During the course, perspectives, problems and pitfalls of HIA (also with potential use of AI) will be discussed.
We will address the following topics:
The course will also analyze, through case studies, HIA implementation in selected countries.
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of public health issues and/or environmental issues. Such prerequisites do not apply to students.
Language: English
Duration: 2 days (29-30 April)
Min/Max: 10-30
Price: US $480
Instructors:
Valentina Cavanna, Research Fellow and Lawyer, Turin University, Department of Law (Italy)
Thomas Fischer, Professor and Director, University of Liverpool, Environmental Assessment and Management Research Centre, WHO Collaborating Centre for Health in Impact Assessments, School of Environmental Sciences (UK)
Ben Cave, Director, Ben Cave Associates, Ltd., and University of Liverpool (UK)
Giuseppe Magro, Adjunct Professor/Chair of IAIA25, Bologna University, Algebra Slr (Italy)
Julia Nowacki, Technical Officer, World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe (Germany)
Valentina Cavanna
Valentina Cavanna graduated with honors and press distinction from the University of Genoa, with a thesis in Administrative Law focused on the legal and administrative aspects of Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment.
With experience in Civil Law and Litigation, Valentina provides legal assistance and conducts legal due diligence in Environmental Law and Health and Safety in the Workplace. Her expertise includes matters related to Integrated Environmental Authorization, air emissions, water discharges, waste management, remediation of contaminated sites, and safety regulations (such as fire prevention legislation). She also advises on ESG and sustainability issues, including legal risk management, ETS, CBAM, sustainable value/supply chains, greenwashing, climate change, and environmental litigation.
Valentina is currently a PhD student at the University of Turin, where her thesis focuses on the consideration of health in environmental proceedings and HIA. Additionally, she is a Research Fellow in circular economy at the University of Turin, contributing to a research project funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).
She has authored several articles on Environmental Law, including topics related to HIA.
Thomas B. Fischer
Thomas Fischer is a Professor in the School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK, and Director of the associated Environmental Assessment and Management Research Centre as well as the WHO Collaborating Centre for Health in Impact Assessments. He is also an extraordinary Professor of North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa, and an honorary staff member of the Berlin Institute of Technology, Germany.
His specialist areas revolve around ex-ante impact assessment tools in spatial, transport, energy, waste and other sectoral policy, plan, program and project decision making, in particular environmental assessment (EA, both, EIA and SEA) and health in impact assessments. He has worked in consultancy, public administration and academia for nearly 30 years and have widely published on EA globally with over 85 papers in refereed academic journals, several books, numerous book chapters and monographs on the topic.
He is editor-in-chief of IAIA’s Journal ‘Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal’. Further, he has been a Fellow of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (FIEMA) since 2012 and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2016. He was a Professional Member of the ‘NHS National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence Public Health Programme Development Group for NICE guidance on Spatial Planning’ and is currently chair of the Ireland-UK branch of the IAIA. He is a member of IEMA’s EIA quality mark expert review team and have extensive teaching and training experience which spans over 20 years.
Ben Cave
Ben Cave has specialized in health and environmental assessment for the past 20 years. He has worked across the UK, mainland Europe, and internationally, collaborating with policymakers, public health academics, environmental scientists, and spatial planners. He provides public health and policy advice at a senior level across local, regional, national, and international arenas.
Ben integrates health into environmental assessment (EA, EIA, and ESIA) at the project level, leading HIAs in conjunction with EAs and focusing on delivering high-quality, robust, and defensible HIAs. He has led HIAs in various sectors, including infrastructure for energy, mining, road, and rail. He is currently preparing guidance on health in EIA with the World Health Organization and health in SEA with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the European Investment Bank.
Dedicated to improving standards and quality in the field of impact assessment, Ben served as President of IAIA. In 2009, he led research and developed a review package for HIA reports with input from an expert panel of reviewers. He convened seminars on quality in impact assessment at the 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019 annual IAIA meetings. His work continues to contribute to national and international developments in impact assessment.
Giuseppe Magro
Giuseppe Magro is an adjunct professor of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Business at the University of Bologna. He serves as President of the Italian Section of the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA Italia).
Giuseppe is the founder of Algebra Srl, a leading company specializing in the development of institutional decision support systems for digital EIA/SEA/ESG permitting platforms, based on compliance standard implementation.
He was the chair of the 35th IAIA15 World Conference, titled “Impact Assessment in the Digital Era,” and is the chair of the upcoming IAIA 25 conference, “Impact Assessment in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” scheduled to take place in Bologna, Italy, in May 2025.
Julia Nowacki
Julia Nowacki holds a Master’s in Adult Education from the University of Cologne and both a Master’s and Doctorate in Public Health from the University of Bielefeld, Germany.
Since 2008, she has worked at the European Centre for Environment and Health of the WHO Regional Office for Europe, initially in Rome, Italy, and since 2011 in Bonn, Germany. Her work primarily focuses on the development and implementation of health impact assessments (HIA), the integration of health into environmental assessments such as EIA and SEA, and the development of policy advice, along with various capacity-building and networking activities.
Before joining WHO, Julia worked as a knowledge manager and audit assistant in the public sector department of KPMG in Cologne, Germany, an international audit and consulting firm.