	Evaluation criteria	Case studies⁶
	Evaluation criteria	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
SYSTEM COMPONENTS
Provisions	・ Clear provisions, standards or requirements to undertake the process	µ	µ	µ	µ	þ	þ	þ	þ
Tiering	・ Assessment is undertaken within a tiered system of environmental assessment, planning and decision-making	¨	þ	µ	¬	¬	¬	¬	þ
Sustainable development	・ Sustainability/sustainable development as a guiding principle and integral concept	þ	þ	þ	µ	µ	µ	µ	µ
PROCESS COMPONENTS
Responsibility and accountability	・ Clear delineation of assessment roles and responsibilities ・ Mechanisms to ensure impartiality/ independence of assessment review	þ ¨	þ µ	þ ¨	µ ¨	µ ¨	þ ¨	þ ¨	þ ¨
Purpose and objectives	・ Assessment purpose and objectives are clearly stated	þ	þ	þ	µ	¬	þ	þ	þ
Alternatives	・ Comparative evaluation of potentially reasonable alternatives and scenarios	µ	þ	µ	¬	µ	µ	µ	µ
Impact evaluation	・ Identification of potential impacts or outcomes from each option or scenario under consideration	¬	þ	µ	¬	µ	µ	µ	µ
Monitoring program	・ Procedures to support monitoring and follow-up of process outcomes and decisions for corrective action	þ	þ	þ	¬	µ	µ	µ	µ
Participation and transparency	・ Opportunity for meaningful participation and deliberations	þ	þ	¨	¬	µ	þ	¬	µ
RESULTS COMPONENTS
Decision-making	・ Identification of a ‘best’ option or strategic action ・ Provide sufficient information for decision-making	µ µ	þ þ	µ µ	¬ ¬	¬ ¬	µ µ	µ þ	µ µ
Influence	・ Defined linkage with assessment and review or approval of any anticipated lower-tier initiatives ・ Identification of indicators or objectives for related or subsequent strategic initiatives or activities	µ µ	µ µ	µ µ	¬ ¬	¨ ¬	¨ µ	¨ µ	¨ µ
System-wide learning	・ Opportunity for learning and system improvement	¨	µ	¨	µ	¨	¨	¨	¨