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Abiotic |
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Non-living eg rocks or minerals.
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Absorption Rate |
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Budgetary inputs mobilised in proportion to the inputs initially allocated.
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AC |
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accession country
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Accountability |
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Obligation, for the actors participating in the introduction or implementation of a public intervention, to provide political authorities and the general public with information and explanations on the expected and actual results of an intervention, with regard to the sound use of public resources. From a democratic perspective, accountability is an important dimension of evaluation. Public authorities are progressively increasing their requirements for transparency vis-à-vis tax payers, as to the sound use of funds they manage. In this spirit, evaluation should help to explain where public money was spent, what effects it produced and how the spending was justified. Those benefiting from this type of evaluation are political authorities and ultimately citizens. For example, a training organisation reports on the number of trainees who benefited from its services and the qualifications obtained. A managing authority reports on the cost per net job created due to the intervention. The European Commission publishes a report on progress made in terms of economic and social cohesion. Citizens have access to the report.
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Accountable body |
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The organisation responsible in a contractual sense for the intervention, with the key responsibilities of ensuring that the programme is managed in accordance with required standards of financial probity, and in line with the agreed action plan, and any programme specific funding criteria.
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ACEA |
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European automobile manufacturers association
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Acidification |
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The most important substances contributing to acidification are SO2 and NOX. These are released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels such as oil and coal are combusted. Air pollution with these substances leads to acid deposition (acid rain) that can pollute forests, lakes and rivers, as well as buildings.
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Action Research |
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Practice-based research, which seeks to end the dislocation of research from practice and enhance the position of research as a direct mechanism for change and improvement. Action research projects usually have the following characteristics: investigation of practices in terms of strategic actions with potential for improvement, collaborative working between evaluators and stakeholders, a methodology involving a series of interrelated cycles of planning, action, observation and reflection, those responsible for the practice are at the heart of these cycles and are the key participants in each stage. Related Terms: Participatory Evaluation
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Adaptability |
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refers to the degree to which adjustments are possible in practices, processes or structures of systems, to projected or actual changes in climate. Adaptation can be spontaneous or planned and can be carried out in response to or in anticipation of environmental changes.
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Additionality |
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Additionality has been one of the principles of EU Structural Fund interventions. Additionality means that Community support for economic and social development is not substituted for efforts by national governments. In other words, the fact that the beneficiary State's own financing remains, globally, at least equal to that which existed before the Structural Funds' contribution. Verification of the implementation of this principle is carried out at the national level in the context of financial control and not of evaluation as such. This term additionality is also used to describe the net effects of an intervention identified in an evaluation. |
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Administrative data |
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Information relating to the administration of the Programme usually collected through a structured monitoring process. Not necessarily for the purposes of evaluation.
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Aerosols |
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are tiny particles in the atmosphere. Aerosols may be either natural or anthropogenic. Aerosols influence the energy balance of the earth system directly by reflecting radiation and indirectly by acting as cloud condensation nuclei, thereby affecting the reflectivity and other optical properties of clouds.
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Aggregation |
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is the joining of more or less equivalent elements that exhibit mutual interaction. Aggregation can take place across different scale-dimensions, leading to different resolutions on these scales. The most relevant scale dimensions in Integrated Assessment Models are: temporal scale (e.g. diurnal, seasonal, annual), spatial scale (e.g. local, regional, continental, global), systemic scales (e.g. individual plants, ecosystems, terrestrial biosphere), and conditional scales (e.g. ecosystem internal variability, inter-ecosystem variability, global variability).
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AGLV |
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Area of Great Landscape Value. A local designation. Whilst not listed in Regulation 2 as a sensitive area, this may still trigger the need for EIA development, if that development may have significant impacts on the landscape. A Screening Direction may be necessary to make the requirement for EIA legally binding. Contact Surrey County Council or appropriate LPA.
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Aim |
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Broad intention or overarching objective, usually to bring about positive change. Related Terms: Goal
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Airbase |
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European air quality information system (EEA)
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Allocation |
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Dividing the input and output flows of a co-production process among the individual products. Allocation is needed in multiple products systems, so that it is possible to perform life cycle assessments for individual products.
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Altener |
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EU programme for renewable energy
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Alternative |
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An ES must include an outline of the main alternatives studied by the applicant or appellant and an indication of the main reasons for choices. Alternatives may cover strategic decisions, locations, processes, design and layout, transport, construction techniques, phasing, mitigation and compensation. See Schedule IV Part 2 of the EIA Regulations.
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Ameliorative measures |
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See mitigation.
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Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) |
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An MCA approach invented by mathematician Thomas Saaty, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Inputs to an AHP analysis requires paired comparisons of all options separately for each criterion, although users are often encouraged to express comparisons through a set of verbal statements of relative strength. The comparisons take the form of 'How many times more is option A than option B on this criterion?' In addition, paired comparisons are made of all the options with each other. These comparisons of options with options, and criteria with criteria, are then subjected to matrix mathematics which yields numbers called 'weights' (not the same as weights in MCDA) assigned to both the options and the criteria. These weights purport to show the priorities of the options and the criteria, but their interpretation has been the subject of much debate. |
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Anthropogenic |
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means man made, caused by human activity.
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AONB |
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Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Area designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. Listed as a sensitive area in Regulation 2. Contact Surrey County Council or appropriate LPA.
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Appraisal |
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The process of examining options and assessing their relative merits. In this guide, and usually in UK central government, it is used to describe analysis before implementation.
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Arterial |
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A major thoroughfare.
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Assessor |
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the person, agency or company having responsibility for preparing an environmental impact assessment.
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Audit |
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"Verification of the legality and regularity of the application of resources. Auditing makes a judgement in terms of general criteria and standards, known and clarified beforehand. For example, in the case of assistance to a SME, an audit will check whether eligibility criteria have been met and whether the beneficiary firms have complied with the rules governing the use of assistance. The main purpose of an audit is to ensure compliance. The idea is to obtain a dissuasive effect. With time, the terms ""control"" and ""audit"" have been extended to encompass more activities. For example, certain audits or controls check whether the outputs have been produced with an adequate degree of efficiency and quality and whether they offer value for money. Others assess whether the results and performance are similar to other comparable interventions. In the latter case, there can be a closer similarity between this variant of auditing and evaluation. Related Terms: Control"
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Audit trail |
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In a non-accounting sense: evidence in the form of references, data or documents that enables an investigator to trace the path of past actions or decisions.
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Average Daily Traffic |
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The total traffic volume during a given period (from 1 to 364 days) divided by the number of days in that period. Current ADT volumes can be determined by continuous traffic counts or periodic counts. Where only periodic traffic counts are taken, ADT volume can be established by applying correction factors such as for season or day of week. For roadways having traffic in two directions, the ADT includes traffic in both directions unless specified otherwise.
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Average Weekday Daily Traffic (AWDT) |
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The total traffic for an average weekday. An average weekday is a representative weekday computed as the mathematical average of several typical weekdays selected at random throughout the year. A typical weekday has no anomaly such as heavy traffic due to a special public event or light traffic due to inclement weather. Average Saturday and Sunday data, including holiday service, are determined the same way.
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Average |
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The prevailing score. There are three types of average. The Mean which is the sum of all the scores divided by the number of scores. The mode which is the most frequent score and the medium which is the middle of a set of scores. The use of different averages depends upon the scale qualities of the data. Related Terms: Mean, Median, Mode
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top
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Sources:
European Environment Agency
Dantes
UNEP
Evaluation of Socio- Economic Development - The Guide
Umberto
Uqac
Surrey Country Council
TxDOT Waco District
Transport Analysis Guidance
SCOPE - Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment
Annex 31
Umweltwirtschaft
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