Digital Toolbox

Exclusively digital and interactive environmental impact assessment (EIA) (Sinclair et al., 2022).

Questions from the public can be answered by email, email distribution lists for specific projects and EIAs can be subscribed to by citizens, discussion groups can be facilitated, and information such as maps, agendas and meeting minutes can be sent more easily (Evens-Cowley and Conroy 2006; Sinclair et al., 2022).

GIS software can be used to allow participants to collaborate on the design and creation of maps and/or to add comments directly to maps (Gordon et al. 2011; Sinclair et al., 2022).

Use of mobile devices to facilitate stakeholder engagement. This includes SMS, blogs, apps and social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Dedicated applications can be developed for a variety of purposes, such as crowdsourcing (e.g. online polls and surveys) and information sharing (Fathejalali and Jain 2019; Sinclair et al., 2022).

They can be used to facilitate dialogue both among participants and between participants and the government. Multi-day collaborative design workshops can bring together planners, government staff, stakeholders and citizens to work on alternative options for a project or to solve a particular problem (Lennertz, 2011). Websites can also be used for this purpose (Sinclair et al., 2022).

An RSS feed is similar to a news ticker that provides users with short blocks of information. These usually consist of a headline with a short snippet of text and a link to the original page. An RSS feed works like a subscription to specific content on websites, allowing users to be quickly informed of changes and updates to websites without having to actively ‘search’ for them. RSS can be offered by government agencies to provide updates to subscribed interest groups in the form of feeds. Users can then subscribe to specific topics or types of projects. This works in most browsers, including Firefox and Google Chrome. Free feed readers include Feedreader, Feedly and QuiteRSS. Email programs such as Thunderbird (Windows) can also manage RSS feeds (Sinclair et al. 2017; Heinrich Böll Foundation 2010).

Websites can be set up by governments and/or public authorities to inform stakeholders about upcoming projects and participation opportunities. They can provide links to online participation portals, relevant social media sites, and links to streaming and/or participating in discussion forums and events via Skype, Zoom, or other platforms (Sinclair et al., 2017).

Cloud-based platforms allow those who have access to them to interact more than on traditional online participation platforms. So far, there are few examples of cloud-based platforms, which may be because authorities or project organisers want to control who has access to the platform and who posts comments. This is difficult with a publicly accessible cloud-based platform (Sinclair et al., 2022).

An example of a successful implementation of a cloud-based platform was realised by a Canadian government corporation that developed a hydroelectric project with four First Nations and internal and external teams. However, only the partners had access to the cloud-based platform. The platform was used as a collaborative space for the team to work together on documents and coordinate activities (Sinclair et al., 2017).

The Canadian company discovered that more than 150 authors had answered the questions on the environmental impact statement. All had access to the latest versions, drafts and final documents, and the tasks were automated. This led to much more collaborative responses and a more transparent and efficient way of working, as multiple rounds of often large email attachments (and the difficulty of tracking versions) were avoided (Sinclair et al., 2017).