SEA 25 years later....

23 January 2023

The Sadler & Verheem 1996 report on ‘SEA – Status, Challenges and Future Directions’ documented the state of affairs at an early stage of its evolution. It now provides a good starting point to review 25 years of development of SEA theory and practice. To mark the 25th anniversary of the report, we carried out a preliminary appraisal of changes that have occurred since then. This scoping exercise led to the preparation of a reflection on SEA progress and effectiveness, which is intended to contribute to a discussion among the SEA community. 

The paper - published in IAPA - is a step in a wider process that includes

1. a survey of a group of internationally recognised SEA experts to seek their views on the trends and issues discussed,
2. opportunities for further debate during a session at IAIA 2023 and
3. an online questionnaire to all IAIA members in the second half of 2023. It should result in a future agenda for SEA development, to be published and discussed in 2024.