Coaching SEA process

Why coaching?

Depending on the request by a government authority, the NCEA can discuss the option of coaching a specific SEA process. 

The objective of coaching is twofold:

• To assist the organisations in performing their role in the ongoing environmental assessment process;
• To support a learning process, so the organisations involved can build capacity to execute their tasks without external support in future for SEA processes.

Aspects of an SEA process

• Coaching is usually requested when an organisation has no or little experience with SEA and/or when an SEA process is technically complex.
• Generally, the emphasis is on providing assistance in the overall process, and less on providing in-depth technical knowledge.
• Support on the process is primarily provided by the NCEA technical secretaries, who can be assisted by an external expert when more in-depth knowledge is needed, for example a public participation specialist. 
• Support typically consists of:
  • advice on the organisation of the process including the roles and tasks of the actors involved;
  • advice on the design of the process, providing a sounding board on all outputs/products during the SEA process;
  • targeted (on-the-job) training for specific tasks.
    The advice provided by the NCEA can be made public, but this is not a condition and not common.
• Monitoring and evaluation of the coaching process and interventions is important to optimise the learning process.