Impact assessment is "a process aimed at structuring and supporting the development of policies. It identifies and assesses the problem at stake and the objectives pursued. It identifies the main options for achieving the objective and analyses their likely impacts in the economic, environmental and social fields. It outlines advantages and disadvantages of each option and examines possible synergies and trade-offs".

External links

• International Association for Impact Assessment (main source)
• Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal (a journal)
• Impact Assessment Page at the European Commission
• IAIA Wiki

See also

• Environmental impact assessment
  Environmental impact assessment
  An environmental impact assessment is an assessment of the possible positive or negative impact that a proposed project may have on the environment, together consisting of the natural, social and economic aspects....
  
  
• Important publications in program evaluation
• Policy studies
  Policy studies
  Policy Studies could be defined as the combination of policy analysis and program evaluation. It "involves systematically studying the nature, causes, and effects of alternative public policies, with particular emphasis on determining the policies that will achieve given goals."Policy Studies also...
  
  
• Policy analysis
  Policy analysis
  Policy analysis is "determining which of various alternative policies will most achieve a given set of goals in light of the relations between the policies and the goals". However, policy analysis can be divided into two major fields. Analysis of policy is analytical and descriptive—i.e., it...
  
  
• Participatory Impact Pathways Analysis
  Participatory Impact Pathways Analysis
  Participatory impact pathways analysis is a project management approach in which the participants in a project , including project staff, key stakeholders and the ultimate beneficiaries, together co-construct their program theory.- Overview :The PIPA theory describes plausible impact pathways by...
  
  
• Program evaluation
  Program evaluation
  Project evaluation is a systematic method for collecting, analyzing, and using information to answer questions about projects, policies and programs, particularly about their effectiveness and efficiency...
  
  
• Impact evaluation
  Impact evaluation
  Impact evaluation assesses the changes that can be attributed to a particular intervention, such as a project, program or policy, both the intended ones, as well as ideally the unintended ones...