An Environmental Impact Assessment System for Agricultural Research and Development II: Institutional Learning Experience at Embrapa

Abstract

Abstract"An environmental impact assessment system for agricultural R&D" has been implemented by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Agency (Embrapa) aiming at fulfilling the institutional mission statement of 'introducing sustainable development objectives in all steps of agricultural research'. The impact assessment platform emphasizes close interaction between R&D teams and technology-adopting producers, under actual field contexts, in order to improve both the technology development and the demand probing processes. The proposed integrated environmental indicators system (AmbitecAgro) has been routinely applied in technology appraisals by all of Embrapa's Research Units, as one of the criteria of its institutional evaluation system, and toward the formulation of the Social Balance Reports, annually published since 1997. The present paper describes the social and environmental dimensions of this integrated impact assessment platform, its roles in the institutional learning process for technology research management, and an impact analysis of proposed agricultural innovations.

Designing a general set of sustainability indicators at the corporate level

“…The impact assessment literature, both social and environmental, has been very influential in this matter. They have been promoted as evidence-based procedures that assess the economic, social, and environmental impacts of public policy, boost transparency, and provide solutions for sustainable development (Rodrigues, et al, 2010) especially in monitoring and evaluation where indicators are mostly used. One eminent epitome in this case, at the global level, is the planetary boundaries (see : Rockström, et al, 2009;Steffen, et al, 2015).…”

Uma Metodologia Alternativa Para Cálculo Dos Índices De Impactos Sociais E Ambientais Das Tecnologias Da Embrapa

“…A Embrapa possui uma longa experiência na avaliação dos impactos gerados por suas tecnologias, como pode ser visto em Monteiro & Rodrigues (2006), Marques et al (2009), Rodrigues et al (2010), dentre outros. Estas avaliações são do tipo ex-post, ou seja, analisa-se o impacto após a adoção da tecnologia com instrumentos de coleta de dados específicos para cada tipo de impacto que se quer avaliar.…”

A Framework for the Application of Eco-efficiency to the Technology Development Process

“…Although studies such as those of Carrillo-Hermosilla, Río and Könnölä (2010), Ende et al (1998) and Rodrigues, Buschinelli and Avila (2010) present some of the particularities of eco-innovation and technology assessment, the authors do not demonstrate the activities which was carried out in companies to promote innovation considering the ecological aspect.…”