Organizational learning and environmental impact assessment at Colombiaʹs Cauca Valley Corporation

During the 1976–1993 period, the design and implementation of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) program of the Corporación Autónoma Regional del Valle del Cauca (Cauca Valley Corporation, hereafter CVC or “the Corporation”) were affected by “learning by imitating” and “learning by doing.” Learning by imitating took place when CVC copied the use of the Leopold Matrix, an EIA procedure popular in the US during the 1970s. Learning by doing occurred in 1979 when the Corporation held public hearings to discuss the site for a controversial factory in Caloto. CVCʹs experience demonstrates that organizational learning with respect to EIA can help an organization meet its own goals, but that learning does not necessarily lead to environmental improvements. The use of the Leopold Matrix summarized the judgements of technical experts, but it frequently did not inform decision-making. For 13 years after the public meetings for the factory in Caloto, CVC avoided involving the public in its EIA work.