The founding documents of HIA identify citizen participation as one of its cornerstones. However, participatory practices in HIA are still limited in scope and in number. In addition, at times even the idea of citizen participation in HIA seems poorly articulated and is sometimes called into question.
Basing our discussion on a review of the literature on HIA, we explore, in this fact sheet, the four main arguments favouring citizen participation in HIA. This short document may be of interest to public health actors who want to learn more about issues relating to health impact assessment.
