Emerging Debates in SEA: Future Directions for Theory and Practice   Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is now entering into a phase of evolutionary expansion. SEA systems can be traced in over 25 nation states with emerging systems now present in a number of developing and transitional economies. This level of relative maturity now affords significant opportunity to take stock of SEA theory and practice and explore those issues which will dominate future SEA research. On this basis, you are required to prepare a research essay which answers ONE of the four questions below:   1. Assess the extent to which SEA can contribute toward mitigation and adaptation to climate change futures. 2. Identify the main barriers to democratic accountability within SEA. How might such barriers be overcome? 3. Building on notions of SEA effectiveness, consider those areas of procedural or methodological practice which require further advancement and improvement. 4. Assess the role of sectoral environmental challenges in driving forward SEA innovation and consider the extent to which such innovations are transferable.