Аннотация:The article considers national and international experience in developing and implementing preventive environmental regulation instruments. Authors demonstrate the role of these instruments in improving the practice of regional governance. They propose a definition of strategic socio-environmental assessment (SSEO) as a process of assessing the state of natural and anthropogenic systems and identifying environmental and socio-cultural factors and possible consequences of strategies, plans and programs for the development of these systems. The article analyzes the interrelation between the environmental impact assessment of the projects of the planned activity and the SSEO carried out at the regional (territorial) level. Authors present results of case studies, identifying problems of assessing the state and making decisions on the management of (1) water resources and (2) waste. They demonstrate the necessity to develop and institutionalize SSEO in the Russian Federation and recommend working out a national standard that establishes the SSEO procedure.