A decade of the EIA Quality Mark

28th May 2021


Web p9 iema news eia quality mark credit alamy g2khcp

Related Topics

Author

Richard Young

As we celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the EIA Quality Mark, IEMA can announce that, during the past 12 months, the scheme has undergone a thorough review of practice, including stakeholder consultation with registrants and assessors, in order to improve it.

The amendments include a broadening and strengthening of the interview process, additional review procedures, a move towards a digital platform, closer integration between registrants and Impact Assessment Network activities, and a broadening of opportunities to contribute to good practice.

The scheme has enhanced UK environmental impact assessment (EIA) by creating a strong community of practitioners who are working to maintain and improve standards, as well as sharing examples and working together to enhance knowledge and produce innovative solutions in practice. The scheme has already provided numerous benefits that have driven improvements. These benefits have been felt by consenting authorities, communities, wider stakeholders, developers and EIA practitioners.

At the scheme’s launch on 18 April 2011, 38 organisations registered as founding members, including those that completed the transition from our previous corporate EIA register and those that piloted the scheme’s application process during 2010.

We are proud to announce that 58 organisations are now registered. Further information on the registrants can be found at bit.ly/2RlQ48y

The revised EIA Quality Mark will continue to help ensure that the environmental impacts of new development are minimised, and that key environmental issues are fully integrated into decision-making.

“EIA is a critical tool in the implementation of sustainable and responsible development. The IEMA EIA Quality Mark is a leading example of professional good practice in the field of EIA, not just in the UK but globally, and something we should all be proud of.” – Dr Rufus Howard, IEMA impact assessment policy lead.

“Having been involved with the pilot in 2010 and an advocate of the EIA Quality Mark across the last 10 years, I have seen the quality of EIA in the UK substantially improve during this period. The EIA Quality Mark has significantly contributed to this.” – Andy Ricketts, director and head of EIA, Turley.

“IEMA’s EIA Quality Mark is the only UK-wide scheme to independently verify performance both in terms of environmental statement quality and EIA team operations – it has for the past 10 years helped organisations to improve and demonstrate competence in the field of EIA, something to be celebrated!” – Stef Simmons, Quality Mark assessor.

Read more at bit.ly/3boyqI8

Image credit: Alamy

Subscribe

Subscribe to IEMA's newsletters to receive timely articles, expert opinions, event announcements, and much more, directly in your inbox.


Transform articles

IEMA Impact: Shaping a sustainable future with impact assessment

Lisa Pool on how IEMA is shaping a sustainable future with impact assessment

27th November 2023

Read more

IEMA responded in September to the UK government’s consultation on the details of the operational reforms it is looking to make to the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) consenting process as put forward in the NSIP reform action plan (February 2023).

24th November 2023

Read more

Members of IEMA’s Impact Assessment Network Steering Group have published the 17th edition of the Impact Assessment Outlook Journal, which provides a series of thought pieces on the policy and practice of habitats regulations assessment (HRA).

26th September 2023

Read more

In July, we published the long-awaited update and replacement of one of IEMA’s first published impact assessment guidance documents from 1993, Guidelines for the Environmental Assessment of Road Traffic.

1st August 2023

Read more

Are we losing sight of its intended purpose and what does the future hold for EIA? Jo Beech, Tiziana Bartolini and Jessamy Funnell report.

15th June 2023

Read more

Luke Barrows and Alfie Byron-Grange look at the barriers to adoption of digital environmental impacts assessments

1st June 2023

Read more

Susan Evans and Helen North consider how Environmental Statements can be more accessible and understandable

1st June 2023

Read more

IEMA’s Impact Assessment Network is updating its advice note on non-technical summaries (NTS).

31st May 2023

Read more

Media enquires

Looking for an expert to speak at an event or comment on an item in the news?

Find an expert

IEMA Cookie Notice

Clicking the ‘Accept all’ button means you are accepting analytics and third-party cookies. Our website uses necessary cookies which are required in order to make our website work. In addition to these, we use analytics and third-party cookies to optimise site functionality and give you the best possible experience. To control which cookies are set, click ‘Settings’. To learn more about cookies, how we use them on our website and how to change your cookie settings please view our cookie policy.

Manage cookie settings

Our use of cookies

You can learn more detailed information in our cookie policy.

Some cookies are essential, but non-essential cookies help us to improve the experience on our site by providing insights into how the site is being used. To maintain privacy management, this relies on cookie identifiers. Resetting or deleting your browser cookies will reset these preferences.

Essential cookies

These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website.

Analytics cookies

These cookies allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors to our website and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works.

Advertising cookies

These cookies allow us to tailor advertising to you based on your interests. If you do not accept these cookies, you will still see adverts, but these will be more generic.

Save and close