IEMA's EIA Quality Mark (QMark) is a scheme allowing organisations that lead co-ordination of statutory EIAs in the UK to make a commitment to excellence in their EIA activities and have it reviewed. It is voluntary, with organisations free to choose whether they are ready to operate to its seven EIA Commitments: EIA Management; EIA Team Capabilities; EIA Regulatory Compliance; EIA Context & Influence; EIA Content; EIA Presentation; and Improving EIA Practice.
As part of Commitment 7, Improving EIA Practice, QMark members produce a number of case studies and thought pieces on EIA each year. These are accessible online. However, the EIA Steering Group felt this resource was not being highlighted to members, and the Impact Assessment Outlook Journal was born. Each journal has a guest editor and is focused on a particular topic or area, bringing together existing and new QMark articles to form an omnibus of short case studies and thought pieces on a single topic.
Following a successful first year, with the publication of four volumes, Volume 5, on Flexibility on EIA, was launched in February. This will be followed with an exciting programme of Volume 6 (Digital Impact Assessment in Practice), Volume 7 (Cumulative Effects Assessments), Volume 8 (Climate and EIA), and Volume 9 (Health and EIA).
Look out for calls for articles in the coming months, with webinars planned by each guest editor to give advance notice of the topic and a call for articles.
