The impacts of climate change, population growth, threats to nature, resource concerns and global development pressures on businesses, economic prosperity, communities, health and wellbeing represent a real challenge for sustainability professionals.IEMA and the Impact Assessment Network Steering Group, therefore, are excited to publish our new Impact Assessment Strategy.
This will guide our work and engagement with members during the next five years. We will be working to ensure IEMA is the home of the impact assessment (IA) professional.
A lot of work has been going on behind the scenes and we have already begun implementing the strategy. Steering group member David Hoare from WSP has been working on a series of collaborative events with the Royal Town Planning Institute to network and improve practice on key issues for IA professionals and planners. Each event will be followed by a practice note sharing the key findings from the discussions. The next event is in Manchester on 7 November and new locations are planned for 2020.
We also have some webinars lined up for the end of the year, including our first panel discussion on cumulative effects in environmental impact assessment (EIA), with leading experts tackling this challenging issue. Finally, we have been rolling out the new IA Outlook Journal on issues including major infrastructure, biodiversity net gain, proportionate EIA and renewable energy.
“We will be working to ensure IEMA is the home of the IA professional“
Looking ahead to 2020, we will be increasing the frequency of our webinars and will draw on the expertise of IEMA's EIA Quality Mark scheme to bring you more exciting and informative content. We will also be looking at bringing you some 'back to basics' training on core EIA topics and challenges.
We expect to launch a number of key guidance documents and briefings during the coming months. These include topics such as digital EIA, climate change, materials and waste, cultural heritage, and major accidents and disasters. Finally, IEMA is currently reviewing the EIA Quality Mark scheme, working with members to make improvements that will deliver more benefits to the EIA community and scheme members, as well as helping drive continuous improvement in the quality of EIA and environmental statements.
Get involved
Each year we refresh the membership of the Impact Assessment Network Steering Group. If you are an experienced IA professional and want to help shape the profession and deliver the new IA Strategy, send your CV and a short paragraph on your skills, experience and what you can bring to the Steering Group to [email protected] by Friday 15 November.
If you just want to stay up to date with the latest IA activity with IEMA, you can join the Impact Assessment Network by emailing [email protected]
Vision
IEMA and its members will work to ensure that IA is widely recognised as supporting better decision-making, positively influencing development outcomes and providing lasting benefits to the environment, communities and the economy.
Objectives
- Promote professional standards and best practice and showcase the benefits of IA to deliver positive outcomes for the environment and society
- Develop guidance and training and promote knowledge sharing and collaboration to provide practitioners with the skills and knowledge to deliver effective and proportionate IA
- Improve the effectiveness of IA through innovation in practice and advocating for effective policy and regulations
- Encourage and develop the careers of IA professionals so that there is a vibrant supply of qualified practitioners to meet the needs of the future of IA.
