Engage with the GESA Group

The GESA (Global Environmental and Social Assessment) group is a great way to engage with IEMA on environmental and social risk management related to international development projects. The Network is a member led, collaborative initiative, supported by the IEMA team.

Joining this group is a great way to keep up-to-date, meet new contacts and get more involved, as and when your workload allows. In GESA you can be listening, learning and leading depending on what suits you:

  • Listening: Receiving GESA related updates that keep you informed about developments in environmental and social risk management related to international projects
  • Learning: Attending live webinars / events, catching up on recordings, or reading guidance
  • Leading: Applying your knowledge alongside that of other members to shape practice

As an IEMA member, joining the GESA Group is quick, easy and free. Just let us know that you want to join and we’ll update your record. Email us here

Find out more about GESA and its activities

GESA is led by a Steering Group of volunteers drawn from IEMA’s members and beyond. The Steering Group’s role is to plan, curate and facilitate the delivery of GESA’s annual programme of activities. The Steering Group is chaired by Debbie Cousins, Group Head at the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) Environment and Sustainability Department Operations .

Find out more about the Steering Group members here

You can access GESA’s Terms of Reference here

Any questions for the GESA Steering Group please feel free to email us

GESA’s Past Activities:

GESA Early Careers Working Group

The GESA Early Careers Working Group is formed of representatives from leading environmental consultancies and finance institutions. It aims to provide a forum for people at the start, or early stages of their career, to grow their skills and experience in environmental and social (E&S) risk management related to international projects. The ultimate ambition is to support those members interested in building careers that contribute to the sustainability of those international projects and the communities they support.

The current key areas of activity for the working group in 2019 are:

  1. Hosting of a second open learning and networking event on the 28th September 2019 for early career professionals working in, or with an interest of working in the international E&S industry.
  2. Development of a competency framework to help early career professionals identify the key skills and competencies required to develop a career in this sector.
  3. Organisation and delivery of a series of webinars relevant to the international E&S industry.
  4. Lobbying companies in the industry to support the early exposure of junior staff to international projects.

For all the latest information and opportunities to get involved, please join the group’s LinkedIn forum, “IEMA’s GESA Early Careers Working Group” and feel free to get in touch.

Approaches, Challenges, and Opportunities in Social Impact Assessment

Taking place on the 17th May 2018, this event aimed to provide a forum to explore emerging SIA themes, approaches, challenges and opportunities. This is in the context of the increased recognition of importance of social issues and risks in ESIA processes over the past ten years. To frame the discussion, the following three areas of enquiry was discussed by a panel of industry experts and the audience:

  1. ‘What are emerging SIA themes/priorities?’ – the evolution of the industry over the past 10 years, including the rise of the labour and working conditions, human rights, participation, indigenous peoples, resettlement, livelihoods and ecosystem services agendas.
  2. How can SIAs contribute to projects sharing benefits more widely? – exploring opportunities to go beyond mitigation, through community investment programmes and other more formal benefit sharing mechanisms, with potential linkages to the sustainable development goals in longer term social management targets.
  3. Preferred ESIA approaches – integrated assessment vs stand-alone social specialisation? Including discussion of the practical realities of integrating social data and analysis in ESIA schedules and activities, and more effective communication between social and other environmental specialisms.

With representative social specialists from lenders (EBRD), consultants (Mott MacDonald, ERM) and developers (BP) speaking, this event was designed to offer a mixture of industry perspectives. Just as importantly, a key objective of the event was to provide a platform for additional and alternative perspectives and to facilitate and encourage audience participation.

Exploring the use of digital technology and innovation in international ESIA

How can we bring Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) into the digital age? Hosted by ERM on the 21st May, 2018, a range of stakeholders met to explore how we can take a more holistic approach to EIA, transform deliverables, and develop an efficient approach fit for the 21st Century. The event discussed how we can use data more consistently, how to manage environmental and social risks throughout development, and establishing (and using) digital platforms for this crucial tool.

The IEMA Global Environment and Social Assessment (GESA) Group were be joined by industry leaders for this event, including:

You can view the programme here