Have your say on the future purpose of IEMA

IEMA will soon be celebrating its 25th anniversary, following the merger of the Institute of Environmental Assessment (IEA), the Institution of Environmental Management (IEM) and the Environmental Auditors Registration Association (EARA) in 1998. Now IEMA is asking its members for their views on how we should operate over the next 25 years and beyond.

In the late 90's and early 2000's IEMA focused solely on environmental issues. This changed in 2014 when IEMA merged again with the Global Association of Corporate Sustainability Officers (GACSO), officially welcoming the sustainability remit into the IEMA offer.

Next year will be 10 years since IEMA expanded to include sustainability, and we think it's a good time to pause and review public comprehension as the sustainability agenda is rapidly increasing, and what IEMA has to offer is becoming more relevant to all individuals, organisations and governments.

On top of expanding its remit from environmental management and assessment to wider sustainability, IEMA has become a central voice in the green skills and jobs agenda, which moves the focus from being about environment and sustainability professionals into a wider discussion on skills and strategy across the whole workforce.

As IEMA strives to contribute solutions to all aspects of the sustainability agenda, it is creating its own, internal perfect storm. We have endless opportunities and ambition, but finite resources. How IEMA chooses to move forward relies on a clear and shared understanding of its purpose.

Throughout 2023, we will be consulting widely with our members and other stakeholders to inform the future purpose and identity of IEMA. The first stage will be a series of workshops throughout February and March that investigate members views on:

1. Purpose. We will explore with stakeholders what they believe to be the future of the profession and IEMA within the context of the mainstreaming agenda on sustainability. This will include questions on whether IEMA remains a professional body or expands its remit to be a membership home for other individuals and organisations with an interest in environment and sustainability.
2. Identity. We will explore whether IEMA’s name, tagline and other identity elements are fit for purpose over the long term based on the insights that we gather around the Institute’s long-term purpose. As a not-for-profit membership organisation, we seek to invest our revenues into creating greater value for our members so it's only right that we consult you on what the future purpose and mission of the organisation should be.

Please keep an eye on your emails for an invitation to participate. The number of spaces are limited to allow for thorough discussion. Following the workshops we will be launching an all-member survey in April, to give everyone a chance to participate.

The purpose of this consultation is to create recommendations on what IEMA's purpose and identity should be. We'll also be exploring whether the name is fit for purpose based on these discussions. This recommendation will go to the IEMA Board in September and be presented back to IEMA membership at the 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM).

We'd love for you to get involved and give as much time as you can. We're looking for all members to contribute, regardless of how long you've been a member, how experienced you are or what industry you work in.

Click here to register for a workshop now. You will need your membership number and password to log in. If you don’t know your membership number you will find it an email from IEMA (the last one sent to all members was on Tuesday 17th January 2023).

If you have any questions about this project please don't hesitate to contact: [email protected].