How to use the IEMA Sustainability Skills Map

How to use the IEMA Sustainability Skills Map

What is the IEMA Sustainability Skills Map?

A Skills Map, sometimes referred to as a ‘Competency Framework’, is a tool that outlines the different skills, knowledge, and competencies required for a role or profession—in IEMA’s case, the sustainability/environmental profession.

The IEMA Sustainability Skills Map is the industry-recognised competency framework for environmental and sustainability professionals, setting the standard for essential skills and knowledge across the sector. It helps individuals benchmark their sustainability knowledge and skills against this framework and plan their continuous professional development (CPD). The framework also ensures that organisations have skilled, competent environmental and sustainability professional who can drive effective change, meet regulatory standards, and support sustainable business practices.

The IEMA Sustainability Skills Map contains 13 key competencies that every sustainability and environmental professional should have. These competencies are grouped into three main areas: Core Knowledge, Contextual Knowledge and Skills.

We recognise that knowledge and expertise will vary depending on where you are in your career journey. That’s why each of the 13 competencies is broken down into our different membership levels, increasing in complexity as you progress through each level of membership, or as your career develops.

To learn more about the Sustainability Skills Map and our different membership levels, please refer to the Skills Map page on our website.

Benefits of Using the IEMA Sustainability Skills Map

Our Skills Map serves multiple purposes. It can be:

An individual tool for sustainability professionals aiming to advance their career path.

A resource for newcomers or career changers to understand the skills required.

A benchmarking tool for organizations to assess team competencies and identify skill gaps.

For Sustainability Professionals:

If you are working in sustainability or environmental fields, benchmarking yourself against the Skills Map can help you:

Identify your strengths.
Map areas for improvement to reach the next career level.

Plan your CPD around the key competencies required in the profession.

Existing IEMA members can identify what areas to focus on, to achieve the next level of membership. Upgrading your membership demonstrates to employers that you’re prepared for the next step in your career.

For Newcomers and Career Changers:

If you’re new to the sustainability/environmental field or are considering a transition into it, understanding the necessary skills and competencies is crucial. IEMA’s Sustainability Skills Map can help you:

Identify your strengths.
Map areas for improvement to reach the next career level.
Plan your CPD around the key competencies required in the profession.
Existing IEMA members can identify what areas to focus on, to achieve the next level of membership. Upgrading your membership demonstrates to employers that you’re prepared for the next step in your career.

For Organizations

As an organisation, you can also use the Sustainability Skills Map with your teams and departments. Understanding the competency levels within your organisation can help you:

Identifying both strengths and gaps in teams.

Create targeted development plan for each team member.

Plan work assignments to align with each your employee’s strengths.
Enhance recruitment efforts by hiring candidates who bring relevant skills and a strong professional commitment, demonstrated by an IEMA Associate Membership or higher as a guarantee of their competency level.

Next steps:

Start by reviewing the Sustainability Skills Map to see which level of membership is most appropriate for you. Then, identify your areas of improvement, and set yourself some goals. Start by prioritising what you want to accomplish this year. Do you want to work in increasing your knowledge of a specific area like the circular economy, develop your analytical skills, or perhaps advance in your career or membership journey?

Whatever your goal may be, start thinking about how you will achieve it, by planning your CPD. Can you learn through webinars, books or will you need some formal training. If it a skill, perhaps you also need some practical ‘on-the-job' experience. At IEMA we offer our members a wealth of resources like webinars, Transform magazine, publications and more to help you achieve your goals.

Every time you complete an item of CPD don’t forget to add it to your CPD record as this will help you reflect on what you learn and how far you’ve come to achieve it.

Published by:

Chris Weston AIEMA

Professional Standards Manager

As professional standards manager, Chris is responsible for ensuring that IEMA's processes, practices, ethics and behaviours are consistent and adhered to by members. Chris also oversees the quality assurance of our processes relating to membership applications, training, assessments and external partners. Chris has worked in the Digital Learning sector for over 15 years, where he was responsible for the full end-to-end development, quality assurance and maintenance of eLearning courses and assessments which were deployed around the world. Outside of work Chris's hobbies include DIY, watching Liverpool FC and walking along the North Wales coast.

Published by:

Mariabelen Malaga-Hardy AIEMA

Senior Marketing Officer

As a Senior Marketing Officer at IEMA, her work experience has been an eclectic blend that has taken her from the archaeological sites of Peru to the bustling streets of the UK, enriching her perspective across diverse fields such as archaeology, business and CSR, environmental management, and marketing. Since joining IEMA in 2020, she has merged this diverse background with a passion for sustainability, spearheading strategic campaigns to drive the high standards required by sustainability professionals and support the growth of the organization's membership