IEMA has launched a competition which challenges students to design a new generation of IEMA membership identification.

IEMA is working with the national union of students (NUS) to challenge those studying at universities to design a new generation of IEMA membership identification. Through NUS’s Ethical and Environmental Department, IEMA is aiming to find an innovative alternative to the traditional membership card used by the Institute until 2010. The results of a survey that year revealed that most IEMA members had concerns over the use and appearance of the existing cards and, due to the associated costs and environmental impact of 15,000 cards being issued a year, the decision was made to cease production of physical cards until a more suitable, useful and sustainable method of ID could be introduced (an electronic version is already available upon request). With a variety of options available, each with its own environmental benefits and costs, the search for the ideal format has proved to be challenging.

Through the student environmental enterprise competition 2013, IEMA is now looking to those studying environment, design or business to identify what members really need from their membership ID and what form it should take. By combining environmental knowledge with design, creativity and teamwork, the Institute is asking students to transform the way IEMA members think about proof of membership. The competition judges – James Thorne, head of membership service delivery at IEMA, Jo Kemp, Green Impact programme manager (NUS), and Toby Hodgkinson, partner at Opus Print –

will be looking for a business case that demonstrates excellence and creativity in the following areas:

  • Usability and appeal – how will it work in practice?
  • Feasibility on a large scale – at least 15,000 units.
  • Sustainability – evidence that potential impacts have been considered and minimised at each stage of the production, use and reuse/disposal phases.
  • Cost–benefit– does the new ID present any revenue or reuse opportunities at the end of its life instead of disposal?

The individual, or team, with the most outstanding entry will win £1,000, plus one year’s IEMA Student membership,

presented at the NUS awards ceremony in June. The winner(s) will then be invited to one of IEMA’s “Leading the way” events to present their solution to the UK’s environment leaders. Following the competition, IEMA will assess launching the winning idea as the new format for membership ID. Members will be updated on the submissions and the winning entry through future issues ofthe environmentalist and via iema.net.

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