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Taking action

At the heart of IEMA is a community of professional experts working to make the future better.

Practitioner membership makes you part of this community. It recognises everything you’re doing to help make business future-proof while giving you the practical support you need. We can help you deliver on your sustainability goals, with information, best practice and tools to put you ahead on ideas and innovation. You can also get the training you need to increase your knowledge and skills in the field. You can expect to build your influence and connect with others like you across IEMA, as part of the Practitioner community.

Command words

A number of command words are used to help applicants understand the level of detail required. These include:

Identify/Recognise: Stating the name or identifying the characteristics/main point of something. Normally a name, word or phrase will be sufficient, provided the reference is clear.

Outline: Stating the most important features of something. Equivalent to a thin description but involves more than simply listing.

Describe: Providing a thorough description and enough detail about an item for a learner to have a clear picture of it.

Explain: Providing a detailed response (definition and explanation). ‘Explain’ may involve giving reasons for something, linking causes and effects, drawing parallels, pointing to relationships or showing how theory can be applied.

Assess/Analyse: Subject something to critical analysis in order to make a judgement about its value, use, suitability, integrity or accuracy.

Interpret: Interpret a set of data by describing the main trends, highlighting any anomalies, then providing an explanation of the data based on knowledge and understanding of the particular subject area.

Monitor: Observe and check the progress or quality of (something) over a period of time; keep under systematic review.

Demonstrate/Show: Provide a practical exhibition and explanation of how a skill, task, tool, technique or system is performed.

Apply/Implement: Carry out or put into practice a specific skill, task, tool, technique or system.

Deliver: Produce the promised, desired, or expected results.

Challenge: To question the validity of something e.g. a practice, behaviour, system or rule.

Core knowledge competencies

  • 1. Fundamentals of Sustainability
  • 2. Principles and Issues of Business Governance

1. Explain the implications of global trends for the environment, for society, for the economy and for organisations and the role of an Environment/Sustainability practitioner in overcoming these challenges. 

Prescribed Content

The Practitioner applicant will be familiar with:

  • Mega Trends: Climate Change (GHG and climate consequences), population, global middle class, urbanisation, pivot to asia-pacific market, resource scarcity, biodiversity loss
  • Sustainable Development: Brundtland definition; triple bottom line (environment, society and economy)
  • Sustainable Capital: Natural, Social, Human, Financial and Manufactured/Built
  • Environmental Limits: Planetary boundaries concept (Stockholm Institute)
  • Sustainability Skills: IEMA Skills Map (overview of all the various skills required and introduction to module 3 where skills will be explored in further detail)

2. Explain sustainable business/governance models, their underlying principles and their relationship with organisations, products and services.

Prescribed Content

The Practitioner applicant will be familiar with:

Corporate Responsibility, Corporate Sustainability and Sustainable Business: IEMA-GACSO lexicon definition

Resolving: Finding a complete solution, rather than accepting impacts in one area are offset by benefits elsewhere

Safe Operating Space: Rockstrom, Raworth

Sustainable Business Models: Doughnut economics, green economy, blue economy, circular economy

Technical knowledge competencies

The technical knowledge section is split into environment and socio-economic. Those who wish to take the environment exam related to this standard will be assessed on only the environment-related learning outcomes but those who wish to take the sustainability exam will be assessed on the environment and socio-economic related learning outcomes.

  • 3. Issues and Principles
  • 4. Policy, Regulation and Legislation
  • 5. Management and Assessment Tools
  • 6. Innovative and Leading Practices

3. Explain environmental or socio-economic principles and their relationship with organisations, products and services

Prescribed Content

The Practitioner applicant will be familiar with:

Environment:

  • Natural Cycles: Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Water
  • Ecological Systems: Plants and animals and their interactions with non-living components including energy
  • Ecosystem Services: Supporting, Provisioning, Regulating and Cultural
  • Environmental Limits: Planetary boundaries concept (Stockholm Institute)
  • Pollution Sources, Pathways and Receptors: Including the concept of pollution linkages

Socio-economic:

  • Social Protection Floor: access to essential health care (including maternity care), basic income security for children, persons unable to work and older persons.

4. Explain major policy and legislation and their implications for organisations, products and services

Prescribed Content

The Practitioner applicant will be familiar with:

Environment

  • Types of Law: Common, Statute, Civil and Criminal law (in jurisdictions where they exist)
  • Policy Instruments: Fiscal, legislative, market and voluntary instruments
  • Principles of environmental policy: Polluter Pays, Precautionary Principle, Best Available Technique, Hierarchy Approach, Producer Responsibility, Lifecycle Thinking
  • Environmental Legislation: Legislation in relation to natural environment, air, water, land, energy, waste, resources, climate change, planning and producer responsibility
  • Environmental Regulators: National regulators appropriate to country or region of operation/activity (in jurisdictions where they exist)
  • Penalties: Civil and criminal sanctions (in jurisdictions where they exist)

Socio-economic 

  • Types of Law: Common, Statute, Civil and Criminal law (in jurisdictions where they exist)
  • Policy Instruments: Fiscal, legislative, market and voluntary instruments
  • Principles of socio-economic policy: People Centred, responsive and participatory, multi-level, conducted in partnership, sustainable, dynamic
  • Social Legislation: Legislation in relation to human rights, equality, gender, labour rights, health and safety, inclusivity, diversity, engagement, healthcare, income security, and well being
  • Regulators: National regulators appropriate to country or region of operation/activity (in jurisdictions where they exist)
  • Penalties: Civil and criminal sanctions (in jurisdictions where they exist)

5. Explain major and relevant tools, techniques, systems and practices, their application and how they can be used to develop sustainable products and services and improve sustainability performance.

Prescribed Content

The Practitioner applicant will be familiar with:

Environment

  • Application: purpose, stages in the process of implementation, relevant standards and guidelines
  • Environmental Management Tools: Focus within this course should be on Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and Audit (energy, environment).
  • Brief coverage of the following: Environmental Management Plans (EMP), Impact Assessment (EIA, SEA, EcIA), Lifecycle Thinking (LCA, footprinting, hotspot analysis), Corporate Reporting
  • People: Sustainability profession, leaders (organisational), wider professions, everyone
  • Verification and Assurance: Including accounting principles ‘materiality, responsiveness and completeness’

Socio-economic

  • Application: purpose, stages in the process of implementation, relevant standards and guidelines
  • Socio-Economic Management Tools: Impact Assessment (Social, Health, Human Rights), Socio-Economic Surveys, Stakeholder Engagement, Auditing (labour, human rights), Corporate Reporting
  • People: Sustainability profession, leaders (organisational), wider professions, everyone
  • Verification and Assurance: Including accounting principles ‘materiality, responsiveness and completeness’

6. Explain the role of innovation and other leading practices in developing sustainable products and services and providing sustainable solutions.

Prescribed Content

The Practitioner applicant will be familiar with:

It is expected that a variety of case studies are provided from different sectors e.g. energy, transport, manufacturing, the built environment and agriculture.

Skills for sustainable leadership

  • 7. Analytical Thinking
  • 8. Problem Reframing and Resolution
  • 9. Effective Communication
  • 10. Relationship Development
  • 11. Resilience, Risk and Continual Improvement
  • 12. Delivering Sustainable Solutions
  • 13. Leadership for Change

7. Collect and critically analyse data, and report information that informs decision making. 

Prescribed Content

The Practitioner applicant will be familiar with:

  • Data: Absolute and Normalised data, Qualitative and Quantitative data

8. Identify problems and assess opportunities that deliver innovative and sustainable products and services. 

Prescribed Content

The Practitioner applicant will be familiar with:

  • Innovations: Academic research, developments by competitors, other sectors and wider stakeholders, new business models

9. Determine, implement and measure methods of effective communication.

Prescribed Content

The Practitioner applicant will be familiar with:

  • Internal Stakeholders: Leadership Team, Operations, Finance, Other Specific, Departments, All Staff
  • External Stakeholders: Partners, Clients, Customers, Suppliers, Shareholders, Regulators, Local Community

10. Identify and engage in two way communication with stakeholders.

Prescribed Content

The Practitioner applicant will be familiar with:

  • Broader Structures: Different functions in the same organisation; value-chain, sectoral and cross-sector, between different countries

11. Apply or implement tools, techniques, systems and practices that identify opportunities and risks

Prescribed Content

The Practitioner applicant will be familiar with:

  • Risks and Opportunities: At an operational and organisational level, risks and opportunities to the environment, risks and opportunities presented by a changing environment

12. Deliver projects and programmes that achieve performance improvement

13. Implement change and transformation

Practitioner Membership overview

  • What is it?

    The benchmark for environment and sustainability professionals with sleeves rolled up; membership for the working experts who are driving change.

  • Who is it for?

    Professionals who are working across organisations at an operational level, and pursuing a career path in environment and sustainability.

  • Where on the journey?

    Practitioner membership is open to anyone with the right competencies. It makes a natural step from Graduate or Associate membership and is a recognised route towards Full IEMA membership.

  • What do you get?

    Badge and suffix: Gain professional recognition and continue your development

    1. Share your knowledge and expertise on your social channels and profiles with the IEMA membership digital badge and suffix
    2. Demonstrate your level of competency using the IEMA Sustainability Skills Map
    3. Record your CPD activity with IEMA's portal to show how you are up to speed with the latest thinking and developments

    Events and networking: Connect globally with sustainability professionals

    1. Free access to IEMA Connect, the annual environment and sustainability conference
    2. Free access to UK and world regional networks and IEMA Futures events
    3. Discounts on industry events through IEMA partnerships
    4. Opportunity to volunteer for a UK or world steering group

    Webinars: Learn with exclusive video content – live and recorded

    1. Free access to member-only webinar programmes, such as the How To series
    2. Exclusive access to our watch again video library (1,000+ videos)

    Toolkits: Practical guidances, toolkits and other resources

    1. Free access to more than 60 guidance documents and toolkits in each of the Policy and Practice areas
    2. Latest developments straight to your inbox through exclusive membership email updates

    Transform magazine: Keep relevant with Transform – our member magazine

    1. 6 print editions of Transform magazine per year delivered straight to your door
    2. Regular digital editions of Transform and content by guest editors
    3. Access to partner webinars

    Compliance platform: Be confident in your compliance with Navigate-Environment

    1. Free access to Navigate-Environment Lite, a dedicated information service to help you stay informed on all the latest guidance and legislation
    2. 30% discount on the complete Navigate-Environment platform

    Policy engagement: Share your experience and help shape public policy

    1. Exclusive access to join IEMA's policy networks: Climate Change and Energy, Biodiversity and Natural Capital, Circular Economy, Impact Assessment, Environmental Management, Social Sustainability or Sustainable Finance
    2. Feed into IEMA positions, statements and reports on key sustainability issues
    3. Opportunity to join roundtable discussions with senior parliamentarians

    News, blogs and podcast: Stay informed with the latest sustainability news

    1. Be the first to know of the latest news and developments via iema.net
    2. Get the IEMA podcast straight to your inbox
    3. Read and contribute to the IEMA Blog
  • How do you get it?

    Show us what you’ve achieved in the workplace and what you’ve learnt in your role, through an online professional assessment, which we’ll guide you through.

  • What does your organisation get?

    The confidence that your employees are equipped, connected, fully up to date and in touch with learning opportunities that will help them.

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Ready to become a PIEMA?

Practitioner membership makes you part of this community. It recognises everything you’re doing to help make business future-proof while giving you the practical support you need.  Join now or upgrade your Graduate or Associate membership. 

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