CEP delivering EKN training - upcoming course dates

INCORPORATING NATURAL CAPITAL AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES INTO ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS: EXPLORING BEST PRACTICE

UPCOMING DATE FOR THIS COURSE IN 2020:

• 10:00 am - 04:30 pm, Tuesday 10th March (The Castle at Taunton, Castle Green, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 1NF)

This course, which is now in its forth year, will equip you to inform clients or colleagues on the merits of including the ecosystem services and natural capital concepts in environmental assessment processes. There is now strong interest in what ecosystem services, natural capital and nature-based solutions mean for Environmental Impact Assessment, Strategic Environmental Assessment and Sustainability Appraisal. 

The course is delivered by Dr Bill Sheate and Spela Kolaric of Collingwood Environmental Planning and organised by the Ecosystems Knowledge Network.

Find out more and book at: https://ecosystemsknowledge.net/events/training-environmental-assessment

CEP delivering EKN training

Incorporating natural capital and ecosystem services into environmental assessments: Exploring best practice

Two dates for this course in 2019:

• 26th June 2019, Leeds (Coth Hall Court, LS21 2HA).

• 27th November 2019, Central London (Cotton Centre, SE1 2QG)

This course, which is now in its third year, will equip you to inform clients or colleagues on the merits of including the ecosystem services and natural capital concepts in environmental assessment processes. There is now strong interest in what ecosystem services, natural capital and nature-based solutions mean for Environmental Impact Assessment, Strategic Environmental Assessment and Sustainability Appraisal.  The course is delivered by Dr Bill Sheate and Spela Kolaric of Collingwood Environmental Planning and organised by the Ecosystems Knowledge Network.

Find out more and book at: https://ecosystemsknowledge.net/events/training-environmental-assessment

CEP and Brussels-based MILIEU renew their commitment to collaborate

CEP AND MILIEU RENEW THEIR COMMITMENT TO COLLABORATE THROUGH SIGNING A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

CEP and Milieu - a multi-disciplinary consultancy based in Brussels specialising in providing high quality legal and policy services primarily for public sector clients - have been collaborating for more than 14 years.  In acknowledgement of our longstanding working relationship and successful collaborations, we are delighted to announce that we have renewed our Memorandum of Understanding which covers our mutual commitment to collaborate where appropriate in the provision of environmental consultancy services and to share expertise, knowledge and resources.

CEP and Milieu have been working together since 2005.  During this period we have jointly delivered some exciting, innovative and influential projects for both the European Commission and the European Environment Agency (EEA).  This work includes projects related to: policy evaluation and impact assessment; SEA; state of the environment reporting; environmental futures assessment; climate proofing policy; water management; science-policy interface; and environmental governance.

Ric Eales, CEP’s Managing Director, commented:

“We enjoy excellent relationships with many partners in the UK and across Europe, but our relationship with Milieu has been particularly rewarding and successful over the last 14 years.  Over this time we have worked together on numerous projects particularly for European institutions and the success of these collaborations is to a great extent down to our shared culture and commitment to delivering quality services to our clients.  We look forward to our relationship with Milieu continuing to grow and strengthen in the years to come”.

This agreement highlights CEP’s continuing commitment to service our European institution clients, such as the European Commission and European Environment Agency (EEA).  Our ongoing work for European institutions includes projects on important topics, such as urban sustainability, emerging environmental risks and foresight, improving access to environmental information and justice, and the effectiveness and implementation of environmental regulations.

For more information contacts Ric Eales (Managing Director) r.eales@cep.co.uk

CEP's Ric Eales appointed Visiting Professor

CEP’s Ric Eales appointed visiting professor at the university of strathclyde, department of civil and environmental engineering

Photo credit: Montrose Street, Glasgow © MSeses / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

We are pleased to announce that Ric Eales, CEP’s Managing Director, has been appointed a Visiting Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Strathclyde.

CEP has a long relationship with the University of Strathclyde and has collaborated on research and teaching over many years.  We have explored together issues as diverse as rural land use management, climate change impacts on transport infrastructure, social impacts of off-shore renewables, and stakeholder engagement in controversial proposed energy developments.

Ric’s appointment, which is a great honour, will reinforce this relationship into the future.  Ric is looking forward to working with both the staff and students in this innovative and multidisciplinary department.

For more information contacts Ric Eales r.eales@cep.co.uk / ric.eales@strath.ac.uk

CEP supporting Evaluation of SEA Directive

CEP TO FACILITATE A WORKSHOP FOR EUROPEAN COMMISSION ON EVALUATION OF THE SEA DIRECTIVE 

As part of the Study to support the REFIT evaluation of Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment (SEA Directive) CEP will support the project lead, Milieu Ltd, in delivering a workshop for the European Commission on evaluation of the SEA Directive.

The purpose of the workshop is to present and discuss the emerging findings of the SEA REFIT study with the members of the panel and a wide professional audience including participants from EU member states environmental and other authorities and institutions, European Commission, NGOs, companies and industry associations, practice and academia.

The workshop will be held in Brussels on 6th December.

For more information contact Dr Bill Sheate (Technical Director) or Spela Kolaric (Senior Consultant).      

Environmental assessment and ecosystem services training now booking

Incorporating natural capital and ecosystem services into environmental assessment: Exploring best practice

CEP, in association with Ecosystems Knowledge Network (EKN), will once again be running this popular CPD-level one-day training course in London in November 2018.

“Very informative. Trainers very knowledgeable and approachable. Use of case study
examples ideal.” Course participant, London May 2016.

The concepts of natural capital and ecosystem services are becoming prominent across Europe, along-side growing interests in nature-based solutions. There is now strong interest in what ecosystem services, natural capital and nature-based solutions mean for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Sustainability Appraisal (SA). This training course will cover:

• Why these concepts are useful in environmental assessment
• How the concepts can be used in EIA, SA and SEA
• How you might use ecosystem services in theory and practice
• Challenges and opportunities (data requirements; legal compliance; guidance)

Date and venue: 22nd November 2018. Tideway, Cottons Centre, Cottons Lane, London, SE1 2QG.

Who is the training for? The course is for professionals involved in environmental assessment processes (EIA, SEA and SA) across diverse sectors including built infrastructure and development planning, transport, energy, water resources and flood risk management.  It will be applicable to environmental assessment practitioners and stakeholders working from project level to strategic plans; and in relation to terrestrial and marine environments.

Trainers

Dr Bill Sheate: Technical Director of Collingwood Environmental Planning and Reader in Environmental Assessment at Imperial College London.

Špela Kolarič: Senior Consultant at Collingwood Environmental Planning. An environmental and spatial planning specialist.

For prices and booking visit the EKN website at:
https://ecosystemsknowledge.net/events/training-environmental-assessment

CEP's Dr Bill Sheate to give lecture at LSE

Dr Bill Sheate will give a lecture to LSE Masters students on EIA

CEP's Dr Bill Sheate is to give a lecture titled Environmental Impact Assessment: EIA and SEA to students of the Executive MSc in Cities programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) on 13th December 2017.

CEP's Dr Peter Phillips awarded Honorary Lectureship

CEP's Dr Peter Phillips has been appointed as an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Strathclyde

CEP's Dr Peter Phillips has been appointed as an Honorary Lecturer within the University of Strathclyde's Faculty of Engineering. This appointment recognises Peter's service, since 2012, as a guest lecturer within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Peter teaches a class on Applied Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and supervises / examines MSc dissertation projects. He also leads the development of collaborations between CEP and the University, including: the Land Use Strategy (LUS) Delivery Evaluation Project for the Scottish Government; and developing climate change adaptation indicators for transport infrastructure, for ClimateXChange. 

CEP carried out National Park SEA

Photo credit: 'The Days Ending' by john mcsporran on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

CEP carried out Partnership Plan SEA for the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority

CEP was commissioned to carry out an environmental assessment and prepare an Environmental Report as part of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority's updated National Park Partnership Plan (NPPP) 2018-2023. The NPPP is the high level management plan for the Park setting out the strategic direction for all lower level plans and projects. It also requires Ministerial approval.  The SEA Environmental Report including non-technical summary can be viewed here.

The project was undertaken by CEP's Dr Peter Phillips and Dr Bill Sheate. Bill and Peter are also delivering training in May and June this year on ecosystem services and environmental assessment for the Ecosystems Knowledge Network. Full details are available here.

Training courses in natural capital and participatory planning now booking

CEP TRAINING COURSES FOR EKN IN NATURAL CAPITAL AND PARTICIPATORY PLANNING NOW BOOKING

Dr Bill Sheate and Dr Peter Phillips will deliver a series of training courses for the Ecosystems Knowledge Network (EKN) during 2017, following the success of our one-day training course on Incorporating ecosystem services into environmental assessment run in London and Manchester during 2016.

The Ecosystem Service and Environmental Assessment course will be run again in Scotland and in Birmingham in May and June 2017 respectively.  In addition, a new one-day training course in Participatory Land Use Planning will run back-to-back with that course:-

INCORPORATING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND NATURAL CAPITAL INTO ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

• Battleby Conference Centre, Perth, Central Scotland, 10th May 2017. With kind support from Scottish Natural Heritage.
• Austin Court, Central Birmingham B1 2NP, 8th June 2017.

PARTICIPATORY LAND USE PLANNING AND THE ECOSYSTEM APPROACH: WHAT, WHEN AND HOW

• Battleby Conference Centre, Perth PH1 3EW, 9th May 2017.  With kind support from Scottish Natural Heritage.

For further information and links for booking see below:

CEP's Dr Bill Sheate gave a lecture at LSE

Dr Bill Sheate gave a lecture to LSE Master's students on EIA

CEP's Dr Bill Sheate gave a lecture titled Environmental Impact Assessment: EIA and SEA to students of the Executive MSc in Cities programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) on 15 December 2016.

The future of SA and SEA

Photo credit: London December 1 2014 001 Bloomberg Place by David Hold on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Practitioners respond to the LPEG's report TO PROVE THE VALUE OF SA AND SEA

CEP’s Ric Eales and Bill Sheate have co-authored a paper, prepared by a group of sustainability appraisal (SA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA) practitioners from eight consultancies (AECOM, Amec Foster Wheeler, CEP, Levett-Therivel, LUC, Ramboll Environ, Steve Lees Planning and TRL) and Oxford Brookes University, in response to the Local Plans Expert Group’s (LPEG) 2016 Report on Local Plans to the Communities Secretary and to the Minister of Housing and Planning.

The paper - ‘Sustainability appraisal: from LPEG’s “little genuine assistance” to making a real sustainable difference’ – challenges the LPEG report’s overall dismissive tone regarding SA/SEA, whilst acknowledging some areas of improvement are needed.  It focusses on developing a ‘next generation’ approach to SA/SEA, within the context of Brexit, which improves plan making and stakeholder engagement and contributes to more sustainable development.

The authors welcome LPEG’s interest in improving the process, but conclude that they believe that SA/SEA is a robust, insightful tool, informative to plan makers and those affected by plans and, if done well, can help plug a key local democratic deficit.

The paper is available here.

Webinar taster for ecosystem services and environmental assessment training

Photo: Bill Sheate - managed realignment, Fingringhoe, Essex.

Incorporating ecosystem services into environmental assessment training course - taster webinar recording NOW available

Ecosystem services are becoming increasingly prominent as a framework for linking the environment and people’s well-being. There is strong interest in what ecosystem services mean for processes such as Environmental Impact Assessment, Strategic Environmental Assessment and Sustainability Appraisal. One key difference is the framing of the natural environment as an opportunity or benefit as opposed to a constraint or backdrop to absorb impacts.

This webinar by CEP's Dr Bill Sheate for the Ecosystems Knowledge Network and the Irish Forum on Natural Capital introduces the topic, pointing to some of the resources and examples available. It was recorded on Friday, October 7, 2016 10:00 am and lasts for 30 minutes.

EU publishes SEA Directive Effectiveness study

CEP a contributing author TO European Commission Study on the effectiveness of the SEA Directive (Directive 2001/42/EC)

An important review study of the SEA Directive, to which CEP contributed, was published recently by the European Union.  The objective of the Study concerning the preparation of the report on the application and effectiveness of the SEA Directive (Directive 2001/42/EC) was to provide the Commission with information on Member States’ progress and challenges experienced in the application of the Council Directive 2001/42/EC (‘SEA Directive’) on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment for the period 2007-2014.

The study analysed the practical implementation of the SEA Directive across all 28 Member States and then evaluated the performance of the legislation to understand how environmental considerations have been integrated into planning processes and the extent to which the SEA Directive contributes to achieving better and more coherent planning.  The study found that the SEA Directive has brought about some significant benefits to strategic planning, while also making recommendations that could further improve its efficiency, effectiveness and coherence into the future.

Dr Bill Sheate and Ric Eales from CEP contributed to the study as expert advisors, in association with Milieu Ltd, Brussels.

CEP's Dr Bill Sheate at Environment Analyst Infrastructure Conference

CEP at Environment Analyst Infrastructure conference

Dr Bill Sheate will be running a round-table discussion on Exploring Biodiversity Offsetting & How It Can Work In Practice at the Managing the Environmental Impacts of UK Infrastructure Development conference, produced jointly by Environment Analyst and Environment OnSite, to be held in London on 21 June 2016.  The conference is intended to provide an opportunity for environmental consultants to come together with their contractors and clients and share best practice examples of what can be achieved when environmental impacts are considered early in the design and development process.

Dr Sheate led the evaluation project undertaken by CEP for Defra on the Biodiversity Offsetting Pilot Scheme 2012-2014.

Ecosystem services and environmental assessment training delivered by CEP

Photo courtesy of Edvard Glücksman

CEP delivers one-day training workshop on Incorporating ecosystem services into environmental assessment

Dr Bill Sheate and Dr Peter Phillips delivered a very successful one-day training course in London on 24 May 2016 on Incorporating ecosystem services into environmental assessment, on behalf of the Ecosystems Knowledge Network (EKN).  The course is being run again in Manchester on 29 June 2016, at Manchester Metropolitan University's Business School - just a few places are still available; booking is available online here.

Comments from some of the participants at the London training:

“Grateful for an excellent day’s training with @EcosystemsNet in London”

“Very informative. Trainers very knowledgeable and approachable”

“Really useful, informative day”

CEP’S DR BILL SHEATE SPEAKING AT EU WORKSHOP ON SEA

Image: 'Charlemagne is back in Europe' by Eddy Van 3000 (CC BY-SA 2.0)

DR BILL SHEATE WILL BE SPEAKING AT A EUROPEAN COMMISSION WORKSHOP IN BRUSSELS ON 18 May 2016 ON THE STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT DIRECTIVE

Dr Bill Sheate, Technical Director at CEP, is an invited speaker at a workshop organised by the European Commission in Brussels on 18 May on “The application and effectiveness of the SEA Directive (Directive 2001/42/EC)".  

Bill will be talking on “How Strategic is Strategic Environmental Assessment? The importance of ‘tiering’ with EIA”, looking at how the relationship between SEA and EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) has evolved in the EU, and how a better appreciation of this 'tiering' between different decision and assessment levels can help to make environmental assessment more efficient and effective. Bill has undertaken a number of studies on EIA and SEA for the European Commission over the years, and has been involved with the EIA and SEA Directives since their early conception from the early 1980s. 

CEP authors contribute to international SEA book

CEP authors contribute to new book: European and International Experiences of Strategic Environmental Assessment: Recent Progress and Future Prospects

Bill Sheate and Ric Eales are co-authors of Chapter 8[1]  in the recently published Routledge text book European and International Experiences of Strategic Environmental Assessment: Recent Progress and Future Prospects, edited by Barry Sadler and Jiří Dusík [2].  

This book brings together the latest thinking in Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and considers the key question of whether the processes are having a positive impact on strategic decision making, both in Europe and worldwide.  Bill and Ric draw on their experiences with SEA practice and the wider literature to examine the effectiveness of national SEA systems in Europe. They identify main trends and developments; key issues and perspectives; key lessons regarding process effectiveness and quality of practice; and future directions and prospects.[3]

[1] Chapter 8: Effectiveness of European national SEA systems: How are they making a difference?

[2] Published 24 March 2016.  Look inside the book here for contents and introduction.

[3] See here for a pre-print of the chapter.

CEP providing environmental assessment training for EKN

One-day training courses in environmental assessment and ecosystem services being provided by CEP for the EcosystemS Knowledge Network 

CEP is providing two one-day training courses on Incorporating ecosystem services into environmental assessment in the UK on behalf of the Ecosystems Knowledge Network (EKN). The training days, which count for IEMA CPD, will be run in London (24 May 2016) and Manchester (29 June 2016).

The course is being offered for those who commission or undertake formal environmental assessments of all types in the UK, as well as those who use them, and will cover:

• Why might the ecosystem service concept be useful in environmental assessment?
• How can the concept be used in SA, SEA and EIA?
• How might you use the concept? (theoretically and practically)
• How is the concept actually being used?
• Challenges and opportunities (data requirements; legal compliance; guidance).

The trainers will be Dr Bill Sheate (Technical Director, CEP) and Dr Peter Phillips (Senior Consultant, CEP)

Further details and booking are available here. 

Honorary appointment at University of Manchester

Bill Sheate appointed an Honorary Professorial Research Fellow at University of Manchester

Dr Bill Sheate - Technical Director at CEP - has been appointed an Honorary Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Manchester, in the School of Environment, Education and Development.  

This continues a long-standing relationship Bill has had, since 2007, as an Honorary Senior Research Fellow with the School's Planning and Environmental Management theme.  Bill's research and teaching collaboration with Manchester is focused around environmental impact assessment, strategic environmental assessment, environmental policy and green infrastructure.