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 runs assessment training course for EKN

CEP runs successful environmental assessment and ecosystem services training course again in 2018

Dr Bill Sheate, Spela Kolaric and Alex Mackaness delivered once again our very successful one-day training course on environmental assessment and ecosystem services for the Ecosystems Knowledge Network (EKN) this last week to 30 participants, building on the success of previous training courses across the UK during 2016 and 2017.

The one-day training course - on Incorporating ecosystem services and natural capital into environmental assessment - was held at the offices of Tideway, in London on Thursday 22nd November 2018 with participants from consultancies, the environmental agencies from across the UK devolved administrations, academics and practitioners from the UK and elsewhere in Europe.

For further information. including possible future dates, see the EKN link here.

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 commissioned to evaluate the Nurturing Nature Conservation Skills Project

CEP commissioned by Natural ENGLAND to evaluate the Nurturing Nature Conservation Skills Project

CEP has been commissioned by Natural England to undertake the evaluation of the Nurturing Nature Conservation Skills using National Nature Reserves (NNRs) project funded under the Heritage Lottery Fund’s (HLF) Skills for the Future Programme. The evaluation is expected to run until summer 2017.

The aim of the Nurturing Nature Conservation Skills project is to evolve work-based training programmes and develop the skills of people entering the nature conservation sector or wanting to enhance specialist skills. It aims to demonstrate how practice-based learning models can provide the priority heritage skills required to care for England’s most valuable wildlife and geological heritage.

The project has been delivering training through placements across Natural England’s National Nature Reserves. Skills developed include habitat and species identification and recording, ecological surveying, habitat management and landscape restoration.

CEP is carrying out the evaluation of the project to establish whether and how its aims and objectives have been met and to provide evidence of successes. Key elements of the evaluation include:

• Developing qualitative and quantitative evaluation tools;

• Coding and analysing the information delivered by these tools;

• Reporting on the evaluation findings using a methodology that ‘tells the project story’.

Teresa Bennett is the evaluation project manager.

CEP to evaluate Big Lottery Fund's Our Bright Future Programme

Photo credit: 'Blazin Sun' by Stephen Bowler on Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

CEP and partners ERS to evaluate Big Lottery Fund's Our Bright Future Programme

CEP, with partners Economic Research Services (ERS), are undertaking the evaluation of the Our Bright Future Programme. The Our Bright Future Programme aims to empower young people to lead progressive change in their communities and local environment, through a portfolio of 31 projects across the UK, each with a duration of three to five years. The Programme is supported by £33 million of funding from the Big Lottery Fund, and is managed by a consortium of eight organisations led by The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. 

The supported projects range in scale from those with a local focus to national level delivering in multiple areas. All the projects are based around key themes including: environmental action, environmental campaigning, leadership and influencing, and sustainable enterprises and vocational training.

CEP and ERS have been commissioned by the Royal Society of  Wildlife Trusts to undertake the Programme level evaluation. The evaluation aims to:

• Test whether the Our Bright Future Programme has achieved its long term ambitions
• Provide better evidence on how young people can improve their local environment
• Test and evidence whether a partnership way of working that invests in human, social and natural capital, is an effective means by which to deliver greater impact
• Identify good practice and ongoing improvements

Owen White is CEP’s lead for this project.

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.

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.