As the professional body for environmental science, the IES has a duty of care to its members, employees and the public to promote and uphold the equality of opportunity, ensuring every person receives fair and equitable treatment regardless of their background or identity – whether it be age, disability, ethnicity, gender or otherwise. This year, we will be taking firmer action to tackle underrepresentation across the sector as part of our commitment to eliminating discrimination and widening participation in environmental science.

To kickstart this campaign, we must first establish a baseline in our membership, revealing how diverse the sector is at present, and whether our own policies promote inclusion. With continual monitoring, benchmarking and analysis, we will be better equipped to recognise where potential barriers lie, how best to augment practices, and where to target resources. Over time, trend data will enable us to see whether our actions to combat inequality have had any measurable impact. This improved understanding and policymaking will ensure the IES are sectoral pioneers in developing best-practice in this crucial arena.

That’s where we need your help
This week, we have emailed members to request completion of our diversity monitoring exercise, aiding us in establishing a baseline across gender, age, ethnicity and citizenship, as well as sector, field and education. Whilst this exercise is entirely voluntary, increased participation will only increase the quality of our data. Therefore, we encourage as many people as possible to take part in this survey.

To get involved, all you need to do is log in to the Members’ Area and complete our online webform in Your Profile, or follow the link in the email sent to you earlier this week. Further information regarding the collection, analysis and storage of these data are presented at the start of the form, however, if you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact our Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Chloe Fletcher.