EPIC conference to focus on ‘implementation’

The Institution of Environmental Sciences have announced a date for their EPIC Autumn Conference, which will take place online on 10th October.

EPIC is the Environmental Policy Implementation Community,  which was launched in February of this year as the result of a merger between the IES and Environmental Protection UK which, given its former incarnation as the Coal Smoke Abatement Society, can claim to be the UK’s oldest environmental charity. 

At the launch, the Chair of EPIC and Air Quality Manager at the City of London, Ruth Calderwood said: ‘Implementing the commitments in the current, and any future, Environmental Improvement Plan, and the Government’s other environmental policies, will be the challenge of the next 10 years. To meet that challenge, we need robust and coherent guidance, as well as evolving evidence of what works at the local level.

‘EPIC will play a key role in that landscape as an expert community by bringing together professionals, local authorities, academia, policy makers, and the public to solve pressing environmental challenges.’

The word ‘implementation’ in the name gives a clue to the focus of the community: the need to ‘turn plans and ambitions into actions and achievements at a local and national level’ and this what the conference will aim to address.

Senior industry and government figures will examine why environmental policy implementation is often ignored or poorly supported, discussing what needs to be done to change this.

The event will also see the launch of EPIC’s Guidance for Local Authorities on Integrating Action on Air Quality and Climate Change, a draft of which was published for consultation earlier this year.

In addition, the conference will feature:

• Implementation Science Workshop, exploring how to provide evidence-informed, implementation support to environmental professionals
• Workshop discussing the results of EPIC’s mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain in practice project
• A range of options for expert presentations on environment delivery challenges
• Talks on the future of local government and more

The conference will take place on 10th October, between 10am-4pm and is free to attend. Reserve your place here.