The IAQM is the professional body for air quality professionals in the UK, acting as the voice for air quality by producing useful and timely guidance on matters affecting air quality professionals and by responding to Government consultations. The IAQM is committed to maintaining, enhancing and promoting the highest standards of working practices in the field and supports the development of professionals working in the sector.

We provide support to the work of the IAQM committee and the IAQM acts as the air quality community within the IES, providing support for professionals specialising in ambient and indoor air quality through events, tailored CPD opportunities and guidance. The IAQM also has a dedicated Early Career Network for those in the early stages of their career.

Events | Guidance | Membership

The Climate Action Community is an IES Challenge-Led Community focussed on championing the work of professionals in the environmental sciences in climate action, promoting the work of experts and evidence around climate change and driving change to ensure adaptation and mitigation measures are accurate, ambitious and achievable. The Community champions interdisciplinary working and a systems approach to the interlinked crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

This Community was established as the time-limited COP26 Community and transitioned into the permanent Climate Action Community after COP26. 

CEDHE provides representation and leadership to the environmental education communities. CEDHE and the IES work to ensure young people from all backgrounds are inspired to begin and sustain an environmental education – from primary to postgraduate.

CEDHE are an active networking organisation enhancing the quality of outcomes for education institutions teaching environmental disciplines. They facilitate connections between members and develop new avenues of international co-operation within the environmental science community.

Membership is for Further or Higher Education institutions delivering environmental programmes. All academic staff within the environmental unit can become part of the CEDHE network, whether they are involved in teaching, learning or research.

Visit the CEDHE website

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Community provides a forum for thought-provoking, critical conversations around EIA from a science-based perspective. The Community aims to connect and support environmental scientists and practitioners working across a range of specialisms involved in the EIA process and to facilitate meaningful discussion between disciplines on the key issues facing the sector.

The Community champions the ethos of utilising EIA as a tool to support decision-making which leads to better environmental impacts from developments and is focussed on providing environmental professionals involved in EIAs with the knowledge and skills to support this. 

The Land Condition Community is a member-led special interest group of land condition professionals spanning sectors and job types, dedicated to promoting best practice in the specialism. The Community steers the IES activities related to land condition and supports the development of tailored membership services, exploring synergistic collaborations with key stakeholders in the sector where relevant. The Community also has a dedicated network for Early Career Professionals, providing valuable opportunities for professional development and peer-to-peer learning.

The Community is led by a six-person Steering Group. 

The Marine & Coastal Science Community is a community of like-minded professionals looking to promote an interdisciplinary approach to marine and coastal issues to support the sustainable management of our coasts and oceans. They aim to develop tailored professional development opportunities to support researchers and professionals in the marine and coastal sector and to further advance the specialism through the promotion of their work and engagement with key stakeholders.

The Environmental Policy Implementation Community (EPIC) brings together members from across the environmental sciences to share their experiences and call for ambitious and deliverable policy, as well as providing members with the knowledge, insights and tools to help them deliver on the ground. EPIC believes that the development of effective policy depends on combining the knowledge and experiences of those who shape and formulate policy with that of those who implement policy in practice.

The community works alongside the other IES communities to engage with related areas of interest such as land, air, noise, nature recovery, local climate action plans and the environmental dimensions of broader health and welfare initiatives. EPIC’s work addresses policy implementation from as broad a perspective as necessary to achieve its aims and mission, including consideration of the connected processes of policy design and evaluation.

EPIC membership is available for IES members and local authority environmental professionals - find out more about who qualifies for EPIC membership.

Join EPIC here.

Our projects:

BNG in Practice

• BNG in Practice event series
• BNG in Practice: One year on from mandatory implementation (Feb 2025)

Air Quality

• Update of Planning for Air Quality Guidance with the IAQM
• Integrating Action on Air Quality & Climate Change: A Guide for Local Authorities (Oct 2024)

Implementation Science

• An introduction to implementation science

Local Nature Recovery Startegies (2024)

• How do we ensure that Local Nature Recovery Strategies drive delivery? (May 2024)

For more information, please contact EPIC's Policy Officer Ellie Savage (ellie@the-ies.org).

The community was launched in February 2024 following the merger of Environmental Protection UK with the IES.

National Contaminated Land Officers Group

In 2025 the National Contaminated Land Officers Group (NCLOG) joined the IES as part of EPIC.

Recent work produced by NCLOG:

• A Regulator’s Guide to Cover Systems and their Verification (March 2024)

If you are a contaminated land officer and are interested in joining NCLOG, please contact Ellie Savage (ellie@the-ies.org).

The FWR Community was launched following the IES inheriting the mission of the Foundation for Water Research (FWR) in 2022. The Community is a cohesive, innovative, and independent-thinking community of water professionals offering guidance and strategic thought leadership for the IES’s water activities. The FWR Community uses an integrated, systems-thinking approach to water issues and their interactions with land and air. The FWR Community is led by the FWR Committee and is informed by three technical panels.