Mapping environmental pressures, people and place: Introducing IMED and the Environmental Equity Index (EEI)

Environmental conditions play an important role in shaping the health, resilience and quality of places. However, pressures such as air pollution, noise, limited access to nature, flooding and heat rarely occur in isolation and are often experienced differently across communities. Understanding where these pressures accumulate, and how they interact with wider health and socioeconomic challenges, is increasingly important for planning, investment and place-based decision-making.

This webinar introduces two complementary mapping and evidence tools developed by the Environment Agency, Natural England, and partners: the Index of Multiple Environmental Deprivation (IMED) and the Environmental Equity Index (EEI). IMED brings together multiple environmental datasets across pollution, nature and climate domains to provide a consistent picture of cumulative environmental pressures across England. EEI builds on this by combining environmental, health and socioeconomic evidence to help identify where different pressures may overlap and where action could deliver the greatest benefit.

This webinar explores how these tools can support planning, green infrastructure, climate resilience, neighbourhood health, investment and wider place-based decision-making. It discusses practical applications emerging from pilot use, and explore future opportunities. Attendees will gain an understanding of what the tools show, how they should be interpreted and how they can be used alongside local knowledge and professional judgement to support better outcomes for people, places and the environment.