The POWER of CIEEM’s Volunteers: In Numbers
The first week of June marks Volunteers’ week – an annual UK-wide campaign which celebrates and recognises the contributions of volunteers. Volunteers are the beating heart of CIEEM: we have over 570 volunteers who give their time and expertise to support all areas of our work and activities. We want to take a moment to demonstrate the incredible impact our volunteers have made to CIEEM and the wider sector over the past year, in numbers.
On average, the Governing Board and Standing Committees alone contribute over 1200 volunteering hours annually to committee related business
We are led by a Governing Board, who provide strategic leadership and direction whilst also ensuring good governance and effective control. The Board delegates some of its responsibilities to sub-committees, and Standing Committees provide strategic advice and operational support to the Board and to the Secretariat.
In 2024, volunteer assessors reviewed 655 individual applications for Associate and Full membership, in addition to 34 applications for Chartership
Volunteer assessors play a crucial role in enabling CIEEM to grow, supporting members to progress professionally, and ensuring the high professional standards expected of CIEEM members are upheld.
In 2024, Member Network committees organised a total of 54 events which were booked onto by over 2900 members and non-members
Member Networks play an active role in enriching our member community by providing opportunities for members to share knowledge, meet like-minded people and learn more about the science and practice of our profession. In 2024, Member Network committees collectively organised a total of 54 events including field trips, site visits, panel discussions, research lectures, networking opportunities, and more.
In 2024, CIEEM Policy Groups responded to 27 consultations or inquiries across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales
Through our policy work, we aim to be a powerful voice for our members in influencing nature conservation legislation, policy and practice in the UK, Ireland and Europe. Volunteers play a crucial role in feeding into our policy work as part of various groups including the Strategic Policy Panel and country specific working groups for England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
In 2024, Professional Standards volunteers updated and published 3 guideline/resources documents to support members, with 4 more on the way
Professional standards volunteers are not only involved in developing practice guidance, but also support projects and initiatives to raise standards within the sector, and have oversight of the process, and participate in the assessment of, complaints against members. All new guidance documents and resources can be found on the resource hub here.
Volunteer Judges reviewed 65 award nominations for the 2025 CIEEM Awards
The annual CIEEM Awards celebrate the outstanding work of ecologists and environmental managers across the UK and Ireland – they celebrate the achievements of individuals, projects and organisations within the ecology and environmental management sector. This year, volunteer judges reviewed 65 nominations across the 16 award categories.
123 members provide professional mentoring to over 500 fellow CIEEM members through the mentoring platform
Mentoring supports CIEEM Members with their career and professional development through facilitating the opportunity for reflective conversations. knowledge sharing and fostering new professional contacts. Through the Mentoring platform mentees are paired with a fellow CIEEM Members based on their personal and professional development goals. All CIEEM members can access the Mentoring platform as a Mentor, or Mentee at any stage of their career.
To all our volunteers – whether you serve on a committee, assess applications, contribute to policy work, deliver events, provide mentoring, develop resources, review new initiatives, share expertise, and everything in between – thank you. CIEEM simply could not achieve what it does without your dedication. As we celebrate Volunteers’ Week, we want to say thank you for all that you do, to support members and advance our profession.