South East Queensland Division

Ethics in Environmental Practice –

Conflicts, Challenges and Credibility

Date:               Thursday  6 July 2006

Time:              2.00pm – 6.00pm  (includes a networking session).

Venue:            The Auditorium, Level 6 Riverside Centre, 123 Eagle Street, Brisbane.

Every day, individuals and organisations at various levels find themselves in situations that may conflict with what is considered to be ethically and morally correct, placing them (and possibly others) in a decision-making position that may potentially jeopardize their career/credibility, either in the near future, or years later.

In these situations, it is often difficult to make a decision that meets the needs of the individual, the client, and the employer.  The environmental industry is no exception.

Environmental practitioners face ethical dilemmas constantly – EIANZ has developed a Code of Ethics, but the profession is very broad, ranging from contaminated land and water quality engineers/consultants to biological scientists, regulators, mine site rehabilitators, environmental auditors and management system experts, planners, lawyers and insurers.

EIANZ held a seminar looking at these very issues and what it means to practitioners in the environmental industry, “Ethics in Environmental Practice: Conflicts, Challenges and Credibility”. 

·        Dr Trevor Jordan, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics, School of Humanities & Human Services, at Queensland University of Technology: ethics as they apply to professional values and associations.  PDF of powerpoint presentation.

·        John Haydon, barrister and environmental conflict mediator: dealing with conflicts and legal considerations in ethics. Paper.

·        Alan Chenoweth, Chenoweth Environmental Planning & Landscape Architecture P/L:  ethical challenges in environmental practice and also the Certified Environmental Practitioner scheme.  PDF of powerpoint presentation.

·        Dr Ian Wilson, Environmental Protection Agency: ethics and credibility from a regulator’s and public sector perspective.  Ian participated in the panel discussions and gave a short presentation.  PDF of powerpoint.