EIANZ 2025 Impact Assessment Symposium: Effectiveness Matters
Refocusing impact assessment to achieve better outcomes.

Impact assessment (IA) is under pressure to do more with less – time, funding and personnel.

This emphasis on ‘streamlining’ can pose significant risks to IA practice, projects and the environment. 
When critical elements such as scoping, community involvement, risk aversion, and appeals are compromised for the sake of speed, we must confront an essential question: have we lost focus on the outcomes that IA is trying to achieve? 

This symposium invites you to join a crucial conversation about measuring success, not by how quickly or cheaply we complete assessments, but by the environmental and social outcomes we deliver.

Because ultimately, it's the outcomes that matter. 

Why You Can't Afford to Miss This Event:  

-   Reframe your practice with an outcomes first approach that maintains rigour while delivering meaningful results
-   Discover practical methods to evaluate and enhance IA effectiveness beyond mere speed metrics 
-   Defend critical elements like community engagement from efficiency-driven cuts by demonstrating their value to outcomes 
-   Connect with thought leaders who are successfully balancing process improvements with outcome integrity 
-   Take home actionable strategies to implement outcome-focused approaches in your organisation immediately.

Secure your place today to be part of redefining excellence in Impact Assessment. 

Abstracts from both EIANZ members and non-members are invited on the following sub-themes: 

-   Developing IA intended outcomes
-   Barriers to outcomes-based approaches
-   Ensuring integrated assessment
-   Impact Assessment follow up
-   Role of strategic environmental assessment and regional planning

For a more detailed explanation on the symposium sub-themes please review the document here >

Abstracts must be no more than 300 words and be accompanied by a presenter biography of no more than 300 words.

The closing date for abstract submissions is Friday 23 May 2025. We are particularly keen to hear from early career professionals and First Nations peoples. 

We plan to notify presenters whether their abstract has been accepted by Thursday 12 June 2025. 

Important note:

If you are an EIANZ member, please ensure you have logged into the website prior to submitting your abstract or session proposal.

Required fields are marked with an asterisk (*).

Abstracts are welcome from both EIANZ members and non-members. Please follow these guidelines in submitting your abstract:

• Include the full names, titles and affiliations or all authors
• The contact details of the primary author
• Preferred sub-theme
• Abstract title (maximum 120 characters)
• Abstract to be no more than 300 words (excluding names, titles and affiliations)
• The use of abbreviations and acronyms should be kept to a minimum; and

The closing day for abstract submissions is Friday 23 May 2025.

Please provide an abstract in the text field below. Abstracts are to be a maximum of 300 words in length.

Please provide a short professional biography of the author(s). Biographies should be no more than 300 words in length. If you have previously provided all relevant biographies above, please leave blank.

If not previously provided, please attach profile photo(s) of the author(s) who will be presenting at the conference if this abstract or session proposal is accepted