What is Integrated Environmental Management?

 

The Beehive, Wellington NZ. Image source: Rod Barker

Many of the issues we face in industrialised society are influenced by an array of political, economic and social factors. The ideals and strivings for improvements often become the very things that create the issues we seek to overcome. 

Within this blog over the course of my study of integrated environmental management (IEM) , I aim to describe and analyse a range of integrated environmental management issues. It's important firstly for me to understand what IEM is before I confuse myself and others. 

According to European Communities (2007), IEM seeks solutions, is future focused, goal oriented,  finds integrated approaches for environmental management that can include strategic and systems thinking that incorporate policies, town planning, economic measures, social and environmental measures. It makes sense that attention must be paid to the inputs and outputs from human activities. For instance, how social ideals of economic growth impact on the sustainability of resources that enable such growth. Yet, how is eternal economic growth sustainable?

Apparently, integrated approaches for environmental management can improve the development of governmental policies, reduce funding expenditure, enhance awareness of interconnected problems and find effective solutions. This sounds all very nice and almost too good to be true some might say, and at this juncture of my engagement with this topic, even I'm quite skeptical. It's important to remain open minded and learn new methods for solving problems. It can also be said that not creating problems in the first instance is the best possible solution.

My skepticism is shared by others such as Buhrs (2022), who suggests that integrated approaches to solving environmental issues has been around for some time, yet, regardless of the evidence available for matters such as climate change, societies forge on ahead with business as usual. With greater emphasis placed on continuous economic growth and more jobs, the environmental impacts are seen as externalities. The externalities are seen as a sacrifice for achieving ever higher standards of living. The trap with constantly chasing more growth, is that we're polluting the environment we rely on. Surely, there are other ways to exist that have a more balanced view and meaning of existence.

In the next blog, some key definitions relating to IEM will be discussed, stay tuned to find out more.

 

 

 

 



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