Instructions for Candidates -

Getting started with CRS Learning Assistant

Full Membership of IEMA (MIEMA)

Incorporating
IEMA Associate Certificate in
Environmental Management

by Applied Learning

Part 1:

IEMA Associate Certificate in Environmental

Management by Applied Learning

Part 2:

Pathway to MIEMA

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Overview
This two part mentored course is offered uniquely by CRS, it incorporates the
IEMA Associate Certificate of Environmental Management and then supports
you through to Full Membership of IEMA (MIEMA).

Part One offers a non-examined route to Associate Membership of IEMA via

an evidence based portfolio to demonstrate not only your understanding of all
the criteria, but an ability to apply your skills in a work-based setting. The
applied learning approach focuses on the application of the core
environmental knowledge to your own organisation and is designed to appeal
to those with a practical learning style, based on the concept of learning by
doing. The applied learning delivery method allows you to work at your own
pace, and work commitments, whilst still achieving a high level qualification
the IEMA Associate Certificate in Environmental Management

Delegates who have selected only the Associate Certificate Course may
select to go on to part two, once completed.

In Part Two candidates will be supported through a development programme

to further enhance their skills and experiences to become the full
environmental professional. The programme supports each candidate to
assess their current competences and develop an action plan to meet the
MIEMA requirements. Delegates will then be guided through the application
and assessment process, in order to be able to submit their strongest
application and perform at their best. Successful delegates as assessed by
IEMA will become Full members of IEMA and be able to use the suffix
MIEMA.

This guide is designed to support delegates to start part 1 of the course

and a further guide is provided for delegates upon starting part 2

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Learning Objectives

On completion of this course a you will be able to:

Understand Environmental and Sustainability Principles

Understand Environmental Policy Issues
Understand key environmental legislation and compliance measures
Understand environmental management and sustainable development
in a business context
Collect, analyse and report on environmental information and data
Apply environmental management and assessment tools
Analyse problems and opportunities to deliver sustainable solutions
Develop and implement programmes to deliver environmental
performance improvement
Communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders
Influence behaviour and implement change to improve sustainability

As well as having a practical understanding of how an organisation can

reduce its environmental impacts.

Delivery

Part 1 of the course is made up of six compulsory units each requiring a range
of evidence to demonstrate competence in each unit been met. You will be
required to produce an in depth Reflective Management Report, for each unit
to demonstrate your understanding of the underpinning knowledge and
provide evidence to demonstrate your ability to apply that knowledge to your
own organisation.

The units are:

1) Global Environmental Issues

2) Environmental Law
3) Environmental Techniques
4) Environmental Management Systems
5) Environmental Communications
6) Sustainability

For each unit you will produce evidence to the specific criteria as outlined in
the unit descriptors. This evidence will then be assessed by the Assessor to
ensure all the criteria have been achieved and independently quality checked
by a structured sampling verification by an Internal Verifier.

For each unit you must produce evidence that you are competent in the full
range of performance criteria, this will usually be produced through work
documents, research and reading or reflective reports. The evidence
requirements at the base of each unit descriptor give a record of how the
criteria have been met. As candidates need to demonstrate competence and
understanding each unit will be based upon a report or review for each unit,

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where the candidates will demonstrate their underpinning knowledge in
relation to the knowledge and understanding criteria.

The course is based on a distance learning approach; you will have an initial
induction session to outline the course structure and assessment process.
You will then research and produce evidence for each unit. Assessors will
keep in regular contact with the candidates via email and telephone to give
directed support tailored to the individuals needs.

Once the candidate has submitted the unit report the Assessor will assess the
report and evidence against the performance criteria and report back to the
candidate if the standard has been achieved. If the unit is not achieved further
support is available to ensure that you fully understand what needs to be done
to meet the required standard.

Only once the portfolio has been approved and independently verified will the
certificate be awarded.

Learning styles

As the course is supported on a one to one basis, you can work at your own
pace and in your own style. The learning mentors role is to guide you to learn
the academic principles so you can apply them to your workplace. Candidates
are expected to demonstrate an appropriate level of commitment.

Programmes will be designed to suit the needs of individuals and comprise an

induction session, followed by one-to-one support. This support will be
provided by a planned programme of emails and/or other direct contact.

It is vital that you allocate sufficient time to the course, we would suggest that
the course can be completed a rate of one unit per month, but this will require
dedication to ensure the research and reflection is completed. We recommend
that you clearly allocate time to the course each week to ensure you complete
the work.

IEMA Membership

On induction the candidate will be enrolled into IEMA at affiliate level, for 12
months, on successful completion of the course the membership will be
upgraded to Associate level for the remainder of the 12 month period,
candidates successfully completing part 2 of the course will become full
members of IEMA (MIEMA).

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 Instructions for Candidates -
Getting started with CRS Learning Assistant
We are delighted that you have chosen CRS as your provider of
environmental professional development, and we look forward to assisting
over the coming months to achieve your desired qualification.

1. Learning Assistant and Adobe Flash

It is a requirement that you have Adobe Flash installed on your computer to

be able to use Learning Assistant. Some of the interactive tools available to
you are built in Flash, and they provide you with the best user experience.

The Flash browser plugin is free. To get the latest version, click on the
following link:

http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer

2. Login to Learning Assistant

You will receive your login and password to our Learning Assistant site
shortly. This will allow you to access the site. The address is:

https://system.learningassistant.com/CRS/

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You should review and accept the terms and conditions as shown below (This
screen will only appear once). You must accept the conditions to use Learning
Assistant.

Once you have accepted the terms and conditions you will always see this
page first:

Please select the profile tab shown in the image, update your profile and
upload a photograph. You can change your password if you wish.

Once you have uploaded all of the Unit 0.0 Introduction data your assessor
will be allocated based on your experience and industry.

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3. Upload your personal data unit 0.0

Select Evidence Folder from the menu

Select Open Evidence Wizard

Select Upload a File and browse your PC to select the evidence you wish to
upload.

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Once you have found the file select Type from the menu and click on the Not
Applicable box.

Select Details from the menu and input a description.

Select Cross Reference from the menu. Click on the arrow next to unit 0
Induction and then click unit 0.0 Introduction, to expand the menu

Click the upload personal information to expand the menu. Select the
relevant box to upload the following documents:

Your up-to-date curriculum vitae (ideally two to three pages in length)

Information on your organisation perhaps includes a brochure,
information from your web site, or a description written by yourself
Your current job description, and job objectives (or similar)

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 Copies of RELEVANT certificates (e.g. NEBOSH certificates or
management qualifications NOT scuba diving or needlework)
Self-assessment form (see Section 4 below)

NB Attention to correct spelling, correct use of punctuation and grammar is

important. Use spell-check and proof-read. This is a management level
qualification!

4. Self-assessment

We recommend that you review and complete a self-assessment right away.

It will help you to identify any training needs you have at the start of your
program so that you can discuss and arrange this if necessary with your
employer in good time. It also helps to ensure that your time on this program
is utilised effectively.

Select Course Folder from the menu. A list of all units for this course will
display as below. This is your resource area and all performance criteria and
knowledge and understanding requirements are listed in each unit.

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Select unit 0.0 Introduction

This screen will show you the progress made for the unit. Click on 000.1 in the
Unit Activity box.

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Select View Resources in the Assignment Details box. A pop up box will
open giving you a choice of documents to download. The self-assessment
document is available in Word format. You will find a range of other resources
here to help you to get started with your qualification, click on the files to view
and download as required.

Once you have completed the assessment upload it as per Section 3 above.

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5. Starting the Units

We recommend that you approach the Units for your qualification in the order
shown here.

Unit Unit Title

01 Global Environmental Issues
02 Environmental Law
03 Environmental Techniques
04 Environmental Management Systems
05 Environmental Communication
06 Sustainability

The aim of applied learning is for you to learn by doing, or application. For
each unit you will need to show both that you understanding the unpinning
knowledge for that unit and that you can apply it to an organisation or sector.

Step One

For the first two units we have developed a quick start guide to help you, click
course folder in the menu, select unit 1.1 and then in the assignment details
download the quick start guide unit 1.

In order to help you we have also provided a range of resources in the CRS
Environmental Resources Area in unit 0.1, - 0.6 with each unit holding
resources to the corresponding unit i.e. 0.1 unit 1.

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Review the unit descriptors and consider which areas you already know and
which areas you require further research on. Our quick start guides are
designed to help you with this. Also consider what evidence you already have
for the unit to demonstrate you competence and knowledge or the
performance criteria.

For the areas you are less familiar with, research the information and apply it
in a work based setting, creating evidence that you are aware of the
knowledge and understanding requirements.

For Example in Unit 3 Environmental Techniques you are required to

complete a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), you may not be familiar with the
concept, you would research the technique and then complete one for a
product in your workplace, thus creating the evidence that you understand the
principles and practices of LCA.

Step Two

You should prepare a personal report for each Unit of the qualification. Each
report should be approximately 1500 2500 words (approximately three - five
sides of 10-font A4) showing how you have met the Performance Criteria and
Knowledge and Understanding in each Unit of the standard

NB You will prepare six separate reports in total. We suggest that one Unit per
month is an average speed of progress, but you can work faster or slower to
suit your personal preferences. Discuss this with your mentor/assessor.

In each report, refer to work evidence, which you should upload to Learning
Assistant (i.e. where you say we have a policy, add an evidence reference to
that statement as follows we have a policy (Evidence 27).

Your reports are the glue that sticks the evidence together, and explains how
it is relevant.

At the end of each report, add the following statement to confirm that the
report and evidence is your own:

I confirm that this report and the evidence to which it refers are my own work unless clearly
stated to the contrary.

Signed: __________________________________________ Date: ____________________

If some evidence was produced with others say as part of a project team
you should say this clearly in your report.

When complete, upload the report into the appropriate section using the
Evidence Wizard (see Section 3 above).

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NB An ideal name for the computer file is as follows:

Unit 1 Global Environmental Issues.doc

Step Three

For each item of evidence you refer to in your personal reports, upload the
actual item of evidence using the evidence wizard, numbered and indexed.

NB Only include each item of evidence once if you first refer to it as

Evidence 9, each time you refer to it thereafter, call it Evidence 9.

You may expect to present 10 30 items of evidence. Focus on good

quality evidence, rather than lots of average examples. Note this
number is for guidance only, and you are required to meet each
assessment criteria.

Step Four

You will see that some of the Performance Criteria can be evidenced with a
witness statement this is best described as a statement from a credible
observer of your performance. This is not a requirement of the qualification.

A separate list of witnesses who have attested to your competence should be

produced, and uploaded using the Evidence Wizard. A template can be
found in the Course Folder.

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6. Submitting your competence claim

Follow the exact process described in section 3 being sure to select all of the
relevant Assessment Criteria.

Repeat for all pieces of evidence.

Select Course Folder from the menu. You will see that 1.1 is marked as
started.

Click on the blue learning outcome (element) that has been started in this
case 1.1.

Within the Outcome youll see the piece of evidence you cross-referenced
earlier
Click Choose Evidence
Add further evidence to this Outcome
Click Update to confirm choice
Add further ticks across the matrix
Save Changes
Submit Your Competence Claim
The Outcome status has now changed to Element Submitted &
Awaiting Review

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Additional development activities
Go through the other tabs of Learning Assistant
Review the resources
Post a comment in the Forum, and send a Message
When the Assessor reviews work, the Contact Diary will be updated
Always keep an eye on Tasks, within your Homepage
Have you found the Gap Analysis and Course Progress? (Within the
Course Folder, go to View on the right hand side)
Check out the Portal too where all the help guide movies are stored

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