The future of impact assessment? Critical reflections on IA

The Conference ‘The Future of Impact Assessment (IA)’ on 8 September 2026 (followed by a 2-day academic symposium) will explore how impact assessment (EIA, SEA, HIA and other forms of IA) may evolve amid new technologies, shifting contexts and societal expectations. It invites practitioners, policy makers, consultants and academics to take part and contribute to this important debate. It is hosted by the Ireland-UK branch of the International Association for Impact Assessment – IAIA (proudly sponsored by IAIA and supported by the Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals – ISEP). You can submit an abstract if you wish to present your thoughts on the Future of IA in a 10 minute presentation, which could form part of parallel sessions (depending on the number of abstracts received) on the following topics:

-    Efforts to simplify IA (including Environmental Outcome Reports)
-    IA and artificial intelligence
-    Other competing tools and developments (e.g. sustainable finance)
-    IA effectiveness
-    Strategic Assessments (SEA, SESA, SESHA and others)

The conference will be followed by a 2-day academic symposium, organised by IAIA’s academia section, with the first day dedicated to discussions on scholars’ responsibilities and roles in shaping the future of IA and the second day dedicated to the work of PhD and Masters level students. The symposium invites disruptive debate and critical reflection, moving beyond incremental commentary to confront assumptions and uncomfortable truths. Non-academics are welcome to participate to ground discussions in practice.