Eco-Management and AuditingEco-Mgmt. Aud. 6, 76–79 (1999)

IMPROVING ENVIRONMENTALPERFORMANCE THROUGHCOMMUNITY ACTION

John Pearson and Theresa Barnes*

Environmental Planning Department, Cheshire County Council, UK

Cheshire’s Eco Audit 21 model has arisenout of the international work on Agenda21. The Eco Audit 21 model wasdeveloped by members of a voluntarygroup established to implement LocalAgenda 21 within Cheshire. The modelis a simple to use system fororganizations in the public, private andcommunity sector. The model is designedto encourage organizations to improvetheir working practices and policies,through raising awareness of theenvironmental impacts caused by theiractivities and operations. The model hasbeen used to encourage and informorganizations of the benefits of a moveto formal environmental management.

This paper describes the progress todate of Eco Audit 21 in Cheshire,examines the successes and difficulties ofimplementing the auditing process andlessons learned. Copyright ? 1999 JohnWiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Received 21 October 1998Revised 3 March 1999Accepted 4 March 1999

CCC 0968-9427/99/020076–04 $17.50Copyright ? 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

SUSTAINABLE CHESHIRE FORUM

A s part of the Local Agenda 21 process inCheshire, the Eco Audit 21 (EA21) modelwas developed during 1996/97 by the

Eco Audit Steering Group of the SustainableCheshire Forum. The forum is a partnership ofsome 50 organizations from the business sector,agriculture, education, voluntary and communitygroups, transport, utility services and publicauthorities. The Sustainable Cheshire Forum actsas a community decision-making mechanism withwide representation.

Although Cheshire County Council has over-seen the organization of the forum, it is therepresentatives of the Cheshire community thathave led the activities and established the agendaand action plans. The EA21 model arises fromsuch community led activities, being the firstexample of community auditing in the UK. Mem-bers of the steering group have included repre-sentatives of private and public sectors, voluntaryand charitable organizations and environmentalconsultants. All participants have volunteeredtheir time.

DEFINITION OF ENVIRONMENTALAUDITS AND THE CHARACTERISTICSOF ECO AUDIT 21

The most commonly used definition of anenvironmental audit is that given by the Inter-national Chamber of Commerce (1989), whichstates that an audit is

*Correspondence to: Theresa Barnes, Environmental Planning,Cheshire County Council, Commerce House, Hunter Street,Chester, Cheshire, CH1 2QP, UK

IMPROVING ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE

A management tool comprising a systematic,documented, periodic and objective evalu-ation of how well, an organisation, manage-ment or equipment are performing with theaim of helping to safeguard the environmentby facilitating management control of en-vironmental practices, assessing compliancewith company policies which would includemeeting regulatory compliance.

Environmental audits fall into different cat-egories and are conducted for a number of differ-ent reasons. An organization may for examplehave a liability audit to ensure complianceor assess environmental risk. Alternatively, anorganization may have a management audit,which looks at policies and systems, or an activityaudit that examines waste and energy consump-tion. Therefore, in relation to other types ofenvironmental audit it is useful to place EA21 intocontext. An Eco Audit is conducted to provide anorganization with an independent environmen-tal review in order to stimulate interest andencourage improved environmental performancethrough raised awareness.

EA21 provides a framework for an organiz-ation wishing to take its first steps in consideringenvironmental issues. It does not provide detailedanswers, nor provide rigorous analysis of currentor future environmental performance. The processprovides a broad overview of activities andhelps to provide some direction to improveenvironmental performance.

EA21 encompasses the management, com-pliance and activities element of other types ofenvironmental audit. It is not intended for detailedassessment of environmental risk or environ-mental performance and does not replace the useof professionals for specialist advice, nor does itreplace the need for other audits within an organ-ization. Instead EA21 can provide the stimulusfor such audits to follow and can also help anorganization to decide whether to work to aformal environmental management system stan-dard (such as ISO 14001/EMAS), or take steps toimprove an individual area of performance. EA21attempts to encourage organizations to partici-pate in other environmental award schemes thatare currently operational in Cheshire.

The definition of an audit includes the state-ment that there should be a periodic evaluation.

Copyright ? 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

EA21 includes a recommendation on a suggestedaudit frequency. However, the onus lies with theorganization being audited, since the procedure isundertaken on a voluntary basis. The primary aimof EA21 is to encourage interest and improvedenvironmental performance rather than check forcompliance with legal requirements.

STRUCTURE OF THE ECO AUDIT 21MODEL

The EA21 model is designed for use by‘non-experts’ and is based on an environmentalchecklist that consists of three main components.

(i) Pollution/environmental damage rating (PED).A quantitative assessment of the potentialenvironmental damage associated with asite dependent on the activity, location,scale and operational use of the site. Apercentage score is awarded for this part ofthe model. The PED rating is broken downinto seven categories: presence of harmfulsubstances; scale of operation; techniquesfor preventing pollution and environmentaldamage; landscape/aesthetics; location andtransport; frequency of use and unpleasantsubstances. Each category is scored with atotal value out of 100.

(ii) Performance and management rating (PAM).PAM is a quantitative assessment ofenvironmental performance and manage-ment associated with the organization’sactivities. The PAM rating is broken downinto the following categories: environ-mental records; knowledge and good prac-tice; good housekeeping; management andtraining; procedures; frequency of justifiedcomplaints and bonus points. Each categoryis scored with a total value out of 100.

(iii) Future audit frequency. This part of the modelinvolves a short tour of the site and thecalculation of a recommended future auditfrequency from the scores allocated in thefirst two parts of the model.

An important element of the model is the scoring.This has proved to be a popular feature, with siteshaving an incentive to improve performancebased on a quantified rating.

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J. PEARSON AND T. BARNES

ADVANTAGES OF USING ECOAUDIT 21

The need for a first step environmental model wasevident within Cheshire, with a large number oforganizations not considering the environment asan important issue. The model was developed ona simplified checklist format to aid the input ofvolunteers and increase the spread of goodenvironmental practice within the county.

Although a number of self-help environmentalpackages are currently on the market, these pack-ages often do not provide an opportunity for sitesto discuss their own situation in relation to theenvironment. This often leads to confusion and isdiscouraging for individuals with limited environ-mental knowledge. The advantage of using theEA21 model is that the opportunity for theauditee and auditors to enter into discussion is anessential part of the model and this helps to clarifyany uncertainties on behalf of the auditee.

Organizations intending to proceed with for-mal environmental management can use the EA21model as an indication of the requirements thathave to be met and the systems that need to beimplemented. The duration of an audit (2 hours)does not unduly impinge upon the managers’working day.

After an audit the site will receive a confidentialaudit report which

(i) identifies key issues,(ii) gives suggestions for improvements,(iii) recommends a time scale for future audits

and(iv) provides a list of contacts for taking for-

ward environmental issues within thecounty.

SUCCESSES OF ECO AUDIT 21

The EA21 model has been accepted as a casestudy by the Local Government ManagementBoard illustrating the practical implementation ofLA21. The model has now been used in nine localauthorities throughout the UK.

To date over 170 audits have been conductedfor a range of sites including small businesses,schools and community centres, churches, farms,offices, manufacturing plant and large scale

Copyright ? 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

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depots/warehouses. Feedback from organizationshas been positive with over 98% finding theactivity useful. From a sample of completedaudits, the following provides a brief summary ofthe changes following an audit:

(i) 70% of sites have invested in energyefficiency measures;

(ii) 30% of sites have implemented waste mini-mization programmes;

(iii) 30% of sites have established environmentaltargets;

(iv) 28% of sites have implemented sustainablepurchasing policies;

(v) 20% of sites have added environmentalissues to staff training programmes.

The process of Eco Audit has proven itself acost-effective mechanism of stimulating awarenessof environmental performance and encouragingthe move to formal environmental management.The next stage of monitoring will attempt toprovide greater detail on the implementation ofEMAS and ISO14001 within the county and howEco Audit can help stimulate greater interest.

DIFFICULTIES OF IMPLEMENTINGTHE ECO AUDIT 21 PROCESS INCHESHIRE

Although the EA21 process has been successfullyintroduced in Cheshire, there have been a numberof challenges to the implementation process.

Some sites have been reluctant to agree tohave an Eco Audit of their premises with anumber of sites taking a considerable amount oftime to be persuaded on the value of consideringenvironmental issues.

Occasionally there are difficulties in securingauditors to conduct audits in certain parts of thecounty due to travelling time and costs, which aremet by the auditors themselves. To resolve thisproblem the Eco-Audit Co-ordinator endeavoursto select auditors who are located in or close tothe area in which the audit is planned.

In order to increase the number of auditsconducted it is also necessary to increase thenumber of lead auditors. However, after attendingthree or more audits, some auditors still may notfeel confident to lead an audit. Therefore, training

Eco-Mgmt. Aud. 6, 76–79 (1999)

IMPROVING ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE

courses have been developed to establish a uni-form standard of auditing and to address theinsecurities of new auditors. Also support isarranged for lead auditors by the co-ordinatoruntil they feel confident enough to lead an auditunsupervised.

Caution is necessary in choosing individuals toconduct an audit because volunteers may havetheir own commercial or personal environmentalagenda. Confidentiality is a pre-requisite for anyinvolvement in the process; this has not createdany issues to date.

INVOLVING THE COMMUNITY INTHE EA21 PROCESS

Involving members of the community in theEA21 process has been a common aim throughoutthe implementation of the work. A diverse rangeof organizations has been invited to volunteerauditors. To date around 90 members of theCheshire community have been involved in theprocess. The training course has attempted toimprove the confidence and knowledge of volun-teer auditors, although the EA21 Co-ordinator iscrucial in selecting appropriate volunteers for eachaudit.

EA21 training courses have been provided forinterested community groups wishing to under-take audits within their own community. How-ever, the model suffers from attracting volunteerswithin higher socio-economic classes.

Limited resources have prevented the develop-ment of a wider training package for interestedvolunteers in Cheshire. This wider training wouldbe essential if the model were to be extendedoutside the current sphere of influence. The ques-tion of audit quality has not been queried byaudited sites to date. This is perhaps a resultof the audits being led by a restricted number of‘qualified’ lead auditors to date. As the numbers oflead auditors grow it will be a challenge to

Copyright ? 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

maintain the quality of the end product, whichincludes both audit discussions and final report.

CONCLUSION

EA21 works well as the first step on the environ-mental ladder because it is a simple but effectivetoolkit designed to further facilitate the process ofenvironmental improvement. It aims to maximizeenvironmental performance outputs through mini-mal time and resources input. The cost of theprocess is reduced through the use of volunteerauditors; therefore the main costs are associatedwith the employment of an EA21 Co-ordinator.

EA21 provides sites with

(i) a good external benchmark to confirminternal development work,

(ii) a focus for action,(iii) an opportunity to involve the wider com-

munity in improving the environmentalperformance of their site and

(iv) a source of additional information.

The EA21 model has been received favourably inCheshire through all sectors of the community.The future use of the model in Cheshire ispromising as plans are made to increase thenumber of audits conducted throughout theNorthwest and to progress to a more detailedstage in the monitoring programme.

BIOGRAPHY

John Pearson, Environmental Officer, andTheresa Barnes, Eco Audit 21 Co-ordinator, canbe contacted at Cheshire County Council,Environmental Planning, Commerce House,Hunter Street, Chester, Cheshire CH1 2QP,UK. Email address: ccceco@cheshire.gov.uk.Telephone number: 01244 603191. Fax: 01244603033.

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