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For any business it is important to have a clear service offering, to help clients understand what you can do for them as well as to help colleagues understand what they are selling.
However, when it comes to environmental and sustainability consulting, those service lines start to blur – that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be confusing.
Who does what and when, and (I get asked this regularly) what’s the difference and how does it all fit together? I have been pondering this and have concluded that the belief that they are two completely different professions might be holding us all back.
Environmental consultants are often seen as the experts in measuring, tracking and mitigating environmental problems. Think environmental impact assessments (EIA), strategic environmental assessments, ecology, noise, air quality, land and water pollution monitoring, and regulatory compliance. These professionals are grounded in the physical sciences, technical assessments and environmental legislation.
Sustainability consultants are associated with the ‘triple bottom line’ – environmental, social and economic impact. Their focus might include carbon assessments, ESG reporting, corporate sustainability reporting, climate risk, adaptation and resilience, circular economy, net-zero strategies, employee training and green building certifications, such as BREEAM or LEED. Simple, right?
These definitions might seem tidy on paper but, in practice, they increasingly overlap. More importantly, seeing them as separate misses the interconnected nature of today’s challenges – and limits the value we can bring to projects and clients.
Take EIA, for example. It’s arguably the original systems-thinking framework, where coordinators pull together diverse technical disciplines to assess the broader implications of a project. Over the past decade, EIA has evolved to cover far more than environmental risk. It now includes climate change, materials and waste (circular economy), human health, and social impacts – all topics that would traditionally fall under ‘sustainability’. Typically, as it is required as part of the planning process, an EIA must also consider policy, engagement and consultation.
In my experience as a lead EIA coordinator, we are also often the specialists advising on sustainability enhancements during the design process, drawing from multiple disciplines to influence better decisions. In many cases, we are acting as sustainability consultants in all but name. And frankly, an EIA that does not consider sustainability as part of the design process is no longer fit for purpose.
Meanwhile, specialists from other angles – mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineers, carbon consultants, circular economy strategists, resilience advisers – are shaping project outcomes in equally critical ways. Their technical knowledge is essential, not just for reducing impact but for future-proofing outcomes.
I passionately believe that dividing these roles holds us back. Clients, collaborators and project teams don’t care who ‘owns’ sustainability. Everyone should care about outcomes – how to design better, deliver more resilient and compliant projects, and create long-term value for everyone. If we maintain artificial boundaries between environmental and sustainability professionals, we miss opportunities for integration, creativity and systemic solutions.
When we embrace the overlap – and support professionals who straddle both areas – we unlock a more powerful way of working.
To deliver the best outcomes for projects, clients and the communities they serve, we need:
In my experience, the most effective consultants aren’t defined by one title or the other. They are the ones who think across boundaries – connecting disciplines, asking the right questions and keeping the bigger picture in view. Environmental and sustainability consulting don’t belong in separate boxes. The challenges we face are complex, and the best solutions come when we blur the lines, share expertise and work as one team. For clients, this means more integrated advice and smarter outcomes. For consultants, it means greater scope to lead and influence.
And for all of us, it’s a clear message: sustainability isn’t just a specialist’s job – it’s everyone’s responsibility. So next time you’re building a team for a project, as well as ‘What’s their title?’, ask ‘Can they think in systems?’. The best results come from those who see the bigger picture.
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Systems thinking is about embracing complexity with insight and empathy – seeing the big picture by weaving together environmental, social, infrastructural and community layers. It’s collaborative, inclusive and practical: a lens through which cities and all spaces can be designed to be resilient, vibrant, beautiful, functional and reflective of the communities they serve.
In practice, systems thinking means looking beyond your project’s red line to see how it can help the wider area, and its current and future communities, to thrive. Could you create high-quality green space linked with better public transport, helping reduce air pollution? Could you daylight a river, integrating water management, public realm, flood resilience and community wellbeing? Could you provide community facilities? Could you connect soft landscaping to existing habitats, boosting biodiversity and linking into blue networks? Could you collect rainwater to reduce irrigation needs, and use the system to educate local schools and residents on water efficiency? Everyone has a role and that can be as simple as using the following question to inform designs: how can this project/plan/proposal create the greatest positive impact for the whole system it sits within?
Our environment is like the human body – everything is connected. You can treat it as a set of isolated parts, or you can consider the whole system and how to improve it. When we aim to get fit, as well as exercise we need to consider nutrition, hydration, environmental conditions and sleep. The environment is no different: we must consider people, water, energy, biodiversity, culture, heritage, community, movement, food security, waste and transport. Importantly, we have to seek to understand how these elements interrelate.
When you map and value these connections, the best solutions often reveal themselves. Systems thinking doesn’t just make better projects – it creates places that work harder for people and nature, now and in the future. It also tends to create better-connected communities, which are far more resilient to deal with the effects of climate change.
Systems thinking is ultimately about shifting our perspective, from asking ‘What do we need to deliver?’ to ‘What future can we help shape?’ It invites us to see projects not as endpoints but as catalysts for positive change that ripple far beyond their boundaries. By thinking in systems, we design not just for today’s needs but for people, places and the planet for generations to come.
Becky McLean FISEP is director of sustainability at Civic
