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Sarah Anderton

Sarah works as a Policy Adviser for The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM), a professional body with over 10,000 members across the world.

Being based in London with CIWEM is not at all what my younger self would’ve expected! However, the role makes great use of my background, as my remit is land-based policy.

To me this is such an important policy area because a huge amount of environmental management boils down to good spatial planning and what’s going on on the ground. Clearly, we’re in a time of political upheaval and, whether or not we do leave the EU, this is creating space for politicians and policy makers to step back and consider what we want the UK’s future to look like.

Right now my work is focused around water management, soils, and writing on how to achieve better collaboration for delivering the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan aims. Jobs I’m tasked with include:

  • Attending stakeholder meetings
  • Writing thought reports
  • Updating our Policy Position Statements
  • Responding to government consultations and committee inquiries
  • Managing four of our Specialist Panels
  • Speaking at branch and external events, and
  • Raising CIWEM’s profile through blogging and tweeting.

Gaining a degree in land management and getting qualified with CAAV has given me a practical understanding of some of the pressures land managers face which helps me to reflect on whether or not policies are likely to work in practice.

Looking to the future my role is expanding to assist on our outreach work with schools around water, which is giving me some fresh and unexpected opportunities like attending World Water Week in Stockholm later this year.

Whilst this isn’t your typical agricultural valuer profile, policy is a fascinating area of work and one that it might be worth you considering.

Whatever direction you choose, good luck with your exciting career!