For the purposes of Certification, Heritage Practice is the implementation of heritage practice, legislation and guiding principles to identify, interpret and manage the cultural and historical values that are recognised in an object, place, landscape or setting. Heritage professionals acknowledge that cultural and heritage significance is the sum of the aesthetic, historic, scientific, social and spiritual qualities or values of a place or object.
Applications will not be accepted from candidates with no ANZ practice experience; applicants with overseas experience must also demonstrate environmental practice in Australia and/or New Zealand.
Overview
To qualify for CEnvP Heritage certification you need:
• Educational Qualifications: A degree or postgraduate degree in archaeology, anthropology, history, heritage architecture, earth sciences, geography, environmental science, planning or surveying, involving studies in Australian and /or New Zealand contexts. (Not required for current CEnvPs).
• Work experience in lieu of educational qualifications: At the discretion of the Certification Board, fifteen (15) years of appropriate experience in lieu of education may be assessed for equivalence with educational qualifications.
• Work Experience: Ten (10) years of full-time experience in the functional areas of environmental practice gained during the last seventeen (17) years, with a minimum of seven (7) recent years in heritage management, surveying, assessing or researching Australian and/or New Zealand contexts or landscapes.
• A Curriculum Vitae: Containing as much detail as possible (experience, roles and responsibilities, skills, outcomes, project list etc.) to evidence you are a respected, competent, ethical and active member of the profession.
Please avoid marketing-style CVs or promotional documents. CVs that are overly generic, visually stylised for sales or branding purposes, or lacking in technical substance may not meet assessment requirements.
• Referees: Nomination of three (3) experienced environmental professionals who are willing to act as Referees with at least one (1) being a current CEnvP-HER or eligible to be a CEnvP-HER and one (1) being external to your current place of employment.
• Areas of Practice: Nomination of one to three (1 – 3) areas of practice that you currently or have been working in.
• Key Proficiencies and Professional Competency: Through written demonstration and documentary evidence:
1- An essay style document demonstrating the three (3) Key Proficiencies listed below and answering the following three questions:
a) How have you demonstrated your understanding of heritage practice and methods?
b) How have you demonstrated your analytical skills that draw on your knowledge and experience and can be applied across disciplines?
c) How have you demonstrated your interpersonal skills, often required in effective, efficient and culturally sensitive data gathering across a range of stakeholders?
2- At least two (2) documents where you have been a key contributor that demonstrate professional competency in the required key proficiencies.
• Past CPD: Detailing previous undertaken training and professional development is highly recommended. (Not required for current CEnvPs).
• Future CPD: Demonstration of ongoing commitment to training and professional development via a CPD plan that will meet the minimum one hundred (100) CPD points biennially once certified. (Not required for current CEnvPs).
• Commitment to ethics and professional practice: Including acceptance of the EIANZ Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. (Not required for current CEnvPs).
• Statement of Claim: A signed and witnessed statutory declaration confirming the accuracy of the materials provided to the Certification Board.
• Optional additional documentation: Such as reports, publications, presentations, awards etc.
Application Process
Application Process
To be certified as a Heritage Specialist, practitioners must also hold CEnvP General certification.
Practitioners who do not already hold General certification can apply for both CEnvP General and Heritage Specialist certification simultaneously.
Applications can be submitted online anytime during the year and a non-refundable application fee applies.
Applications are usually processed within 3 to 6 months. However, incomplete or flawed applications will be delayed until all missing documentation is received.
As part of the application process, you will be required to attend an online interview with a panel of three certified practitioners. During the interview, you will be asked a series of questions related to training, skills, knowledge, experience, contribution to and understanding of environmental practice, ethical behaviour, and other professional attitudes.
For example, you will:
1. Be asked about how you applied your skills in an ethical and professional environmental practice context.
2. Be provided with one (1) or more Ethical Scenarios to respond to.
3. Need to elaborate on your work experience and comment on specific roles in the context of being a competent professional within your nominated areas of environmental practice.
4. Be expected to discuss your understanding of sustainability and how your work has contributed to sustainability, environmental protection and practice excellence.
5. Need to comment on your capacity to undertake Continuing Professional Development (CPD) while certified.
Successful applicants will receive an official CEnvP certificate, a personalised CEnvP seal to use and will be entitled to use the title ‘Certified Environmental Practitioner’ and the post-nominal letters ‘CEnvP-HER’ as follows: Mr/s Alex Doe BSc CEnvP-HER.
To maintain your CEnvP status renewal fees must be paid annually and evidence of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) must be provided on a two-year basis. The certification fee for the first year is calculated on a pro-rata basis from the month a practitioner was certified.
Unsuccessful applications can be either deferred for a period no longer than twelve (12) months or rejected and will receive an outcome letter from the Certification Board addressing their decision and shortcomings identified during the application process. Deferred applicants may re-apply within the deferral period without charge when the conditions of the deferral have been met.
Eligibility and Evidence
Educational Qualifications
A degree or postgraduate degree in archaeology, anthropology, history, heritage architecture, earth sciences, geography, environmental science, planning or surveying.
Evidence of your qualifications is required in the form of certified copies (refer to the FAQs on our website for a list of authorised signatories in Australia, and in New Zealand). These must be uploaded and submitted together with the online application. Alternatively, direct access via My eQuals is also accepted. Where necessary, transcript or academic record of your degree may be requested.
Evidence of Name Change will be required if your current name differs from the name on the educational qualifications.
Work Experience
The minimum requirement is ten (10) years of full-time equivalent professional experience in the functional areas of environmental practice gained during the last seventeen (17) years, with a minimum of seven (7) recent years in heritage management, surveying, assessing or researching Australian and/or New Zealand contexts or landscapes.
Only experience gained after obtaining the lowest level of eligible educational qualifications can be counted towards the experience required.
Work experience timeframe: The seventeen (17) year window allows part-time workers as well as those returning to the workforce from a long leave period associated with caring, illness or parental leave, to meet the required full-time equivalence work experience.
For the purpose of calculating full-time equivalent (FTE) work experience, no more than thirty-five (35) hours per week will be recognised (even if working for more than one (1) employer at the time) and the following metrics are used:
• Full-time / 1.0 (35 hrs / week),
• 4 days / 0.8 (28 hrs / week),
• 3 days / 0.6 (21 hrs / week),
• 2 days / 0.4 (14 hrs / week),
• 1 day / 0.2 (7 hrs / week).
Functional work experience: Supervisory, teaching, research, policy development, regulatory activities, heritage conservation efforts, cultural site officer duties, and volunteer work may be recognised as contributing to the years of ‘functional experience’, providing you can demonstrate how these have contributed to relevant competence.
Applicants with experience in lieu of education: In exceptional circumstances, fifteen (15) years of appropriate work experience may be submitted in lieu of a suitable tertiary qualification.
Work Verifiers: The experience claimed must be independently verified by a “Work Verifier”, a current or former employer, senior colleague, or Referee who knew you at that time and can specifically confirm the experience claimed. Work Verifiers are required to complete an online form sent to them by email after the application has been submitted (please ensure they are notified beforehand). These individuals may be contacted by the Administration team, Registrar, Assessment Panel or Certification Board.
Referees
Applicants must nominate three (3) respected environmental professionals as referees, ensuring the following criteria are met:
• At least one (1) must be an experienced Heritage practitioner who is either a CEnvP-HER Specialist or would be eligible to apply for CEnvP-HER Specialist certification themselves.
• At least one (1) must be external to your current place of employment
• All referees must have must have known you for at least two (2) years in roles such as supervisor, educator, senior peer or client and must be able to comment on your experience, skills and attributes as they relate to the relevant areas of practice, ethics and professional integrity,
• Referees who are not CEnvPs must provide sufficient information / CV / LinkedIn in the Referee report to demonstrate that they are experienced environmental professionals.
Nominated Referees will be required to fill in an online Report sent to them by email after the Application form has been submitted. Please ensure the Referees are notified beforehand.
Areas of Practice
Areas of Practice are fields you are currently or have been working in (and not recognised as a CEnvP
specialisation). The Areas of Practice you nominate will be discussed during your interview. Once you are certified, these will be used in online profiles and directories.
Key Proficiencies
A Heritage Specialist must demonstrate they are competent to design, lead, implement and report on investigative studies and assessments relating to the cultural and historical values that might be recognised in a place, landscape or setting.
You must be able to demonstrate advanced level of proficiency across three (3) areas of proficiency in both your written application and at interview to achieve Heritage Specialist certification.
1. Understanding heritage practice and methods
• the role and limitations of heritage assessments in environmental planning and decision making
• the various stages in the heritage assessment process
• methods of collating and assessing information on tangible and intangible heritage values of places, landscapes or objects
• risk assessment, management principles and the preparation of conservation/heritage management documents
• the implementation of internationally accepted heritage management techniques and guidelines as they relate to the candidates field of expertise
• emerging issues and trends in cultural heritage management
2. Analytical capability
• describe relevant heritage legislation in the jurisdiction within which they operate
• demonstrate an understanding of personal, inherent and projected heritage values and their interconnections through rational and objective thinking and the application of commonsense/professional judgment
• understand the regulatory framework, guidelines, methodologies and reporting requirements to be considered when implementing heritage practice
• effectively apply scoping and prioritising tools/methods to determine relevant heritage related issues, relative importance and investigations required to address them
• identify how baseline quantitative and subjective information (relating to a site, place or landscape) may be gathered and describe the factors that can affect the quality of this information
• determine the significance of proposed or likely impacts to a heritage place, site or landscape at a regional, local or site-specific level
• identify when to apply adaptive measures such as avoid, mitigate or manage impacts
• review the technical quality and accuracy of previous heritage management or heritage protection investigations
3. Interpersonal skills
• demonstrate the communication skills required for effective engagement, collaboration and consultation across a broad range of audiences
• clearly express complex concepts and ideas, orally and in writing
• develop effective working relationships with stakeholders, including proponents, consultants, community groups, traditional owners and government agencies
• understand and address conflicting viewpoints of different stakeholders from their own perspectives
• exercise perception and judgment in dealing with complex and culturally sensitive issues
Definitions
For clarity in expectations, an advanced level of proficiency will be based on knowledge, skills and extensive practical experience, and be demonstrated by:
• having a high level of knowledge of the relevant subject matter
• developing practical solutions based on analysis and experience
• assessing and managing risks while taking a course of action
• communicating complex issues clearly and credibly with widely varied audiences
• transforming technical information to engage and inform non-specialist audiences
• maintaining a broad strategic perspective
• assembling and leading teams, and advising and mentoring others
• providing clear direction and delegating responsibility to others
• negotiating effectively and maintaining an objective, professional approach to resolving differences
• managing compliance, ethical and other reputational issues
Professional Competency
As evidence to support claims of Heritage specialist proficiencies you are required to:
• Submit an essay style document responding to the following three (3) questions:
1. How have you demonstrated your understanding of heritage practice and methods?
2. How have you demonstrated your analytical skills that draw on your knowledge and experience and can be applied across disciplines?
3. How have you demonstrated your interpersonal skills, often required in effective, efficient and culturally sensitive data gathering across a range of stakeholders?
• Submit at least two (2) documents where you have been a key contributor that demonstrate professional competency in the required key proficiencies.
Recommendation: Where applicable, refer to supporting professional documents within your essay to substantiate your claims and explicitly address the relevant competencies.
Commitment to CPD (Continued Professional Development)
To demonstrate commitment to CPD, you will need to provide details of:
• Past CPD. It is strongly recommended you submit a CPD log of the past two (2) years of activities or a statement explaining your past activities to enable the Registrar, Assessment Panel and Certification Board to ascertain your understanding of the requirement post certification.
• Future CPD. Provide a plan to accrue at least one hundred (100) CPD points biennially once certified. This should include the type of activities and the number of hours you are expecting to spend for each of them.
Ethical Conduct and Statement of Claim
It is intrinsic to the CEnvP Scheme that Certified Practitioners behave with the highest levels of integrity and professional conduct. Applicants are therefore asked to:
• ensure you have read, understood and confirmed that you abide by the EIANZ Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct.
• disclose matters relevant to past issues of professional conduct.
A statutory declaration confirming accuracy of the provided materials is required.
Important Information
Before you begin your online application form:
1- Read the Guidance Notes to ensure you meet the eligibility criteria for certification.
2- Review the Application Checklist to confirm you have all the necessary information and documents.
3- Download the following Templates: Official Statement of Claim, CPD Log, Commitment to CPD Statement and Key Proficiencies.
Once you start your application form you can save and resume later. However, the last saved link is only valid for 30 days.