What is CPD?

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) encompasses ongoing training or learning activities that enhances your knowledge and expertise of your career as an environmental or social practitioner.
Continuing Professional Development ensures that practitioners stay up to date with the latest trends, regulations, and best practices in their industry.

Who needs to submit a CPD log and when?

All current CEnvPs must submit a CPD log every two years, with a minimum requirement of 100 points, to maintain their certification. If you hold a specialist certification, at least 50 points must relate to professional practice in your specialty.

Applicants seeking certification are strongly encouraged to submit a CPD log with their application. This helps the Registrar, Assessment Panel, and Certification Board assess your understanding of the post-certification requirements.

Recognised CPD activities

The following table provides a list all the CPD activities recognised by the Scheme, grouped into 11 different categories. It indicates the points per hour that can be accrued for each category and the maximum number of points that can be claimed within a two-year calendar period. Additionally, it includes a list of acceptable types of evidence for audit purposes.

All CPD activities must be relevant to environmental practice or sustainability and related to social practice or social impact assessment for social practitioners.

CPD ActivityTypical EvidencePoints per
hour		Maximum
points
1Formal education and training, including online and distance education, where there is a formal assessmentCertificates of attendance or attainment; certificates / degrees / diplomas awarded from formal assessment2No limit
2Short courses, including in-house training (including online)Certificates of attendance or attainment2No limit
3Attending Conferences, meetings, seminars, including Professional Environmental Practice (PEP) talks, webinars and online conferencesAttendance records, receipts of payments made to attend a seminar or conference1No limit
4Service activities to the CEnvP Scheme; environment profession for EIANZ or other environment-related professional associations such as ALGA, IAIA, WasteMINZ etc. CEnvP Scheme service activities include participation at Registrar, Interview Panel, SEAC and Board level, with a maximum of 50 points allowed per 2 year period.Minutes of meetings, attendance records150 per 2 year period
5Presentations to conferences/seminars where there is a contribution to the environment profession. For a presentation where the paper is not published in a refereed journal, 10 points per hour of presentation is allocated to allow for preparation of the presentation, and its delivery, with a minimum of not less than 5 points per presentationAcceptance letter/email from conference organiser; handout notes; conference brochures which name the person and the paper etc10No limit, but a minimum 5 per presentation
6Publication of technical or research papers:
– in a refereed journal, 30 points per paper allowed;
– in the case of presenting the paper as a technical or research paper to a conference, 20 points per paper is allowed rather than the 10 points per hour of duration of the presentation as in category 5 above;
– if the paper is not yet published, a maximum of 30 points per paper is allowed		The actual publication in which the paper appears; acceptance letter from an editor, conference organiserNANo limit
7Part-time or guest lecturer to environmental courses at academic institutes. Points are per hour of actual face-to-face presentation and allow for time of preparation of the lecture material, with a minimum of not less than 5 points per presentation.Academic institute records, course notes presented, receipts of payments made as a lecturer540 per 2 year period, with a minimum of 5 per lecture
8Mentoring under a suitable volunteer program, up to a maximum of 40 points allowed per 2 year period. For mentoring to be accepted for CPD purposes , it must be provided to persons who are not within the direct control or supervision of the CEnvP(1)Diary records, statement from recipient of mentoring, records from local mentor organiser1.540 per 2 year period
9Private study of journals, texts etc. (informal learning activities)(2), up to a maximum of 20 points per 2 year periodDiary records, personal declaration0.520 per 2 year period
10Pro bono activities, including involvement with local community environmental committees, e.g. at local Council levelRecords of the organisation with which the involvement takes place; diary entries1No limit
11Academic involvement in industry(3)Diary entries; time sheets or similar attendance records; academic institute records1No limit

(1)Category 8 – Mentoring: Where a person is a supervisor of other staff in an organisation, it is expected that the person will provide guidance and assistance to their staff in what is also called mentoring, but for mentoring to be accepted as valid CPD for these purposes, it must be provided to other persons who are not within the direct control or supervision of the CEnvP. Ideally it should be part of a formal program, either run within the organisation or through an appropriate association. It should be noted that non-EIANZ members may participate as mentors in the EIANZ Mentoring Program.

(2)Category 9 is the most difficult category to provide auditable evidence. To help overcome this problem, a CPD Private Study Record Sheet is attached. Recording your private study on this (or similar record sheet) will assist in providing adequate evidence for CPD points claimed in this category.

(3)Category 11 is provided to allow for academics to cover work outside normal expected teaching activities, in addition to the preceding categories

Official CPD Log Template

The official CPD log template is an Excel spreadsheet containing built-in formulas that will automatically summarise points accrued per category as well as the total, taking into consideration the maximum number of points that can be claimed per each category. It also contains a separate tab to itemise your private study records (Category 9).

Download Official CPD Log Template

Using the official CEnvP CPD Log template is strongly recommended. If you choose not to use this template, ensure your version contains the same required details.

  • We recommend that you:
    • Keep your CPD Log updated regularly
    • Ensure your CPD log reflects a broad range of CPD activities
    • Record your CPD activities in date order or as grouped items (for Category 9 – Private Study only)
    • Itemise each activity with specifics such as title, topic, presenter/author’s name, date, time, and any necessary breakdowns

What is an acceptable CPD activity and what is not?

Some examples include:

Acceptable CPD activityUnacceptable CPD activity
Biodiversity Offsets ConferenceFirst Aid Course
ACLCA Module 1, Introduction to Preliminary Site InvestigationMentoring as part of your role
ALGA Latest advances in managing PFAS in Fire System Foam Transition WebinarWorkplace bullying and harassment training
EIANZ Cooler Climates WebinarPerformance and wellbeing courses
CRC Care Committee Monthly meetingDiving certificate
Vapour Intrusion Online WorkshopHow to use Excel Webinar

Some practitioners may choose to include all learning activities in their log for convenience, particularly for taxation purposes. However, while general business topics may be valuable for practitioners running their own businesses, they may not be accepted for the purpose of your CEnvP recertification. It is important that this distinction is recognised and if such topics are included in the log, they should be recorded separately from the required 100 points relevant to environmental and social practice.

If unsure, please download the CPD logs available as example:

General certification
CPD Log Example
SC Specialist certification
CPD Log Example

Click here for the CEnvP Scheme’s CPD Resources page for affiliated organisations offering training and professional development options.