About

Ric Eales is an independent environmental and sustainability consultant supporting more sustainable policy, practice and decision-making through the use of evidence, evaluation and engagement.

An environmental scientist by training, Ric has more than 30 years' experience of environmental and sustainability consultancy. He was the founder and Managing Director of Collingwood Environmental Planning (CEP) for over 26 years and is now a freelance consultant. He is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Strathclyde.

Ric’s areas of expertise lie in environmental and sustainability assessment, policy and programme evaluation and other decision support tools, and the broader consideration of environmental and sustainability issues within UK and EU legislation, policy and practice. He has expertise in, and has led projects on:

  • environmental and sustainability assessment, including Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)

  • policy and programme evaluation

  • water and flood risk management and catchment planning

  • climate change, net zero, resilience and adaptation

  • biodiversity, ecosystem services, natural capital and green infrastructure

  • sustainability strategy and Sustainable Development Goals

  • land use policy and management

  • urban sustainability transitions and the circular economy

  • forward-looking studies and state of the environment reporting

Ric has been an independent expert advisor to numerous public sector, private sector and NGO clients. He has a long track-record in project management, in many cases these have been complex, multi-institutional, projects. In the UK he has managed and contributed to numerous studies for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Environment Agency, Natural England, the Scottish Government and water companies, for example. In Europe, he has several decades of experience of working for the European Commission (DG Environment) and the European Environment Agency (EEA). He has also provided expert, quality and peer review roles on many research projects and programmes.

He has experience of developing and delivering creative and bespoke methodologies, innovative solutions and participatory approaches to challenging environmental and sustainability issues. He has also published widely, has extensive experience in stakeholder engagement and facilitation and is an experienced trainer.