The HCV Network’s Assessor Licensing Scheme (ALS) issues licenses to qualified professionals worldwide and monitors their performance by evaluating their HCV or HCV-HCSA assessment reports. Licensed assessors are amongst the most experienced and qualified social and environmental practitioners globally, and really it is an honor for us to be working with this community on a daily basis. The HCVRN sets the bar really high in awarding these ALS licenses, and for good reason. It is not easy leading an HCV Assessment, or an integrated HCV-HCSA Assessment from start to end. Conditions are almost always challenging and often unpredictable, yet the expectations are high, and passing the report evaluation is critical.

For this reason, we are pleased to announce that the HCVRN will be able to provide continuous improvement training to licensed assessors over the coming months and years as part of a RSPO-HCVRN joint strategy to improve assessor performance, and collaboration with the High Carbon Stock Approach Steering Group. To identify training priorities, you have already been invited to provide your feedback, and we have done a comprehensive analysis of assessor performance based on the ALS evaluations of assessment reports.

One very interesting result of the analysis shows that Licensed Assessors who have completed an HCV lead assessor course, have a better performance ranking. That means they are less likely to have an unsatisfactory report or require two re-submissions, and have a higher satisfactory rate on first submission. So this is a word of encouragement for our first generation of licensed assessors when these courses were not yet available; do consider attending one of these courses, as it could help you and your client.

To add on that, we will be developing short web-based modules, focusing on the sticky issues that have been identified in the analysis. Keep an eye out for announcements later this year and into 2020 on these courses.

For more information contact olivia@hcvnetwork.org