Transforming Organisations

Environment Agency

Supporting a human rights-based approach in the Environment Agencies work.

In 2026, we worked in partnership with the Environment Agency to deliver a two-part human rights training programme aimed at supporting the Agency and its staff to take a human rights-based approach to their work.

How we designed the programme

This programme was designed with and for staff at the Environment Agency. It was delivered over the course of two online half-day workshops.

The programme aimed to provide staff with confidence and understanding to apply their human rights legal duties when exercising their statutory powers. This training will support the Environment Agency to uphold the rights of people living in boats whilst they exercise their statutory functions.

About the programme

We delivered a two-part staff capacity building workshop for staff at the Environment Agency. These workshops were designed by BIHR following conversations with the Environment Agency about specific human rights issues that they want to apply to their work.

Throughout the workshops, we provided staff with:

  • An introduction to the Human Rights Act 1998.

  • The human rights legal duties that public authorities have.

  • How the Human Rights Act is relevant to the Environment Agency's work.

  • A deep-dive into key human rights relevant to the Environment Agency's work.

  • Interactive discussions and case studies based on real-life cases.

By the end of the two sessions, participants were equipped with confidence and understanding to apply the Human Rights Act 1998 to their work.

“I thought both of the presenters were fantastic and did a great job of making something dense seem clear and informative. They really knew their stuff and kept it engaging.”

Course Participant Environment Agency Human Rights Capacity Building Workshops

The future of this programme

Our current work with the Environment Agency ended in October 2026. We will be sharing impact from the programme soon.

Is your organisation interested in learning more about the Human Rights Act 1998?

We work with public bodies and services to upskill staff on human rights law and provide practical tools to help them make rights-respecting decisions and embed a culture of respect for human rights across organisations.

We can work with you on Practice Lead programmes and making sustainable change, on staff workshops and confidence-building sessions, and on resources that can be co-produced with people accessing services. This includes any organisation providing publicly funded or statutory services.

Click here to see our training offers for public authorities