From Auditor to Sustainability Practitioner: The AA1000 Pathway

Hi [First Name],

You trained with DQS Academy as an IMS Internal Auditor. So you already know how to test a management system against requirements, follow the evidence and report what you find.

Those skills are now needed somewhere new: sustainability.

Boards, investors and communities want to know that sustainability claims rest on real stakeholder engagement and evidence. In South Africa, King V applies to financial years starting on or after 1 January 2026, and a national roadmap for ISSB sustainability reporting is being drafted.

That's why we'd like to introduce the DQS Academy AA1000 Sustainability Practitioner programme, based on AccountAbility's AA1000 standards (DQS Academy is an AA1000 Licensed Training Provider):

• Module A: Stakeholder Engagement Practitioner. This is the entry point, and no prior AA1000 knowledge is needed.
• Module B: Sustainability Practitioner. Apply the four AccountAbility Principles (Inclusivity, Materiality, Responsiveness, Impact) and link them to credible reporting.
• Next step, if you want it: Module C, the route to the Associate Certified Sustainability Assurance Practitioner (ACSAP) credential.

It's self-paced online learning of about 8 hours per module, with a year to finish. It builds directly on what you know about interested parties, evidence and continual improvement.

Three easy ways to take a look:

Yes, I'm interested → [EXPRESS INTEREST LINK]
Send me the programme info → [PROGRAMME INFO REQUEST LINK]
Save my seat at the free introductory webinar → [REGISTRATION LINK] (Wed 28 Oct [DATE - TO CONFIRM] · [TIME SAST - TO CONFIRM] SAST)

Or just reply to this email with your question.

Kind regards,
Francois Labuschagne
CEO, DQS Africa [SENDER - TO CONFIRM]

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Hi [First Name],

As a DQS Academy IMS Lead Auditor, you plan audits, judge evidence, protect your independence and sign off conclusions.

Sustainability assurance asks for the same discipline, applied to a different question: can stakeholders trust what an organisation says about its sustainability performance?

AccountAbility's AA1000 Assurance Standard (AA1000AS v3) sets out how that assurance is done: preconditions of independence and competence, Type 1 and Type 2 engagements, Moderate and High levels of assurance, and a formal assurance statement. And with King V now applying to financial years from 1 January 2026, plus a national ISSB roadmap being drafted in which assurance is a named workstream, demand for credible assurance is only going one way.

The DQS Academy AA1000 programme takes you there in three steps:

• Module A: Stakeholder Engagement Practitioner (no prior AA1000 knowledge needed)
• Module B: Sustainability Practitioner (the four AccountAbility Principles, materiality and reporting)
• Module C: Associate Certified Sustainability Assurance Practitioner (ACSAP). This covers assurance under AA1000AS v3, including AccountAbility's GHG assurance guidance. ACSAP is the first level of AccountAbility's CSAP credential, which leads on to Practising and Lead CSAP as you build assurance experience.

It's self-paced online learning of about 8 hours per module, with a year to finish.

Three easy ways to take a look:

Yes, I'm interested → [EXPRESS INTEREST LINK]
Send me the programme info → [PROGRAMME INFO REQUEST LINK]
Save my seat at the free introductory webinar → [REGISTRATION LINK] (Wed 28 Oct [DATE - TO CONFIRM] · [TIME SAST - TO CONFIRM] SAST)

Or just reply to this email with your question.

Kind regards,
Francois Labuschagne
CEO, DQS Africa [SENDER - TO CONFIRM]

—
You're receiving this because you took part in DQS Academy training, and this programme builds on it. [LAWFUL BASIS - CONFIRM: existing customer (POPIA s69(3)) or consent]
Don't want emails like this? Unsubscribe here, free of charge: [UNSUBSCRIBE LINK]
Sent by [DQS LEGAL ENTITY NAME - TO CONFIRM] (DQS Academy) · Boskruin Village, Boskruin Office Park Building No.5, Randburg, South Africa · academy.sa@dqs.de · +27 11 787 0060 · Privacy: [PRIVACY POLICY LINK]

Hi [First Name],

Save my free seat → [REGISTRATION LINK]

Ask an experienced auditor what sustainability assurance involves and you'll often hear: "That's a different world."

It isn't. If you can identify interested parties, test evidence and follow up on actions, you already have the foundations. What's different is the lens: stakeholder engagement, materiality and impact, and a recognised standard to assure against.

On Wednesday 28 October [DATE - TO CONFIRM], Francois Labuschagne, CEO of DQS Africa [PRESENTER - TO CONFIRM], and Lucinda Kuys [CO-PRESENTER - TO CONFIRM] will show you:
✔ why stakeholder engagement and assurance matter more in South Africa now
✔ how the AccountAbility AA1000 standards work, and what's changing with AA1000SES v3
✔ the step-by-step path from IMS auditor to sustainability practitioner and assurance practitioner

Join the briefing. It's free → [REGISTRATION LINK]

[SENDER - TO CONFIRM]

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You're receiving this because you took part in DQS Academy training, and this programme builds on it. [LAWFUL BASIS - CONFIRM: existing customer (POPIA s69(3)) or consent]
Don't want emails like this? Unsubscribe here, free of charge: [UNSUBSCRIBE LINK]
Sent by [DQS LEGAL ENTITY NAME - TO CONFIRM] (DQS Academy) · Boskruin Village, Boskruin Office Park Building No.5, Randburg, South Africa · academy.sa@dqs.de · +27 11 787 0060 · Privacy: [PRIVACY POLICY LINK]

Hi [First Name],

Picture a sustainability report that says: "14 stakeholder meetings held, 420 attendees."

Then a board member asks one question: "So what changed?"

That's the gap. Meetings and attendance are outputs. Stakeholders, and the assurance providers who test the report, want to see outcomes and impact: what the organisation did differently because of what it heard.

That's the thinking behind the AccountAbility Principles (Inclusivity, Materiality, Responsiveness and Impact), and it is central to the next version of the AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard, now in development.

Quick check for your own organisation:
1. Can you show what changed because of stakeholder input last year?
2. Did every significant concern get a response, with a reason?
3. Is there an owner for each follow-up action?

If any answer is "not really", join us on Wednesday 28 October [DATE - TO CONFIRM]. We'll show how auditors can close that gap.

Save my seat → [REGISTRATION LINK]

[SENDER - TO CONFIRM]

—
You're receiving this because you took part in DQS Academy training, and this programme builds on it. [LAWFUL BASIS - CONFIRM: existing customer (POPIA s69(3)) or consent]
Don't want emails like this? Unsubscribe here, free of charge: [UNSUBSCRIBE LINK]
Sent by [DQS LEGAL ENTITY NAME - TO CONFIRM] (DQS Academy) · Boskruin Village, Boskruin Office Park Building No.5, Randburg, South Africa · academy.sa@dqs.de · +27 11 787 0060 · Privacy: [PRIVACY POLICY LINK]

Hi [First Name],

Register now → [REGISTRATION LINK]

Tomorrow, Wednesday 28 October [DATE - TO CONFIRM] at [TIME SAST - TO CONFIRM] SAST, we go live with a free 45-minute briefing [DURATION - TO CONFIRM].

You'll leave with:
✔ a clear picture of the AA1000 standards (Principles, Stakeholder Engagement, Assurance)
✔ what's changing with AA1000SES v3, based on AccountAbility's draft
✔ the DQS Academy pathway: Module A → Module B (Sustainability Practitioner) → Module C (ACSAP), with prices, time commitment and entry requirements

Bring your questions. Lucinda will answer the technical ones live.

Grab my free seat → [REGISTRATION LINK]

[REPLAY POLICY - TO CONFIRM: only add "Register anyway and we'll send the recording" if that's true]

[SENDER - TO CONFIRM]

—
You're receiving this because you took part in DQS Academy training, and this programme builds on it. [LAWFUL BASIS - CONFIRM: existing customer (POPIA s69(3)) or consent]
Don't want emails like this? Unsubscribe here, free of charge: [UNSUBSCRIBE LINK]
Sent by [DQS LEGAL ENTITY NAME - TO CONFIRM] (DQS Academy) · Boskruin Village, Boskruin Office Park Building No.5, Randburg, South Africa · academy.sa@dqs.de · +27 11 787 0060 · Privacy: [PRIVACY POLICY LINK]

From Auditor to Sustainability Practitioner: The AA1000 Pathway

Online · Wednesday 28 October 2026 [DATE - TO CONFIRM] · [TIME SAST - TO CONFIRM] SAST · External link: [REGISTRATION LINK] · Speakers: Francois Labuschagne, CEO, DQS Africa [PRESENTER - TO CONFIRM]; Lucinda Kuys, DQS South Africa [CO-PRESENTER AND TITLE - TO CONFIRM] · Banner: [EVENT BANNER IMAGE]

You already audit management systems. Sustainability assurance is the next step.

Stakeholders want proof that sustainability claims rest on real engagement and evidence. In South Africa, King V applies to financial years starting on or after 1 January 2026, and a national ISSB adoption roadmap is being drafted with assurance as a named workstream.

In 45 minutes, DQS Africa will show you:
✔ How AccountAbility's AA1000 standards fit together: Principles (AP 2018), Stakeholder Engagement (SES) and Assurance (AS v3)
✔ What's changing with AA1000SES v3, based on AccountAbility's consultation draft
✔ The path from IMS auditing → stakeholder engagement → sustainability management → sustainability assurance
✔ The DQS Academy route to Sustainability Practitioner and ACSAP

Live Q&A with our technical lead.

For: IMS, SHEQ and quality auditors, sustainability and ESG practitioners, and anyone who runs stakeholder engagement.
Free. Register: [REGISTRATION LINK]

Most auditors already have half the skills sustainability assurance needs.

They just don't know it yet.

Interested parties. Evidence. Corrective action. Independence.

Those map almost one-to-one onto stakeholder engagement, materiality, responsiveness and assurance under AccountAbility's AA1000 standards.

On Wednesday 28 October we're running a free 45-minute briefing:
→ how the AA1000 standards fit together
→ what's changing with AA1000SES v3
→ the path from IMS auditor to sustainability practitioner

Register: [REGISTRATION LINK]

#AA1000 #SustainabilityAssurance #StakeholderEngagement