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Changing humanity for the greater good

New strategic plan from the British Psychological Society.

02 August 2021

The BPS has published a new strategic framework which lays out the organisation's purpose, vision, values, as well as six strategic goals – which encompass the society's intent and aspirations. The document, which will take the society to the end of 2022, was 18 months in the making through extensive collaboration with members.

In terms of its purpose – aimed to define 'who we are, why we exist and how psychology will impact the world at large, not just now but in the future' – the BPS emphasises that it is an inclusive, member centred organisation, there for a diverse membership who it supports at every stage of people's careers. 'We will work collectively to advance evidence-based psychological knowledge, pure and applied, through education, research, practice and innovation. We will prioritise the society's resources to deliver influential, effective and impactful outcomes for our members, the people they support and wider society beyond membership.'

The vision statement in the document sets out the society's ideal of promoting inclusivity and diversity and being the "voice of contemporary evidence-based psychology that improves lives and changes humanity for the greater good". The document also covers the society's values – inclusivity, integrity, respect, collaboration and impact.

The six strategic goals laid out by the BPS are to promote and advocate for diversity and inclusion in psychology and eradicate discriminatory practice, create a member-centred community with a meaningful membership identity, promote the value of and encourage collaboration in interdisciplinary development and engagement, to be the home for all psychology and psychologists and uphold the highest standards of education and practice, increase its influence and impact and advance its work on policy and advocacy and to strive to be more innovative, agile, adaptive and sustainable.

To read the full strategic framework see: https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/strategic-framework-2021-2022