Issue
The years 1997 to 2001 saw a steep decline in the number of applicants to environmental health degree courses, raising alarm bells about future staff shortages in vital environmental health services.
What the CIEH is doing
In 2003, the CIEH launched a campaign to reverse the decline and boost student numbers. We:
- Launched a new careers website, information brochures, exhibition display materials and posters
- Ran a media campaign to promote environmental health as an interesting and worthwhile professional career rather than a ‘Life of Grime’
- Lobbied universities to join forces with us in working to attract more students
- Lobbied government to provide funding to support recruitment into the profession
- Encouraged local authorities to provide more paid training places
- Introduced a new degree curriculum designed to better meet the needs of today’s environmental health practitioners
Results
- We have achieved widespread coverage on the environmental health profession in the national, local and specialist media
- As part of the Regulatory Services Partnership, we secured funding from the ODPM to support more paid student placements and work experience opportunities for school students
- We received further ODPM funding in 2004 to produce a new interactive website and a CD Rom to encourage recruitment to the profession
- Student numbers are on the increase again – they have doubled in the past four years
- More universities are choosing to deliver accredited environmental health degree courses