Guidance on the Development of Educational and Training Curricula

A practical guide to the development of curricula for the education and training of environmental health professionals. Prepared in consultation with educational institutes in a number of countries, the guide responds to both growing concern about environmental hazards and the need to ensure that professionals are adequately equipped with knowledge and skills. By recommending detailed model curricula for a range of professional categories, the book also aims to encourage the harmonization of international efforts to increase competence in the protection of public health from environmental threats. The book opens with an overview of the development of environmental health services within European countries, followed by a discussion of the main challenges faced in current efforts to prevent and control environmental hazards. Against this background, the first main chapter introduces a framework for discussing training needs and defining learning objectives. Sixteen core areas of environmental health are identified, ranging from the monitoring of air, food, and water quality, through control of the safety of agrochemicals, to auditing the safety of nuclear power plants and other energy sources. These activities are then discussed according to six core functions of environmental health services, moving from risk assessment, management, and communication to education, training, and research. Common activities that support each function are discussed together with the corresponding requirements for knowledge and skills. On the basis of this analysis, the chapter defines relevant learning objectives for training to perform each of the core functions. Subsequent chapters consider the advantages and disadvantages of different methodologies for teaching environmental health, and suggest a range of guidelines that can be used to evaluate an educational programme. The first half of the book concludes with a series of concrete proposals for curricula judged suitable for training