E D U C A T I O N
Population growth, intensive industrialization, food processing, transport systems and the modern way of life all significantly contribute to the deterioration of the environment. Pollution affects all basic physical elements of the environment: air, water and soil, upon which human health depends. Therefore it is crucial that the efforts taken to protect the environment become more extensive, organized and coordinated.
This process is well underway in developed regions, and interest in solving environmental problems is increasing in developing areas. Numerous programs have been introduced to stimulate efficient prevention of environmental pollution in both regions and across national and regional borders. Such extensive support has also lead to the rapid development of the concept of environmental health.
Environmental health is a multidisciplinary area, which requires collaboration by many professions including medicine, biology, chemistry, technology, sociology and psychology among others. Knowledge of environmental problems is key - it is of the utmost importance for all these experts. However, the issue is not only identification of an environmental problem, but also expertise to enable the collaboration of experts from different sciences to research various aspects of the same problem and to take action to lessen or prevent further environmental pollution. Even for these experts developing interactive cooperation on a common project is a most difficult task.
The COPERNICUS Programme, sponsored by the Association of European Universities (CRE) aims to incorporate environmental health into all relevant university curricula and to help develop teaching materials which will prove valuable to teachers and students alike. As a result, a textbook called Basic Environmental Health was written in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and UNESCO. The book, scheduled to be completed in the fall, is intended for teachers, students and experts from different sciences who work on environmental problems. Along with the text, a teachers' reference book, a set of problem-solving exercises and a collection of transparencies and graphs will be available.
WHO, UNEP, and UNESCO also organized a seminar on Environment and Health in April 1996 in Budapest, Hungary. The course was intended for university teachers and others active in environmental health teaching with an objective to evaluate the new teaching kit. Twenty-three scientists from the Danube Basin took part in the course which was held at the National Institute of Public Health. The participants represented various professions - doctors, biologists, chemists and a mathematician - all of whom in one way or the other work in environmental health teaching. The course was guided by the authors of the book, the scientists of WHO and the most outstanding Hungarian experts on environmental issues.
The main objectives of the course were as follows:
The participants were issued the latest draft version of Basic Environmental Health which according to the authors will sustain only minor edits. The author of the book is Dr. Annalee Yassi, the director of the Occupational and Environmental Health Unit at the University of Manitoba, Canada. Contributing authors include Dr. Teo de KOK, of the Open University Heerlen, the Netherlands, Dr. Tee Guidotti, from the University of Alberta, Canada and Dr. Tord Kjellstrom, director of Global and Integrated Environmental Health, WHO. In addition, numerous leading scientists from all over the world contributed valuable comments and materials.
The book offers a global and multidisciplinary approach, clearly presenting the actual diversity and complexity concerning environmental health. The topics range from air and water quality to food and food production to global ecological problems. The authors have successfully accomplished three extremely demanding tasks outlined as follows.
First, the aim was to set a framework for the new subject Environmental Health. The authors have avoided detailed descriptions of environmental problems and managed to retain the broad global perspective, which makes the book widely relevant and timely.
Second, being a multidisciplinary text, the writing of the book required substantial contributions of all authors. In order to reduce the danger of a one-sided and incomplete perspective the book was revised and drafted with the assistance of numerous experts whose contribution to the final draft was invaluable.
Third, the introduction of new teaching methods, without which no noticeable success in the fight for more efficient environmental health can be expected. While some teachers may be familiar with certain environmental issues dealt with in the book the text also will help them to master the necessary teaching methods. Since environmental health is based on a multidisciplinary approach the widespread classical teaching methods are being reconsidered in light of more modern and increasingly interactive ones.
The participants discussed and evaluated the topics and the new teaching approaches individually at home and at the course site, together with the authors. The book was judged as highly suitable as a textbook for environmental health with a professional approach to relevant topics and a valuable contribution to the promotion of new innovative teaching methods.
Indeed it was the new teaching approaches which were undoubtedly the most valuable experience gained from the course. Even experienced teachers praised the efficiency of the new teaching methods adding that they are more demanding for the teachers than the traditional ones, but at the same time are far more student-centered and motivating. Even lectures, a typically traditional method, can include innovative elements and become more agreeable for the students by encouraging them to take an active and creative part in the teaching process.
Students of environmental health differ greatly according to their basic profession, interests and previous knowledge. Well-organized and extensive knowledge can surpass the local influence and professional diversity, both of which hinder reaching creative solutions. The process of studying environmental health should not only include assembling information and knowledge about a particular problem but should also encourage students to use innovative and interactive teaching methods efficiently. The approaches dealt with in the book Basic Environmental Health have taken all this into account.