Sustainable development in public health consultant education
Authors: Darryl Quantz, Dawn Jenkin, Emily Stevenson, David Pencheon, John Middleton
Journal: The Lancet Planetary Health (2017)

Climate change and environmental degradation have been recognised as the most crucial public health challenge of our time.1Watts N Adger WN Agnolucci P et al.Health and climate change: policy responses to protect public health.Lancet. 2015; 386: 1861-1914Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1018) Google Scholar For public health professionals, there is a clear obligation and opportunity for leadership around the health sector response to this issue. Public health can proffer our skills in evidence appraisal, multi-disciplinary partnerships, advocacy, and development of health policy to embed the understanding that long-term health and environmental sustainability are synonymous. We must clearly articulate the substantial health benefits of sustainable development and work with partners on effective strategies to realise these benefits. Such efforts build on the natural history of public health to engage and advocate on the wider determinants of health and wellbeing of our communities. But how do we move climate change from being a niche public health specialism to a mainstream norm of our discipline? A crucial first step is to embed the expectation that environmental leadership is a fundamental core competency for public health professionals. In their 2015 specialty training curriculum,2Faculty of Public HealthPublic health specialty training curriculum.http://www.fph.org.uk/uploads/PH%20Curriculum%202015_approved.pdfDate: 2015Google Scholar the Faculty of Public Health (who regulate and oversee public health consultant training in the UK) introduced both an overarching statement on environmental sustainability and a specific learning outcome on environmental sustainability leadership. As a result, every public health registrar is now expected to show evidence of leadership in environmental sustainability during their training. The need to meet this new expectation in training is now driving interest and engagement from public health trainees across the UK. A long-standing national network for trainees in sustainable development has used this momentum to initiate a review of UK policies on public health training and practice, as both a stocktake and an opportunity for identifying further action. The resulting report3UK Public Health Registrar Sustainable Development NetworkEmbedding sustainable development in public health training in the United Kingdom: training regions update report.http://www.fph.org.uk/uploads/Embedding%20Sustainable%20Development%20in%20Public%20Health%20Training.pdfDate: March 2017Google Scholar identified several areas of success including: (1) in every training region, registrars received effective communication on sustainable development issues and opportunities for action; (2) sustainable development was incorporated into the induction programmes of new public health registrars; (3) placement opportunities for registrars to gain leadership experience around sustainable development and climate change were faciliatated and signposted; and (4) travel policies and working arrangements were reviewed to reduce the carbon footprint of public health training (eg, teleconferencing or videoconferencing, active travel options, and remote working). The Faculty of Public Health and Training Programme Directors from the 13 public health specialty schools across the UK helped facilitate the production of this report by providing advice, assisting in the audit, and ensuring registrars were given time to complete the work. Such support recognises the unique set of skills that public health professionals can offer in moving this issue forward, including a passion for population health, negotiation, evidence-based practice, and framing the issue for diverse stakeholders. As the health and care system begin to embrace the health gains from sustainable development, we look forward to continuing to turn the threat of climate change into an opportunity to improve the health and wellbeing of our communities. JM was Director of Public Health for Sandwell in the West Midlands for 26 years until 2014; is the President of the Faculty of Public Health; and is a patron of MEDACT, a non-governmental organisation that campaigns on social justice, climate change, international conflict, and health-related issues. All other authors declare no competing interests.