The UCD Centre for Safety and Health at Work (CSHW), which has provided over twenty years of leading, innovative and practical education programmes in occupational safety and health, is now offering environmental management programmes. The protection of the environment is now an integral part of the fabric of society and has become a concern in every aspect of how we advance, develop and interact with the environment. Professions that previously had little or only peripheral involvement in environmental issues are now required to interact with environmental scientists and engineers in order for their work to meet legal and regulatory requirements that did not exist a decade ago. The global environmental services market as a whole is growing steadily and is likely to continue. A number of studies have estimated the value of this sector was in excess of €500 billion worldwide in 2005 and is likely to exceed €800 billion by 2015 (UK Centre for Economic and Environmental Development Global Market Estimate, 2008). The environmental sector in Ireland is estimated to be valued at some €2.8 billion, with Northern Ireland accounting for an additional €0.79 billion approximately. This all-island figure of €3.6 billion does not include the market for environmental goods and services in building and construction materials and is therefore almost certainly an underestimate (Intertrade Ireland/Forfás, 2008). Moreover the environmental service sector has a range of key drivers that is facilitating this growth: compliance with EU environmental directives and regulations; rising energy costs; environmental goods and services; climate change considerations; green consumerism; significant increases in public investment in environmental services and infrastructure; increases in investment in energy and environment-related research and development; and green public procurement. GROWTH IN ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES A best estimate suggests that there are more than 6,500 people directly employed in environmental services in Ireland (European Commission, 2004). In light of the key drivers listed above it is expected that the size of the environmental sector and employment opportunities will continue to grow. Consequently, a wide variety or professions, exclusive of environmental science, now have to be conversant in environmental issues in order to capitalise on this growth. Many of these professions have little or no grounding in environmental knowledge and as such are not in a position to offer constructive input to many processes for sustainable growth and development in Ireland. Planners, architects, civil, structural and chemical engineers, civil servants, occupational health and safety (OSH) specialists and legal professionals increasingly must interact with environmental specialists. These professions are now required to evaluate, critique and incorporate environmental specialist work into projects and plans that they are managing. As the environmental legal and regulatory process in Ireland becomes more complicated, and oftentimes onerous, these professions must be able to understand and incorporate scientific principles involved in environmental assessment and management into their work. Such processes also assist environmental scientists and environmental engineers that need input from these professions in order for them to complete their work with greater robustness. The UCD CSHW has created two new programmes to provide the knowledge and expertise required to accomplish this:

• Professional Certificate in Environmental Management (15 ECTS Credits at Level 9 on the National Framework of Qualifications); and
• MSc in Safety Health and Environmental Management (90 ECTS Credits at Level 9 on the National Framework of Qualifications).

TWO NEW PROGRAMMES  • Professional Certificate in Environmental Management The Professional Certificate in Environmental Management (PCert) introduces the student to the core principles of environmental management over three modules: Introduction to Environmental Science; Environmental Legislation and Regulation; and Environmental Assessment and Management. The PCert is designed for professionals who currently, or are planning to, work with environmental matters but who do not have any specific environmental qualifications, e.g. OSH specialists, engineers, geotechnical scientists, planners, etc. The PCert provides a robust professional overview of environmental management, human-environment interactions and their associated regulatory issues and complexities. At the end of the programme, successful candidates from any given profession should expect that they will have a clear understanding and knowledge of: environmental issues, the scientific principles underpinning those issues, the legal and regulatory system in Ireland relating to the environment and the assessment and management procedures necessary to ensure environmental protection. The programme is designed to primarily be self directed online learning with occasional half day workshops held in UCD. There are two half-day (three hours) workshops per module. Each module is comprised of approximately twenty hours of online lectures utilising appropriate e-learning software. Each lecture also has accompanying reading resources and specified learning activities and assessment. The PCert is offered between September and April and the fee is €1,500. Applications are open until 31 July 3. For further information, please click on this link. • Masters in Safety Health and Environmental Management The Masters in Safety, Health and Environmental Management (MSc in SHEM) introduces students to the core principles of occupational safety and health and environmental management. This programme is designed for professionals who currently, or are planning to, work with occupational safety and health and environmental matters in the public sector or private industry. The programme provides a robust professional overview of occupational safety and health and environmental management, human and occupational / natural environment interactions and their associated regulatory issues and complexities. The MSc in SHEM builds upon the core learning strategies of our successful postgraduate programmes in Occupational Safety and Health to combine and expand those strategies with the new environmental learning designed for the PCert. At the end of the MSc in SHEM programme, successful candidates will have met the academic competency requirements to adequately assess and manage occupational safety, health and environmental aspects of their profession. Work experience and additional professional qualifications will determine the level of competency for any individual professional. At the end of the programme, students from any given profession should expect that they will have: a clear understanding and knowledge of occupational safety and health and environmental issues, the scientific principles underpinning those issues, the relevant legal and regulatory system and requirements in Ireland and the assessment and management procedures necessary to ensure safety, health and environmental protection; they will recognise the need to take further specialised CPD courses relevant to their own profession/sector to expand their knowledge as required. The MSc in SHEM is a two year part-time blended learning programme and is comprised of predominantly traditional face-to-face learning modules (30 ECTS credits), online learning modules (15 ECTS credits) and project based modules (15 ECTS credits), in addition to the dissertation (30 ECTS credits). All online modules include some face-to-face workshops held in UCD. In the project based modules, students are supported (supervision, resources, scaffolding) in their completion of a project, and learn some of the skills that will be essential to them in planning for their dissertation. The fee for the Masters in Safety, Health and Environmental Management is €3,750 per annum. Applications are open until 31 July. For further information, please click on this link. UCD CENTRE FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK - OSH PROGRAMMES The UCD Centre for Safety and Health at Work continues to offer leading occupational safety and health programmes in both blended online and traditional teaching formats. For further information on our complete range of programmes including our blended online Certificate in Safety and Health at Work and our Higher Diploma in Safety, Health and Welfare at Work, please click on this link. Please contact the CSHW for further queries via email: cshw@ucd.ie or via telephone: (01) 716 3420.