Public Health Leadership for Sustainability

Course outline 

The Public Health Specialty Training Curriculum (2015) reflects the central importance of sustainable development to health and requires trainees to “demonstrate leadership in environmental sustainability with a focus on the links to health and climate change”. This interactive course equips public health professionals with leadership skills for environmental sustainability within and outside the health and care sector. It offers an overview of the relationship between health, the health sector and the climate and ecological crises, describing impacts but also the enormous potential public health benefits of sustainable transformation. Drawing on real-life examples, the course explores the role of public health in helping to achieve this, how to incorporate environmental sustainability into public health programmes and hone advocacy, partnership working and strategy development skills.

How will this help my organisation?

CSH courses are not just about increasing knowledge and skills in sustainable healthcare. They are unique in supporting participants to plan and implement a real-world sustainability project in their workplace, with ongoing mentoring provided through our sustainable healthcare Cafes.  Training a group of key staff maximises the outcomes and impact from your investment, by creating a cohort of empowered individuals who can support each other to be catalysts for change across your organisation. Staff trained through CSH will make a  practical and direct contribution to delivery of your sustainability, green or decarbonisation plan.

Learning objectives

By the end of the course you will be able to:

• Describe the risks the global environmental crisis presents to public health and healthcare systems.
• Understand mitigation and adaptation efforts and their potential health co-benefits.
• Identify carbon hotspots and understand the basic principles of carbon footprinting and sustainability in quality improvement.
• Recognise what is distinctive about leadership in sustainability.
• Plan and appraise service developments with reference to the triple bottom line of sustainable value.
• Apply the principles of sustainable development planning a sustainability project (or incorporating sustainability into an existing project) in your workplace. 

Course structure 

This course is delivered in three parts:

Part I. Self-study online 

Interactive online materials covering all course content, illustrated with case studies, presented in bite-sized modules. The course is flexible to your interests and available time; a condensed version can be completed in under 2 hours using the module summary pages; the full course contains around 8 hours of more in depth study. A discussion forum allows you to reflect on your learning and share thoughts and ideas with fellow learners. A short video on the home page outlines how to navigate the learning platform and obtain your certificate of completion. The learning materials are available to you from the point of booking and for 6 months after your workshop date. You can see a table of contents for the self study materials here. 

Part 2. Live workshop online 

The 4 hour virtual workshop consolidates your understanding of the course materials and then focuses on helping you develop ideas for a sustainability project in your setting; translating your learning into action through small group discussions with CSH experts and colleagues from around the world using the range of resources and tools. A separate certificate of completion is provided for the workshop.

Part 3. Mentoring 

After completing the workshop you are invited to attend our online Sustainable Healthcare Cafés, a friendly, informal setting in which to:

• Reconnect with peers passionate about sustainability
• Get ongoing support for sustainability projects from peers and CSH staff.

The 1 hour cafes occur regularly throughout the year. You are welcome to attend the cafes as many times as you wish. Upcoming dates will be emailed to you after the workshop. You can also receive ongoing peer support by joining one of our Networks.

How much does block booking this course cost?

Block booking prices 

Technical courses block booking prices 

Commissioned courses and closed workshops 

We can provide an exclusive course for your organisation with a closed workshop to train your staff together, facilitating network building across your organisation. These courses can be tailored to address your specific learning requirements and local issues.