Outgoing chairman Stephen Young, reflects on his year in office and talks to Nick Warburton about declining student number, engaging and broadening the membership and raising the organisation's profile.

Looking back over his year as CIEH chairman, Stephen Young acknowledges that much of the work came with the turf. This meant taking an active interest in the charity's day-to-day running as well as contributing to and influencing debate on key issues. Of utmost concern was the decline in student numbers and how the CIEH was going to attract people into the profession, which competed with other priorities, not least the appointment of a new chief executive. As his term in office draws to a close, he reflects on the year's progress. The membership debate was a top priority for Stephen, and continues to be so as he prepares to step down. "We need to look at the concept of who our members are," he explains. "We are clearly a body that supports environmental health officers. But are we denying ourselves some opportunities, some enrichment and experience from people who work in an environmental or health field?" This is a valid point for many who work at and with the Chartered Institute. If the CIEH is to broaden and strengthen its membership then perhaps, he says, it should re-examine its approach to recruitment, at least as one way of countering the decline in applications. Following Stephen's recent attendance at the University of the West of England graduation ceremony, he says he was surprised to discover courses such as environmental health and biology, and environmental health risk management, and is interested to learn where these graduates find employment. "Perhaps we should explore what's on these other courses and if there is a capacity in which we could recruit them as members," he says. He cites the American and Scottish systems whose membership reflects a broader skills base and wonders whether the CIEH could gain from the approach used by REHIS and NEHA.

Moving the charity forward is central to his belief, and debate on chartered status is one key issue he hopes will be resolved in the near future. He says that it is vitally important for the CIEH because it will allow non-EHOs into the organisation without compromising the ability of EHOs and practitioners running it. Furthermore, chartered status is important for the profile of members and the organisation, and will reinforce the status of the environmental health profession. If accepted by members at the AGM in 2002, he believes chartered status will invigorate the CIEH and make it a more dynamic organisation. Equally, he is eager to see that members gain the respect that they deserve for their work. "What we do is worthy and should be respected by the public. Our members deserve that". One way of doing this is by raising the profile of the CIEH through the media and by increasing consultation with government. "I want the CIEH to be the first port of call from government for environmental and health issues both nationally and internationally," he says. The same, he suggests, must be true of the media. "I want reporters to know that we have an expert view and I want them to pester us to garner information." He cites the achievements of the press office over the last year in raising the CIEH's profile, but adds a cautionary warning. "It's not a simple equation that if we put out information people will pick it up. I want quality. I don't want a single banner headline screaming about butchers' licensing without it being followed up in a more appropriate way. We must gear up the material that we put out".

The CIEH, he argues, already has some vital organs at its disposal - primarily EHN and EHJ, which he describes as widely diverse reads that reflect the professional role. The charity will also be publishing an academically refereed research journal this year that will introduce the charity to a wider group of academics. Raising the profile of the CIEH is not limited to the national arena, according to Stephen. He emphasises the international role of the organisation as a way of further expanding the charity's profile and highlights a range of areas where the CIEH already makes a valuable contribution. This includes providing expertise and knowledge to partnerships and training centres world-wide, to assisting in building infrastructure in the developing world. He is proud of the role of the charity abroad and argues that there is much more that could be done. One way is to help developing nations to establish their own practice. "If we can help, say, the African professionals to come together themselves and create their own body which has the respect and understanding of their own governments, then from that will flow resources and training," he says. Doing this, he explains, will foster environmental health good practice, leading to improvements in lifestyles. Branches and centres should consider twinning themselves with professional bodies in these countries, he suggests. Stephen believes that expanding into the international arena may be one way of attracting more people into the profession, not just from the UK, but also from abroad. At the moment all of the CIEH's accredited universities are in England, although there is dialogue with one university in Scotland and in Eire. "But if that is the logic now, why not accredit courses in say Australia and South Africa?," he asks. The CIEH already receives applicants from graduates and postgraduates seeking to practise in the UK, so why not extend it to these countries? "If there were a reciprocal agreement and recognition, perhaps some of our members could spend some of their formative years working in Australia - and wouldn't they be the richer for it?," he argues.

Unlike the president, the chairman's tenure in office is short, and with so many important issues demanding attention, surely there must be limitations to what can be achieved? "My biggest frustration has been one of time," he notes. "I just didn't appreciate how demanding the role would be". He adds that in the scheme of things, the chairman is only really becoming useful halfway through the year in office. "It is not a good way of managing the resource," he says. "The role of both the president and chairman does bear some scrutiny and I am not alone in thinking this." He is pleased however, with the achievements that he has overseen while in office. He singles out the education department, which he says has made a concerted effort to look at the recruitment issue. A major success has been the CIEH Young Professionals' conference, which attracted a positive response from undergraduates at last year's conference. He is keen to highlight the open membership forums and expert advisory panels, which he sees as an opportunity to re-engage CIEH members, particularly those who are on the margins. As outgoing chairman, he says he has learnt a great deal from the experience. Above all, he has realised just how wide-ranging and important environmental health issues can be to the wellbeing of people in the UK, but adds that there is still a great deal to do. He remains optimistic about the future of the profession but emphasises that the contribution that environmental health practitioners officers can make to the emerging public health debate must be fully exploited. "There is, with the creation of primary care trusts, a great opportunity for us to work closely together and improve public health."