In 2007 the Canadian University Environmental Science Network (CUESN) and the Canadian College Environmen­tal Network (CCEN) began working with Environmental Careers Organization Canada to establish an accreditation process for post-secondary environmental programs, which is governed by the Canadian Environmental Accre­ditation Commission (CEAC). CEAC is an auto­nomous body consisting of representatives of academia, industry, CUESN and CCEN.

In 2009 a voluntary accreditation program for undergraduate environmental science degrees and environmental diplomas was launched and a year later, at the request of CUESN members, CEAC expanded the scope to include undergraduate environmental studies degrees. The process involved programs across Canada and included the following steps:

(1) Working with three well-established environmental studies programs (the University of Victoria, the University of Winnipeg and Trent University) this group established a draft of flexible curriculum guidelines.

(2) This draft was circulated to administrators at 35 Canadian environmental studies programs.

(3) The proposed curriculum guidelines received positive response resulting in CEAC approval of these as the curriculum standard. Two environmental studies programs have since received accreditation.

Accreditation is a quality assurance process designed to ensure an educational program meets a national standard. It serves to support and encourage program responsiveness to the ra­pidly changing environmental field by ensuring that policies, procedures and structures are in place to continually improve in response to student needs, evolving knowledge and industry developments.

The accreditation review process is objective and impartial, and the standards have been developed by Canadian academics. We hope this information addresses the concerns raised in the letter published in the September issue of the Bulletin. We welcome continued discussion about this initiative.

Stephen Bocking
Chair, CUESN
Chair, Environmental &
Resource Science/Studies Program
Trent University

Allen Verbeek
Chair, CCEN
Chair, Environmental Sciences
Lakeland College

Annie Booth replies

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