By Rhea Castillo, AAAC Bulletin
Winter 2010
ECO (Environmental Careers Organization) Canada’s National Environmental Program Accreditation process is the culmination of a long conversation we have been having with industry, academic professionals, and government about the Environment Sector. Grant Trump, CEO of ECO Canada, having historical ties to government (TASC: The Alliance of Sector Councils), academia, and industry, is an effective facilitator of this conversation. He successfully engages stakeholders on the topic of how to solve the Environment Sector’s pressing human resource needs. And, out of this on-going conversation we have the plethora of ECO Canada projects initiated to address both qualitative and quantitative concerns from within the model of a sector council.
As a sector council, ECO Canada works “to identify and address current and anticipated human resource and skills and learning challenges and to implement long-term, human resources planning and development strategies (HRSDC: Human Resource Skills Development Canada)” for the Environment Sector. And, as an emerging sector, the environment not only demands that their employees be adequate in number, but also that they be adept to the change which characterizes the industry as a whole. In the ECO Canada July 2010 ‘Post-Secondary Graduation Research Report’, it is revealed that, “Many traditional programs are steadily declining (i.e. wildlife biology) and new emerging programs are experiencing tremendous growth (i.e. land use and planning)”. Industry changes such as these necessitate that post-secondary environmental programs update themselves accordingly. And, ECO Canada’s National Environmental Program Accreditation process is a way to move forward in this respect.
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