Happy new year everyone! I hope you found some time for rest and quiet contemplation over the holidays. My colleague Robyn Coates recently wrote about 5 environmental health trends for Canadian agencies to watch for in 2023. It got me thinking about our environmental health situation in the US, and the similarities vs. differences in each region. After reading Robyn’s post, I’d argue most trends ring true here, as well. Have a read and let us know if we missed anything that is top of mind in 2023.
Trend 1: Community Engagement Becomes the Next Chapter
According to visitor metrics from the Hedgerow Software blog and LinkedIn, one topic really stood out in 2022 with agencies: community engagement. Robyn Coates asked the question a few months ago, if community engagement would be the next chapter within environmental health. Judging by the responses she received on LinkedIn, it really is critical for agencies moving forward. How do we repair relationships that have fractured during the pandemic? How do we ensure environmental health is equitable for all groups? These aren’t easy questions to answer, and I’m sure we’ll all spend time as an industry trying to advance this cause in 2023.
From a technology perspective, at Hedgerow Software we’ll continue to provide tools that help agencies in this area. Hedgerow Portal is one example, which has been on the agenda for just about every conversation we’ve had with our clients over the last few months.
Trend 2: Need to Refill the Talent Pool Grows
We’re at an inflection point with regards to the talented professionals within our industry. Agency leaders recognize that we need a new wave of inspectors/analysts/technologists/others to enter environmental health. Especially after the pandemic induced an exodus of more experienced workers. Conestoga College in Canada, has shown an innovative approach with the Bachelor of Environmental Public Health (BEPH) program. A BEPH degree provides education, real world technology experience, and apprenticeship programs to ensure more young professionals are exposed to environmental health with a direct path to a meaningful career. At Hedgerow, we support Conestoga College by offering access to our Hedgehog Application Suite for training on campus. We are very willing to do the same for US schools and challenge the readers of this article to think twice about how they can become more involved with building the future talent pipeline of our industry.
Trend 3: Renewed Focus on Employee Wellness
Another trend to keep an eye on is how agencies support their teams from a wellness perspective. The pandemic has been stressful and challenging on many levels, especially for environmental health teams. Look for more agencies to focus on team wellness, to build a culture of understanding and ensure employees are satisfied and productive in their work.
What might the model look like? A Hedgerow agency client in Canada, the Region of Peel, was a recipient of 2022 Canada's Healthy Workplace Month, Great Employer Award presented by Excellence Canada. The award recognizes employers for achievement of a healthy workplace in these key areas: 1) Physical Health 2) Mental Health 3) Social Health 4) Community
Hopefully more US-based agencies will follow suit with programs focused on employee wellness.
Trend 4: Barriers Reduced Through Data-Driven Environmental Health
Another theme to consider is how we continue to reduce barriers in our industry. A more equitable distribution of environmental health services to historically marginalized groups will hopefully be a larger focus for agencies, community leaders, and nonprofits this year. I hope we see generous funding into promising programs similar to the Canadian Indigenous clean drinking water initiative backed by Hollywood celebrities Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively.
Technology should also continue to play a significant role here, through the use of data-driven tools that help agencies and community leaders remove unintended bias from environmental health services.
Trend 5: Progress Made in Clean Energy Innovation
Last year, a consortium of Canadian agencies and nonprofits launched the Clean Economy Cluster Map with a vision to create a clean energy future that acknowledges the necessity for equity and economic prosperity to be interconnected to long term success. It will be interesting to see how the Biden administration and state leaders incentivize companies and government agencies to make more substantive progress in clean energy and sustainability. Especially as we are faced with growing macroeconomic challenges related to oil production.
What other major trends within environmental health did we miss? Please leave a comment below or connect with me on LinkedIn to continue the dialogue and have a wonderful 2023.
