ABOUT CHES

CHES mission statement
The Work of CHES: Promoting Environmental Science in the UK
Links with other organisations
Membership
UK Provision of Environmental Science programmes
CHES Constitution
CHES Executive Committee

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CHES mission statement

Founded in 1991, CHES is the collective voice of the UK Environmental Sciences academic community. It is an active networking organisation for all those involved in Environmental Sciences programmes within UK higher and further education. It serves to enhance quality of outcomes in environmental education and aims to facilitate cooperation and collaboration between relevant bodies within the UK and worldwide. CHES offers advice to government by invitation (through consultation exercises) and proactively in its own right.

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The Work of CHES: Promoting Environmental Science in the UK

CHES provides a lobbying service for the Higher Education Environmental Science community. It moves the national debate and policy process forward in appropriate areas by canvassing the views of members, and both responding to, and initiating dialogue with government, funding agencies and allied professional bodies. CHES led the creation of the Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences and Environmental Studies (ES3) Benchmark Statement (pdf 118KB) and was actively involved in the last Research Assessment Exercise. CHES also accredits programmes of study in UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in collaboration with the Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES).

For a full list of membership services, please go to the Membership page.

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• Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES SC): it is a member of the GEES SC Advisory Group and works closely with the Subject Centre. It has carried out a number of collaborative projects with the Centre and maintains close engagement with the Higher Education Academy through the Subject Centre's Environmental Science Senior Advisor. CHES’s work with GEES SC links academics involved in the discipline and provides resources in support of learning and training
• Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES), allowing collaboration on accreditation, career development, professional education and Chartered Status  
• more recently, CHES has formed international links with the Council of Environmental Deans and Directors (CEDD) in America and CCUESP (Canada) to compare trends and develop networks; the World Conservation Learning Network (WCLN) via the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and many other organisations.
  

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Membership

Membership includes 29 HEIs and 38 departments, over 1250 Environmental undergraduate degree programmes which include Environmental Science as a single subject and programmes with Environmental Sciences components.

See http://www.ucas.com/getting/index.html

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UK Provision of Environmental Science programmes

There are 111 different providers of Environmental degrees in the UK, 94 of whom offer Environmental Science as a single degree.

Undergraduate recruitment has fallen over the last 7 years but is now stable, postgraduate (taught) recruitment has risen and continues to rise. The number of providers and the diversity of ES programme provision has declined at undergraduate level. Student recruitment is the bedrock of a school / department budget and the decline in applications has had a significant impact on ES departments/schools in UK HEIs.

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CHES Constitution

Download the CHES Constitution here (Microsoft Word 34KB)

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CHES Executive Committee

The business of CHES is managed by an Executive Committee. New members are elected each year at the AGM and serve a three year term.

The next Executive Committee meeting is on 29th October. For full details please contact CHES.

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