Welcome to DIETS: the Thematic Network (TN) for Dietitians in Europe. The Thematic Network, funded through the Education, Audiovisual and Cultural Executive Agency of the European Commission, was established to facilitate sharing of best practice between dietitians working across Europe. A TN will always be hosted by a University and in this case the University of Plymouth provides the hosting facilities. The Network was established in 2006 and we would be delighted for you to visit our web-site to learn more and even consider becoming a member of the web-site or a partner – we can be found at www.thematicnetworkdietetics.eu.
Currently we have 120 partners in 30 countries. Partners can be Higher Education Institutes (80) or Associations of Dietitians (33) or others who share an interest in promoting nutritional health. Our main alliance is with the European Federation of the Associations of Dietitians (EFAD
www.efad.org). The TN has major objectives to;
- to work with other interested parties throughout Europe and internationally
- to develop the role of the dietitian in the promotion of nutritional health through embedding lifelong learning competencies in first cycle degrees
- describe all areas of dietetic practice, education and training throughout Europe and develop the utilisation of ECTS (European Credit Transfer System)
- to improve communications through the development of a dedicated website and associated databases
- to promote education courses for dietitians
We have promoted exchange visits between dietitians and university staff working in different countries within Europe and the sharing of information about placements for students between partners. Additionally we have held two conferences and distribute newsletters regularly through a ‘key contact’ in each partner organisation.
The Network continues to flourish and we will be submitting a bid for the next round of funding for Thematic Networks so that we can secure some money to support the next three years. It goes without saying that the Network is there to promote the best possible communication between dietitians and others as well as bring news about events and other areas critical to the work of dietitians and their role in promoting nutritional health. Please let us know if you want to be more involved through the web-site above.
I hope this will be first of many interactions with members of this Network and look forward to welcoming your involvement.
Sincerely
Anne de Looy
Coordinator of the DIETS Network
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