University of Limerick has officially signed a Healthy Campus charter with the Higher Education Authority.
UL President Professor Kerstin Mey formally signed the charter, which was launched by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris to help Higher Education Institutions across Ireland embed health and wellbeing into campus life for staff and students.
University of Limerick is recognised as a pioneering Healthy Campus member, having launched its Healthy UL Framework in 2019, led by Chair Professor Catherine Woods and vice chair, Dr Audrey Tierney.
The Healthy UL community gathered this week with Professor Mey to welcome the newly appointed Higher Education Authority National Healthy Campus Coordinator, Caroline Mahon, to formally sign the Healthy Campus Charter and acknowledge the significant commitment, achievements and future plans that UL has to embed health and wellbeing within curriculum and campus.
The Healthy UL Framework aims to improve human and environmental health and well-being, which are determinants of learning, productivity, and engagement. It also strives to build on UL’s strengths, to consolidate and collectively enhance action, while simultaneously ensuring that the institution has a comprehensive response to the HEA’s Healthy Campus Charter.
It also aims to strengthen relationships, partnerships and collaborations with local authorities, communities, health authorities, second level schools. Lastly, it aims to promote research, innovation, and evidence-informed action.
President Mey, who addressed the group, said: “At University of Limerick, the health and well-being of our campus community is of huge importance. Aside from it being an ambition, UL will continue to strive for excellence in being a leading University in the promotion of health and well-being.
“As a University with sustainability firmly in our focus, aligning our work, and indeed this work today, to Sustainable Development Goal 3 regarding Good Health and Well-being is a necessity and I would like to commend the work of the steering group, Professor Catherine Woods, and the entire team behind the initiative.
“I would like to offer a very warm welcome to UL to Caroline, representing Healthy Campus Network, who are seeking to acknowledge UL as a pioneering HEI, and leading the way in terms of Charter progression.
“As University President, I will echo and continue the support for Healthy UL in its remit to prioritise the wellbeing of the wider UL Community through the implementation of our framework, remains a key driver within UL’s mission, vision, and strategic plan since 2018,” Professor Mey added.
Professor Woods in summarizing the achievements of Healthy UL, outlined how “Healthy UL is striving to ‘bake in rather than bolt on’ health and wellbeing into our everyday operations, business practices and academic mandates in UL.
“Since 2019, we have gathered data from over 4,000 staff and students through the Healthy UL survey and used this information to guide the development of initiatives designed to enhance our policy and practice for improved health, wellbeing, and sustainability,” Professor Woods added.
Caroline Mahon, National Healthy Campus Coordinator, HEA, said: “Healthy UL have displayed great commitment in supporting the health and wellbeing of their community through the development and implementation of the Healthy UL Framework 2019 – 2022. This has continued through their work on the Healthy Campus Charter and Framework, which was formally transferred to the Higher Education Authority in 2022.
“The Framework recognises the important role Higher Education Institutions play in the health and wellbeing of students, staff and the wider community, as well as society and future generations. Having the Charter jointly signed by UL President Professor Kerstin Mey, Healthy UL Chair and SU Representative is a significant milestone for the Healthy UL initiative.”
The Healthy UL team has rolled out over 40 health promotion initiatives in the past academic year alone, with online and in-person engagement of over 30k staff and students. Healthy UL has worked in partnership with Mid-West services to host wellbeing seminars, life skills workshops for students, as well as launching the Harnessing Health Podcast.
Healthy UL also has a new campaign, via social media presence and a new website, to improve student engagement. Healthy UL also adapted services online, and now offer two online mental health platforms for students and staff, Togetherall and Silvercloud. These initiatives and campaigns are aligned specifically to the findings of the Healthy UL Survey, completed by over 4k students and staff, exploring health behaviours and beliefs.
A whole campus approach has been adopted, incorporating policy and governance. Two such policies include the student substance use and misuse policy, and the smoke and vape free campus policy.
Healthy UL will continue to maintain this commitment, by enacting a Healthy UL Sustainability Plan, Including a Revised Framework with a long-term goal of embedding health and wellbeing within curriculum and campus.
Healthy UL is a campus wide approach and is made possible due to the tireless efforts of its Steering Group and subgroup members, who seek innovative and evidence informed methods to develop, implement and monitor the wellbeing of UL of the wider UL community. This commitment was commended by Professor Mey and Professor Woods.
