The Okanagan Charter is a document that was published in 2015. It was produced in collaboration of many universities who convened in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada for the International Conference on Health Promoting Universities and Colleges to discuss what makes a health promoting university. This is the result. In Aotearoa, we have used this charter as a base for our own interpretation of what it means to be a health promoting university.
The Charter can be viewed here.
This report by Thursdays in Black is an investigation into student experiences of sexual violence prior to and during tertiary education in New Zealand. It includes statistics regarding the prevalence of sexual assault, an examination of the flaws in the current sexuality education at secondary school and tertiary level (particularly surrounding consent), and several urgent calls to action.
The report can be viewed here and the results of their sexual violence survey can be found here.
This academic paper was written by two of our executive members, Craig Waterworth and Anna Thorpe. Published in 2017, it can be viewed in the Journal of the Australia and New Zealand Student Services Association. It outlines how the Okanagan Charter could be implemented in the New Zealand context. Abstract is below.
Abstract: In 2015 the International Conference on Health Promoting Universities and Colleges was held in the Okanagan, Canada. At this conference, a new international charter focusing on health promotion in tertiary education was ratified. The Okanagan Charter was developed with input from 45 countries,including Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. The Okanagan Charter builds on existing charters and declarations to apply health, wellbeing and sustainability to tertiary settings. This paper outlines how the Okanagan Charter relates to health promotion approaches that are used in Aotearoa New Zealand in higher (tertiary) education for the benefit of students, staff and stakeholders. The principles and action areas of the Okanagan Charter are discussed in their application to health promotion practice in the higher education setting of Aotearoa New Zealand.
The Okanagan Charter is a document that was published in 2015. It was produced in collaboration of many universities who convened in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada for the International Conference on Health Promoting Universities and Colleges to discuss what makes a health promoting university. This is the result. In Aotearoa, we have used this charter as a base for our own interpretation of what it means to be a health promoting university.
The Charter can be viewed here.
"The main aim was to review the effectiveness of population or settings-based strategies and approaches for promoting the mental wellbeing of students and staff within universities. This policy brief focuses on the papers relating specifically to mental health outcomes (around a third of the papers reviewed). The remaining two thirds of papers were focused on alcohol, tobacco or other drugs; we have included a short summary of these papers in the ‘Discussion’ section."
Full report available here
"Based on the evidence generated by Healthy Sydney University, a healthy university: − encourages people to move more and be physically active; − supports mental wellbeing; − provides a healthy food and beverage environment; and − embeds health across all areas of the organisation."
Full report available here
"The checklist on the following page has eight steps that decision-makers can follow to assess whether their proposed initiative, decision or policy has considered potential impact on staff and student health and wellbeing. Healthy Sydney University has also included two examples to show how the checklist can be used."
Full report available here
"Health promotion in higher education is receiving greater attention with the recent development of the Okanagan Charter, an international health promotion charter for universities and colleges... The report provides a snapshot of health and wellbeing initiatives currently operational within the seven higher education institutions surveyed and aims to share examples of good practice and suggestions for further alignment with the Okanagan Charter."
Full report available here
This resource provides a research summary and recommendations for tertiary settings to encourage positive mental health and wellbeing. These recommendations include considering alternate academic strategies, infusing mental health knowledge and skills in the curriculum, developing and promoting the use of eHealth technologies, building healthy physical environments.
Full resource available here
"Healthy Sydney University (HSU) aims to create a healthy learning and working environment for students and staff at the University of Sydney. HSU brings together students, professional staff, academics and researchers from across our faculties and professional service units to plan, implement and evaluate healthy university strategies. These strategies are informed by the best available evidence and are rigorously evaluated to ensure we generate new evidence around healthy learning and working environments. Our focus is across three key areas: healthy people, healthy places and healthy policies."
Full report available here
