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 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.

A report by the World Government Summit, in collaboration with the International Positive Education Network. "Positive education views school as a place where students not only cultivate their intellectual minds, but also develop a broad set of character strengths, virtues, and competencies, which together support their well-being [...] This report is broken into five sections: one leader’s perspective and introduction to positive education and its history; case studies from primary, secondary, and tertiary schools around the world that are actively implementing positive education; and policy perspectives on positive education."

The report can be found here.

"The Survey of Work and Wellbeing in the Tertiary Education Sector surveyed academic and support staff from New Zealand universities, polytechnics, technical institutes and wananga. Almost 3,000 respondents completed the survey, the majority of whom were union members. The findings detailed in this report paint a picture of deteriorating wellbeing, with intensifying workloads and reduced satisfaction with work in the sector."

Full report available 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

The South Island Tertiary Forum was held recently on 16 November at the University of Canterbury, with about 50 people in attendance. This is the PechaKucha session with 8 short and punchy presentations on a range of topics including; Staff Wellbeing: why and how (Katharina Näswall, UC), The stories: international student wellbeing (Jonie Chang, UC), Student Wellbeing Advisory Group (Emily Barker, UCSA), Get-it-together Series 2017 (Catherine Staite, UCSA), Thursdays in Black and Mental Health Week (Jayne Smith, Lincoln), Building resilience in the curriculum (Tracy Clelland, UC), UC PERMA-culture: a healthy place to live and learn (Rose Reynolds, UC), and South Island Tertiary Health and Wellbeing Survey findings (Anna Thorpe, CDHB).

Videos of presentations are available here

"Tau Ora is a holistic organisational wellness programme developed at Te Wananga o Aotearoa. The programme was launched in 2007 and has been hugely successful with more than 50% of staff engaging with the programme each year."

Website available here

Representatives from the TWANZ executive spoke about the potential of health promotion in tertiary education settings, the development of TWANZ, the Okanagan Charter and future plans.

Full presentation is 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

"The independent study, initiated by New Zealand’s eight universities under the umbrella of Universities New Zealand, was carried out just two years after the graduates finished university... The findings come from the Graduate Longitudinal Study New Zealand (GLSNZ) - a survey of nearly 9000 students from all eight New Zealand universities who graduated in 2011."

Full report available here

"The Wellbeing in Higher Education Network (WiHEN) promotes the exchange of ideas, collaboration and supportive relationships for practitioners applying, and researching the application of, wellbeing science, organisational and positive psychology, and positive education in tertiary and higher education environments."

Website available here

"This paper will present the following: 1. The post-secondary mental health challenge and rationale for institutional action; 2. The scope of the challenge at UBC; 3. Guidance from the literature, best practices research and key organizations on the components of a successful campus mental health strategy; 4. Overview of the draft UBC Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy; 5. Discussion of current mental health initiatives at UBC; 6. Discussion of priority actions and next steps under the UBC Mental Health and Wellbeing strategy"

Full discussion paper 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

"SFU is pleased to present our Vision for a healthy campus community. The vision has been co-created through campus-wide consultation, in which over 300 campus members from all 8 faculties and all 3 campuses shared their input and ideas in Fall 2014. The vision links well-being to the success of individiuals and the institution. It calls upon each of us to consider how we can be a part of creating a healthy campus community."

Full report available here