In 2014, the University of A Coruña approved its adhesion to the Spanish Network of Healthy Universities (REUS). This commitment implies that the UDC had to make a work project that promotes health in university culture, in its institutional policies, structure, processes and study plans.
The Spanish Network of Healthy Universities is made up of a group of institutions committed to the promotion of health in the university environment. It is a pro-health initiative in which universities from all over Spain, the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities, the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and some regional public health structures are currently participating. There is currently a Framework Collaboration Agreement for the development of the Spanish Network of Healthy Universities.
In 1986 the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion established as one of the five priority areas for action to promote health "the creation of environments that support health". These settings are those places and social contexts where people carry out activities and where environmental, organisational and personal factors that affect the health and well-being of those who live, work, learn,... interact. in it. University centres, as well as being a driving force for research and training the professionals of the future, are living environments where environmental, organisational and personal factors that affect health and wellbeing interact. To be considered healthy, a university must acquire a global commitment to health and develop its potential as a promoter of health, wellbeing and quality of life.
In the same vein, and coinciding with the celebration of the IV Congress of Universities Promoting Health in 2009, several Spanish and foreign universities signed the Pamplona Declaration, in which the signatory universities shared and subscribed to the philosophy of the different international conferences held on health and its promotion, committing themselves to the development of the defined strategies.
The adhesion of the UDC to the Spanish Network of Healthy Universities is framed within the Strategic Plan of the University of A Coruña 2013-2020, which defines the mission, vision and values of the UDC, the objectives, the lines of action in each strategic area and the key indicators for each objective. Thus, in the section corresponding to Social Responsibility, the following three strategic objectives are highlighted: "a university that promotes social change", "equal opportunities and the promotion of a culture of non-discrimination", and "a university that is responsible for its environmental impact". As a result of these commitments, the Social Responsibility Report is the working tool to reaffirm the UDC's global commitment to transparency, accountability and social and environmental sustainability.
On the other hand, the Campus UDC≡ Healthy University programme acts as a promoter of networking between the units, services, centres and departments of the UDC, its main objectives being the following:
Among the units and services existing in the UDC, the following stand out for their performance in the development of these objectives:
Oficina de Medio Ambiente/OMA:: carries out and coordinates the different environmental actions at the UDC. Its objectives and functions are related to two priority fields such as environmental management and awareness and participation of the university community in issues related to the environment. This office is currently developing the Programa Green Campus UDC. All of its activities are collected every academic year in the Memoria de Actividades carried out by its staff.
Oficina de Cooperación e Voluntariado/OCV: The OCV focuses its actions on three fundamental pillars: volunteering, training and cooperation for development. From the OCV we coordinate several volunteering programmes within the social and health area, and we carry out awareness and humanitarian action conferences focused on the health field. In the field of development cooperation, we participate in international cooperation projects, many of them related to health issues. The CPVO develops its activities within the Plan Estratéxico 2013-2016 and these are also included in the Memoria de Actividades.
Other services whose activities help to achieve a healthy university at the UDC are: the Diversity Care Unit/ADI, the Training and Advice Unit/UFA and the Office for Gender Equality/OIX.
Activities carried out at the UDC in recent years.
Healthy Spanish universities:
Other Spanish universities included in the REUS Network are also consolidating different projects or activities in this line of action. The following stand out for their implementation within each university: University of Almeria, Pablo de Olavide University, University of Huelva, University of Seville, University of Seville, University of Zaragoza, Autonomous University of Barcelona (blog), University of Girona, University of Cantabria, University of Vigo, University of Murcia (sustainable section), University of Navarra (facebook), University of the Balearic Islands, Miguel Hernández University, Alcalá de Henares University, University of Alicante, University of Valencia, University of Salamanca, Jaime I University, University of Deusto.
Some of the projects being developed in these universities are:
Semanas saudables na universidade / healthy weeks at university / green weeks at university
Solidarity workshops
Seminars for equality
Responsible tourism courses
Experiences of education in the classroom
Sustainable Development Days
Xornadas de hábitos saudables
Energetic reinforcement councils
Entities/organisations related to the development of healthy universities:
The International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE)
Universidades Promotoras de la Salud/Health Promoting Universities
Rede Galega de Cooperación Universitaria ao Desenvolvemento
Observatorio de la Cooperación Universitaria al Desarrollo (CUD)
Unión Internacional de Promoción de la Salud y de la Educación (UIPES)
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