Education Experts to Gather at UBCO

Universities and colleges from around the world will come together at UBC’s Okanagan campus for four days in June to share experiences and strategies.

The 2015 International Conference on Health Promoting Universities and Colleges will run from June 22^nd to 25^th in Kelowna. The gathering of experts from more than 40 countries is focused on health promotion, wellbeing and sustainability in higher education settings and in the wider community. Organizers expect to welcome more than 400 delegates from around the world.

“We are creating a dynamic meeting place for researchers, practitioners, administrators, students and policy-makers from around the world to explore pressing issues and identify promising paths for healthy and sustainable campus development,” says Conference Chair Claire Budgen, Wellbeing Initiative director and associate professor emerita nursing at UBC Okanagan.

One of the conference’s major objectives is to renew an international charter originally created in 2005 when institutions of higher education gathered at the University of Alberta to establish the Edmonton Charter.

“Delegates to our conference will co-design a new international charter to inspire and guide future action,” says Martin Mroz, conference co-chair, practice partner lead, and director of Health and Counselling Services at Simon Fraser University.

The conference is intended to mobilize the power and highlight the responsibilities of institutions of higher education to provide exceptional learning opportunities for students, to develop vibrant campus communities where everyone thrives, and to advance knowledge and practices relevant locally and globally to campuses and other communities.

Speakers offer diversity of international perspectives

The 2015 International Conference on Health Promoting Universities and Colleges will feature 14 keynote presentations and panelists. They include:

Mark Dooris, professor in Health and Sustainability and director of the Healthy Settings Unit within the School of Health at the University of Central Lancashire (UK).

Deborah Buszard, UBC deputy vice-chancellor and principal of the Okanagan campus.

John Robinson, UBC associate provost, Sustainability, and executive director of the UBC Sustainability Initiative.

Mary Guinn Delaney, UNESCO regional health and HIV education advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean, based at the Regional Office for Education in Santiago, Chile.

Joet Garcia, incumbent mayor of the City of Balanga, in the historical province of Bataan, Philippines.

Hiram Arroyo, professor in the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico, and Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Training and Research in Health Promotion and Health Education.

Dr. Alfonso Contreras, regional advisor, Health Promotion, Special Program, Sustainable Development and Health Equity, Pan American Health Organization, Washington, DC.