Well-Being on Campus

For EUniWell, well-being is more than individual health. It is about creating supportive, inclusive, and nurturing university environments in which students and staff can thrive.

Universities are places to learn and work, but they are also communities and living environments. Academic pressure, financial uncertainty, social isolation, discrimination, insecure career paths, and other challenges can affect the mental health and well-being of students and staff. At the same time, universities have significant potential to create environments that strengthen resilience, belonging, participation, and personal development.

With its Well-Being on Campus initiative, EUniWell aims to make well-being an integral part of university life, across teaching and learning, support services, working environments, and campus communities.

A holistic approach to well-being

Well-being is shaped by many interconnected factors. It includes psychological and physical health, but also social relationships, participation, safety, inclusion, economic conditions, and the wider social and ecological environment.

EUniWell therefore takes a comprehensive approach based on five interconnected fields of action that build on and expand Hughes and Spanner’s (2019) The University Mental Health Charter (Hughes, G., & Spanner, L. (2019). The University Mental Health Charter. Student Minds. Student Minds, The University Mental Health Charter)

Learn

Well-being starts with the student experience. From entering university to completing a degree, students encounter different opportunities and challenges. The transition into higher education can be particularly demanding, as students may have to navigate a new academic environment, financial pressures, housing challenges, or feelings of loneliness.

EUniWell aims to strengthen supportive learning environments, improve the visibility of existing services, and promote awareness and health literacy. The goal is to equip students with the knowledge and resources they need to navigate challenges and develop their resilience.

Support

Universities already provide a wide range of counselling and support services. EUniWell seeks to strengthen the connections between these services, as well as their visibility, so that students and staff can find the right support more easily.

Networking across faculties, departments, and institutions can create synergies, improve access to existing offers, and help identify gaps in support. Collaboration with external partners can further strengthen pathways to specialised services when additional support is needed.

Work

Universities are also workplaces. Well-being therefore concerns everyone who works and contributes to university life, from academic and administrative staff to technical employees and student assistants.

EUniWell promotes the exchange of good practices for healthy working environments and supports the development of training and other measures that strengthen mental health and well-being at work. Through collaboration across universities, successful approaches can be shared and further developed.

Live

A university campus should be a place where people feel welcome, safe, and connected.

Building a culture of well-being means creating opportunities for social participation and exchange, strengthening a culture of mutual respect and cooperation, and actively addressing discrimination, racism, and exclusion. Workshops, events, and other activities can help raise awareness, reduce stigma around mental health, and foster a sense of belonging.

Well-being also includes the physical and social environment in which people study and work. A liveable campus provides spaces and opportunities for connection, recreation, participation, and personal development. At the University of Cologne, for example, the Well-Being Lounge provides a low-threshold space where students can meet peers, exchange experiences, and find orientation

Research

A sustainable approach to well-being needs a strong evidence base.

EUniWell therefore connects research with practice. Regular surveys and evaluation processes can help universities better understand the well-being of their students and staff, identify needs and gaps, and assess whether existing measures have a lasting positive impact.

Research findings can inform the development of new initiatives and help universities continuously improve their approaches to well-being.

From good ideas to better campuses

Across the EUniWell Alliance, universities have developed a wide range of approaches to promoting well-being. These include initiatives related to sports, culture, nutrition, accommodation, counselling, inclusion, social participation, and personal development.

The Well-Being on Campus initiative creates opportunities to learn from these experiences. By mapping existing measures, sharing good practices, and developing new approaches together, EUniWell aims to create synergies and support positive change across its member universities.

Working together for a culture of well-being

EUniWell’s vision is to “Become Communities for Well-Being.” The Well-Being on Campus initiative contributes to this vision by bringing together students, staff, university services, researchers, and decision-makers.

A key element is the development of coordinating structures that connect existing activities, facilitate knowledge exchange and help universities identify and address gaps. These structures are not intended to control individual initiatives, but to strengthen collaboration, visibility, and shared learning.

Ultimately, well-being is a shared responsibility. By working together across disciplines, departments and national borders, EUniWell seeks to create university environments where people can learn, work, live and thrive.