Niagara College has become a signatory to the Okanagan Charter of Health Promoting Universities and Colleges, demonstrating its commitment to supporting the wellbeing of NC students and employees. Through this participation, NC joins an international movement to reaffirm the important role higher education plays in community and global health.
Developed in Kelowna, British Columbia in 2015 during the International Conference on Health Promoting Universities and Colleges, the Okanagan Charter calls on Canadian postsecondary institutions to embed health into all aspects of campus culture – across the administration, operations and academic mandates – and to lead health promotion action and collaboration locally and globally.
The Charter provides participating institutions with a common language, principles, and framework to become health and well-being promoting campuses, and encourages its signatories to find ways to contribute to its vision to “transform the health and sustainability of current and future societies, strengthen communities and contribute to the wellbeing of people, places and the planet.”
With the adoption of the Okanagan Charter, NC is part of the Canadian Health Promoting Campuses Network.
On November 27, President Sean Kennedy, along with members of NC’s executive and leadership teams and current students, gathered in the Wellness Lounge at the Welland Campus for a symbolic signing to celebrate the College’s adoption of the Charter earlier this fall.
“Adopting the Okanagan Charter is a significant milestone for Niagara College, as it reaffirms our continued commitment to the wellbeing of our diverse college community and the local and global communities that our students, faculty and alumni serve,” said President Kennedy. “We are proud to be part of this international network with other like-minded institutions dedicated to making meaningful contributions on campuses and in communities around the world.”
Guided by its Strategic Plan (2022-2027), the College has already adopted several key commitments to shape its future in this area, including the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Blueprint, the Sustainability Plan, and the Indigenous Education Strategy, as well as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the Colleges and Institutes Canada Indigenous Education Protocol. The College’s commitments to the Charter will further strengthen NC’s position to enhance the health and wellbeing of its people, places, and the planet.
Vice-President, Students, Dr. Chris McGrath added that “By adopting the Charter, the College will amplify the important role we play in advancing community wellbeing and the public good.”
Dr. Chris McGrath, VP, Students (left), looks on as President Sean Kennedy signs the Okanagan Charter Statement of Adoption.
A number of the Charter commitments are already underway, and through the Charter’s national and international networks, the College will be able to leverage new relationships in academic programming, service provision, and research that will impact health and wellbeing outcomes at a larger scale.
A Steering Committee will be established in the near future to support the integration of Charter-related commitments, including:
- Honouring our commitments to Indigenous Truth and Reconciliation by affirming our relationship to the land and to one another as being essential for individual, community, and global health;
- Increasing college-wide capacity to use Universal Design for Learning to develop programs, places and policies that are inclusive, strengths-based, and that advance student learning and wellbeing;
- Developing and implementing a college-wide mental health framework to bolster student and employee resilience and mental health;
- Vitalizing student wellbeing by creating spaces and programs for co-curricular engagement and peer-to-peer programming across intersection dimensions of wellbeing (physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, environmental, financial, social);
- Expanding academic programming that continues to build the professions and industry of our region to build community capacity for supportive, inclusive, and responsive healthcare;
- Leading applied health research by establishing a Centre for Innovation in the sector;
- Strengthening and expanding community partnerships, with industry, employers, public health and community services organizations, to bridge the college and the community through pathways to active and health living, applied research collaborations, and community development programming; and
- Bolstering the college’s role as a global college through impactful partnerships that advance individual and community wellbeing through global education, training, and community development.
Learn more about the Okanagan Charter and its network of postsecondary institutions on the Canadian Health Promoting Campuses website.
