University Wellness Program—A Pedagogic Innovation to Nudge Wellness and Sustainability Among Students

Anthropocentric activities have induced climate change, threatened planetary health, and harmed human health and wellness. The changing lifestyles, dietary patterns and digital obsession have affected the mental and physical health, particularly of the youth. University campuses reflect the challeng...

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Main Author: Padma Venkatasubramanian
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-04-01
Series:Frontiers in Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.844024/full
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author Padma Venkatasubramanian
author_facet Padma Venkatasubramanian
author_sort Padma Venkatasubramanian
collection DOAJ
description Anthropocentric activities have induced climate change, threatened planetary health, and harmed human health and wellness. The changing lifestyles, dietary patterns and digital obsession have affected the mental and physical health, particularly of the youth. University campuses reflect the challenges faced by the society at large and therefore make for an ideal ecosystem to initiate positive changes toward wellness and sustainability. The energy of ~200 million university students globally is largely unleveraged for facing these challenges. Values of empathy and sustainable living are crucial to be inculcated, alongside technical and managerial skills for leading the mass transformation. This article describes a novel pedagogic approach called the University Wellness Program (UWP). The aim of UWP is to equip students with technical and leadership skills to achieve wellness and campus sustainability. That is, UWP is a platform that facilitates the students to design and implement multi-disciplinary projects that address campus related challenges. In the process, they acquire the necessary soft and technical skills to solve real-life problems. The durability of UWP is secured since the projects and activities are explicitly linked to existing curricula and evaluation system of the university. The strategy and framework adopted, and the early experiences of implementing UWP are shared. UWP is amenable for replication globally and has the potential to create change-makers.
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spelling doaj.art-415b1e5a01ba4271bb4a1b2b1243dcee2022-12-22T02:55:28ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652022-04-011010.3389/fpubh.2022.844024844024University Wellness Program—A Pedagogic Innovation to Nudge Wellness and Sustainability Among StudentsPadma VenkatasubramanianAnthropocentric activities have induced climate change, threatened planetary health, and harmed human health and wellness. The changing lifestyles, dietary patterns and digital obsession have affected the mental and physical health, particularly of the youth. University campuses reflect the challenges faced by the society at large and therefore make for an ideal ecosystem to initiate positive changes toward wellness and sustainability. The energy of ~200 million university students globally is largely unleveraged for facing these challenges. Values of empathy and sustainable living are crucial to be inculcated, alongside technical and managerial skills for leading the mass transformation. This article describes a novel pedagogic approach called the University Wellness Program (UWP). The aim of UWP is to equip students with technical and leadership skills to achieve wellness and campus sustainability. That is, UWP is a platform that facilitates the students to design and implement multi-disciplinary projects that address campus related challenges. In the process, they acquire the necessary soft and technical skills to solve real-life problems. The durability of UWP is secured since the projects and activities are explicitly linked to existing curricula and evaluation system of the university. The strategy and framework adopted, and the early experiences of implementing UWP are shared. UWP is amenable for replication globally and has the potential to create change-makers.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.844024/fulluniversitywellnesscampus sustainabilitypedagogyfuture preparedness
spellingShingle Padma Venkatasubramanian
University Wellness Program—A Pedagogic Innovation to Nudge Wellness and Sustainability Among Students
Frontiers in Public Health
university
wellness
campus sustainability
pedagogy
future preparedness
title University Wellness Program—A Pedagogic Innovation to Nudge Wellness and Sustainability Among Students
title_full University Wellness Program—A Pedagogic Innovation to Nudge Wellness and Sustainability Among Students
title_fullStr University Wellness Program—A Pedagogic Innovation to Nudge Wellness and Sustainability Among Students
title_full_unstemmed University Wellness Program—A Pedagogic Innovation to Nudge Wellness and Sustainability Among Students
title_short University Wellness Program—A Pedagogic Innovation to Nudge Wellness and Sustainability Among Students
title_sort university wellness program a pedagogic innovation to nudge wellness and sustainability among students
topic university
wellness
campus sustainability
pedagogy
future preparedness
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.844024/full
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