41 ‘A Healthy MTU’: Leveraging universities as settings for health, wellbeing, and sustainable development.

Dr Andrea Bickerdike presented A Healthy MTU, a multi-campus initiative positioning the university as a setting for health, wellbeing, and sustainability. Rooted in the WHO Healthy Universities model and Ireland’s Healthy Campus Charter, the programme recognises that wellbeing and sustainability are inseparable—and that universities, by their scale and reach, can act as powerful enablers of both.

The initiative takes a whole-campus approach, embedding health and sustainability across leadership, culture, physical and virtual environments, and curricula. Examples include:

• Project STEPS, a student-led walking intervention linked to active travel and green spaces, integrated into Level 8 and 9 modules.
• A community partnership programme where sports science students designed adapted physical activity for older adults.
• A Kerry campus initiative linking World Mental Health Day with outdoor immersion activities, exploring both wellbeing and SDGs.

Student workshops on healthy, sustainable food preparation, reducing waste while promoting equity.

Aligned research examines nutrition metrics and the campus food environment, assessing health, equity, and sustainability outcomes. Importantly, A Healthy MTU bridges policy and practice, integrating wellbeing into research, curriculum, and culture simultaneously.

Dr Bickerdike emphasised that health and sustainability challenges share root causes in environmental, societal, and economic systems. By addressing these holistically, MTU is embedding wellbeing as part of its sustainability culture, ensuring graduates and communities benefit alike.

About the author

name: Dr Andrea Bickerdike

institution: Munster Technological University

Dr Andrea Bickerdike is a Lecturer in Health and Wellbeing and Director of “A Healthy MTU” at Munster Technological University.