MP4s partners meet physically for the first time in UniLaSalle, France

23 March 2022 | From UNICA

Story highlights
– Transnational meeting of Eramus+ funded project MP4s
– A survey to identify Mindfulness practices in Higher Education is being carried out
– Elaboration of the SIT4PLANET tailorable syllabus will be the project’s main output
– Launch of the MP4s logo

Partners from the Erasmus+ funded project Mindfulness Practices for Students in Society (MP4s) finally met in person for the first transnational project meeting! The coordinator of the project, Institut Polytechnique UniLaSalle, organised the meeting in the very green unilasallian campus, Beauvais, France, on 17 – 18 March 2022.

After several online meetings, this was the first time representatives from the different institutions involved in the project met physically. The two day meeting consisted of discussions on the ongoing work and preparation of the forthcoming work packages. Partners also had the chance to meet with students from UniLaSalle who have been developing business projects that are climate mindful.

Ongoing work

Currently on month 5 of the 36 month-length project, the group already collected valuable information based on the literature review on the topic of mindfulness, higher education, and climate action. An important consideration is the fact that most of researches are following a biomedical paradigm, within which mental health is treated as a disorder or negative impact, rarely as a subject of well-being. The state of the art also shows that very few students are involved in the researches, which certainly represents an opportunity for the consortium. In this regard, project results 1 (PR1) will focus precisely on the students’ needs by mapping their emotional challenges and concerns.

Project Result 2 (PR2) consists on the co-creation of the first Mindfulness Toolbox with three certified mindfulness teachers that are involved in the project. To achieve this, the project is examining existing mindfulness programmes and activities in the higher education sector, in Europe. Currently, a survey in being conducted to identify Mindfulness practices in higher education, addressed to those facilitating or implementing Mindfulness programmes, courses or other interventions. Help the consortium identify existing initiatives by sharing the survey with your network!

Next steps

Once the Toolbox is designed and produced, the session “Aware Active Ambassadors Training“, based on the SIT course, will be held in France, in May 2022, to raise awareness among faculties, staff and students of the consortium members and involve them in the creation and promotion of the SIT4PLANET tailorable syllabus.

Partners will also lead a series of focus groups with stakeholders in each of the partners’ countries between June and September, ahead of meeting for the next transnational meeting in October.

All these activities will contribute to the elaboration of the SIT4PLANET tailorable syllabus,the project’s main output, which aims to be a generic syllabus that provides university stakeholders the possibility to embed, as much as desired and possible, mindfulness practices in any course and campus activities.

Logo of the project

Partners have also selected the project’s logo, which reflects the essence of the project through shape and colour. A circular shape with a stylized person in green and blue represents the connection between humans and the planet, with green symbolizing personal development, mindful awareness, environment and education, and the blue standing for spirit and planet. There is also a collection of stars in yellow, which are directly associated with the concept of Europe, both in terms of the European values and the fact this is a project funded by the EU.

Students acting for the planet

Partners also had the chance to meet entrepreneur students from UniLaSalle who have been working on business projects that require them to be mindful about climate. Either it’s a marketplace of minerals, an offshore wind farm or even a community of fans of Pokémon, students have been studying the environmental impact of their ideas and thinking of creative ideas to overcome those.

Students also led a presentation on the climate footprint of the French population nowadays and the behavior change that will be required to decrease their footprint significantly for the sustainability of the planet and accompanied the consortium in a journey throughout the history of Earth.

Stay tuned for the mindful accomplishment of MP4s!