UNICA meets committed stakeholders to discuss well-being of students in the framework of MP4s
28 September 2022 | From UNICA
UNICA is part of the consortium of MP4s project which aims at supporting students’ emotional difficulties through mindfulness practices and training, fostering compassionate care of self, others and the planet within higher education institutions. One of the key results of this Erasmus+ co-funded project will be the elaboration of the SIT4PLANET, a tailorable syllabus that enables university stakeholders to embed mindfulness practices in any of their courses and/or campus activities.
Having started “Phase 2” under the Implementation Plan of the project, an orientation and assessment tool was created to facilitate the journey towards an engagement rooted in mindfulness and compassion. This Orientation Assessment Tool consists of a set of questions that help identifying appropriate mindfulness practice(s) for each student using the tool. Before its publication, each partner of the project has been asked to collect feedback from different stakeholders as a way to perfecting the tool.
On this occasion, UNICA reached out to Member Universities and partner organisations based in Belgium that are mainly involved in the field of higher education and work or represent students. Ten stakeholders representing the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA), the European Students’ Union (ESU), NOVA Sport, the European University Foundation (EUF), the European Youth Forum (YFJ), the European Network of Political Foundations (ENoP), the Lifelong Learning Platform (LLLP), University of Louvain and the UNICA member Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), have therefore met with UNICA last week to review the Tool and share both their thoughts and helpful practice on aspects like content, privacy, outreach, and inclusion.
UNICA is grateful for these representatives’ points of view and pleased to see active and engaged organisations and universities seeking to put inclusion at the core of every action! We hope this action will be the first or many reunions, to discuss how organisations can collaborate and advocate for the students’ well-being!
Next steps
UNICA and the other project partners – who are also conducting meetings with stakeholders – will analyse all collected feedback and proceed to due changes on the orientation tool. The group is set to meet in October for a Consortium meeting to discuss the conclusions. Once the tool is final, the project will enter the phase of the developing MP4s adaptable SIT4PLANET syllabus! Stay tuned!
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.