New Strategy for Student and Staff Health and Wellbeing launched to support Higher Education Institutions
By James Holohan
Posted: 28 July, 2025
The Higher Education Authority has launched a Strategy for Student and Staff Health and Wellbeing across Ireland’s higher education institutions.
The Strategy sets out a shared vision for supporting student and staff wellbeing and comes following the endorsement of the ‘Limerick Framework for Action’ for Global Health Promoting Campuses.
The Strategy recognises the unique challenges faced by students and staff, and the importance of fostering learning environments where wellbeing is prioritised. It outlines key strategy priorities and objectives to promote health, positive mental health, and wellbeing and ensure that timely, appropriate support is available to all.
It identifies four strategic priorities for the HEA over the next 3-5 years. In turn, these priorities are underpinned by a number of strategic priorities and related actions.
The Strategy launch is timely, following the launch of a global Limerick Framework for Health Promoting Campuses. The Framework was endorsed last week at the International Health Promoting Campuses Conference held at the University of Limerick, in collaboration with Atlantic Technological University.
Presented to national and international stakeholders and university leaders at the closing ceremony of the conference, the Framework will provide future-facing guidance to inform institutional transformation in the decade ahead, with Ireland at the forefront of this global movement.
Minister for Further & Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD, said:
“I welcome today’s launch of the Strategy for Student and Staff Health and Wellbeing and commend the HEA for addressing the challenges faced across Ireland’s higher education institutions. Wellbeing is now recognised as a core measure of success in higher education. This strategy will embed health promotion on every campus, ensuring that students and staff alike can access the supports they need to learn, work and thrive. I am proud that Ireland is setting the pace internationally. By aligning this strategy with the new global Limerick Framework for Health-Promoting Campuses, we are signalling our intent to remain at the forefront of the global healthy-campus movement.”
HEA CEO, Dr Alan Wall, said:
“The HEA has been driving the Healthy Campus agenda since 2022, and the publication of this strategy demonstrates our commitment to supporting student success in higher education. Ireland is now a world leader in this area and the announcement of the Limerick Framework for Action only serves to emphasise this.”
HEA Head of Policy and Strategic Planning, Tim Conlon, said:
“Traditionally the work of HEIs has centred primarily on educational outcomes for students with a focus on retention, progression and completion. In recent years, particularly against the backdrop of the Covid 19 pandemic, the wellbeing of students has become an integral part of conversations about student success. This new strategy will support the HEA to drive a higher education system that values student and staff wellbeing as a key feature of the higher education experience.”
‘The Limerick Framework for Action’ was endorsed at the 2025 International Health Promoting Campuses (IHPC) Conference, hosted at the University of Limerick, which brought together over 500 delegates from around the world to explore strategies for healthier and more sustainable campus environments.
This four-day conference gathered students, researchers, policymakers, and higher education institution (HEI) leaders from across six continents. Attendees included representatives from the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNESCO and the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUPHE).
At the heart of this year’s conference was a global commitment to advance the work of the Okanagan Charter. The outcome of the last year of comprehensive research and consultation is the Limerick Framework for Action: Advancing the Global Health Promoting Campuses Agenda.
The Limerick Framework for Action reflects the changed realities faced by campuses in 2025, and takes cognisance of critical international developments in this space, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It is intended to support HEIs in developing comprehensive, robust approaches to embedding and furthering the healthy campus agenda. Irish and international colleagues endorsed the new Limerick Framework on June 19th 2025.
Welcoming the announcement of the Framework, Co-Chair of the IHPC Network and Director of the Office of Wellbeing Strategy at the University of British Columbia, Dr Matt Dolf said:
“As a Co-Chair of the IHPC Network, I am so proud of what was accomplished here in Limerick. This isn’t just academic discussion – delegates from around the world are sharing actionable strategies and engaging in passionate dialogue about how we can all build healthier campus communities. I am excited to bring what I learned back with me to The University of British Columbia and to the hundreds of other campuses engaged with our Network.”
You can view the strategy on our website.
