Launch of the Limerick Framework for Action – an international guide to advance student and staff health and wellbeing on campus.

Posted: 1 December, 2025

The Limerick Framework for Action – aimed to advance the movement of health promoting campuses and student wellbeing – has been officially launched at a special event in Dublin.

The event was co-hosted by the Higher Education Authority (HEA), the University of Limerick (UL), and the International Health Promoting Campus Network (IHPCN).

The Framework is the result of the International Health Promoting Campus Conference, held in June 2025 at the University of Limerick in collaboration with Atlantic Technological University and supported by the HEA.

The event was attended by over 500 people – both in person and online – including representatives from Africa, Canada, USA, Australia, UK, Asia, Europe, Chile and India. An opening address was delivered by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless. The event was also attended by representatives from national and international organisations who supported the development of the Framework from the Department of Health, UNESCO, WHO and IUHPE (International Union for Health Promotion and Education).

The launch of the Limerick Framework marks a significant milestone in the work of Ireland, through the HEA, to position the country as a global leader in promoting health and wellbeing across higher education.

Key elements of the Framework include the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the promotion of a healthy planet, places and people, empowering students to reach their full potential, and spotlighting examples of good practice.

Higher Education Authority CEO, Dr Alan Wall, said:

“Since 2022, through the HEA, Ireland has been demonstrating its international leadership in student and staff health and wellbeing with our national policies. The official launch of the ‘Limerick Framework for Action: Advancing Global Health Promoting Campus Agenda 2025’ further adds to our commitment to develop a system that supports student success.”

IHPCN C0-Chairs, Dr. Matt Dolf & Dr. Rebecca Kennedy, said:

“The Limerick Framework is the next chapter of the Okanagan Charter—clear, actionable, and globally resonant. The Framework itself is a perfect example of the principles outlined within it: Partnership, Participation and Progress. It is when we work collaboratively, involving everyone, that we can truly achieve meaningful progress. The inclusive scientific process utilised by the UL team and the HEA has produced a framework that will easily be localised and used around the globe.”

Prof. Catherine Woods, Chair of Healthy UL, University of Limerick said:

“Healthy UL hosted the hugely successful International Health Promoting Campuses Conference in June 2025. The legacy of this conference, and an 18-month global consultation, is the ‘Limerick Framework for Action’. This framework is designed to advance the global health promoting campuses agenda. It demonstrates how higher education institutions have the power to drive transformative, measurable changes for a healthy planet, healthy places and healthy people.  For UL to lead on this work is a wonderful achievement.”

The Framework development was led by University of Limerick, on behalf of the International Health Promoting Campus Network and under the guidance of an international working group, which included members from across the Irish higher education system.

A rigorous 18-month research process was undertaken to develop the Framework and included a survey of 500 stakeholders across 45 countries, 38 interviews and focus groups as well as input from the over 400 delegates at the Conference.

Over the last decade, the landscape of higher education has undergone significant transformation, and the Limerick Framework addresses these changes by providing guidance for higher education institutions in actioning staff and student health and wellbeing.

The Framework follows on from the 2025 Okanagan Charter for Health Promoting Campuses, which supported the development of Ireland’s national policy on student health and wellbeing supports, the HEA Healthy Campus Charter and Framework.

Ireland joined the International Health Promoting Campus Network in 2023.

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