We Belong to Each Other: Announcing the 2021 Campus Well-being Summit

BCcampus is partnering with Healthy Minds | Healthy Campuses to host a well-being summit titled We Belong to Each Other: Cultivating Campus Communities for Mutual Well-Being from February 22 to 25, 2021. Campus stakeholders and community partners are invited to submit their proposals and attend the summit. There will be plenty of opportunities for co-learning and collaboration to build collective momentum to strengthen campus communities in British Columbia.

Healthy Minds | Healthy Campuses (HM|HC) is a province-wide community of practice, learning and working together to promote mental wellness and healthier relationships with substances within B.C. post-secondary institutions. This campus-based initiative engages students, staff, faculty, and administrators in a collaborative and innovative endeavour to build capacity and sustained mechanisms to advance well-being. To learn more about HM|HC, visit the Healthy Minds | Healthy Campuses website.

Summit Overview

This year’s summit will strive to dive deep into the questions “Who is in our campus communities?” and “What are the implications and benefits of mutual well-being?” as we learn how to come together to build and strengthen our campus communities. From domestic to international students, from full-time to part-time and mature students, from health promotion teams to administrative staff, from disability services to financial services, we all belong to our campuses, and we can all contribute to creating a sense of belonging within our communities.

As COVID-19 has dispersed us from our physical campuses, let’s talk about what it means to care for one another and be responsible to each other as we go about our day-to-day lives — even if it means from one Zoom meeting to the next.

How have campus stakeholders — staff, faculty, administration, and students — forged partnerships within their post-secondary institutions and with outside organizations to strengthen the impact of efforts to enhance well-being? Campus life continues to evolve due to COVID-19, and over the past few months, we have heard many examples of the rapid virtualization of campus initiatives. Now, we would like to come together to learn from each other and further our efforts to promote collective well-being. The 2021 summit touches upon the following three streams that cultivate conversations for mutual well-being in our current reality:

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion on Campus

This stream reflects the richness that fills our campuses: the diversity in cultures, the variety in thought, and the uniqueness of each campus member. As we learn how COVID-19 has magnified the discrimination and racism faced by our campus members and discover the various barriers encountered by our friends and colleagues, we cannot be collectively well until everyone is well. Before we can dismantle barriers, we must listen to and learn from our community members most affected. In this stream, we seek to amplify the voices of community members affected the most and search for solutions that align with EDI principles.

Communities without Borders

Empty campuses do not mean empty communities. As our reality continues to be largely virtual and physically distant, campuses are still fostering social connection and creating a sense of belonging and opportunities for engagement under these circumstances. This stream highlights those initiatives that have evolved beyond the confines of physical campuses and welcomes conversation on the strengths and challenges of building virtual communities.

Response to COVID-19

As we approach the one-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic, we would like to reflect on the response to COVID-19 and how we have adapted thus far to our new normal. While we have all had to face different realities and experiences, one thing is clear: the pandemic has posed enormous challenges. In light of these challenges, what lessons learned can be of benefit to us moving forward? In this stream, we want to highlight efforts in fostering resiliency and creating conditions for well-being for campus members in view of COVID-19.

Call for Proposals

HM|HC is inviting all members of the B.C. post-secondary community to submit proposals (500 words max.) that build on the theme of this year’s summit and connect with one of its three streams: