MGC New Health & Wellbeing Group

    As the associations between climate change, ecology, sustainability and even the impacts of the global pandemic all show, health and wellbeing are emerging as an important aspect of any green campus experience. In these past two years, nearby nature has been rediscovered as never before. While aspects of health and wellbeing (human and non-human) are embedded in almost all the existing MGC groups, we feel it is time to pull the topic out for more focused attention. As a result we are developing a health and wellbeing strand within the Maynooth Green Campus committee as a stand alone group linked to SDG 3, Good Health & Wellbeing; While many of the measures used to measure progress against SDG3 are quite illness-related and the monitoring of the health of all campus residents is important, the focus of this group will also include the wider wellbeing dimensions of public health, around health promotion and education including the development of campus-wide assets to promote health and well-being. Ronan Foley from Geography is the lead for this new group, while other committee members include, Máire Nic an Bhaird, Laoise Ní Chléirigh, Tadhg McIntyre, Jennifer Lloyd-Hughes and Patricia Healy Kettle. We feel that the Maynooth Campus, with it many natural spaces; green, blue and other shades and palettes, is underused as a space of health and wellbeing and we would hope that the group will help develop and report on a wide range of student and staff activities, research projects and initiatives; while also recognising the importance of the natural campus environment as an important asset for the residents of Maynooth, and as a crucial part of the town community, in which MU is a key component.