Rethinking Mental Health in Higher Education: HEARTS Final Conference and CORE Mental Health Seminar

The Final Conference of the European project HEARTS (Higher Education Action Response for Trauma Support) and the CORE in Mental Health will bring together universities, professionals and community organisations to rethink mental health and well-being in academia.

HEARTS is an Erasmus+ project that has been led by the ISOR-UAB research group. The project aims to design and implement innovative strategies for promoting mental health within higher education, especially to foster inclusive learning environments, address the needs of vulnerable and underrepresented groups, and develop capacities for transnational cooperation through culturally sensitive, digital and community-based approaches.

Over two days of activities, the programme will combine research, dialogue and creative practice. It will include a presentation of the results of the HEARTS project to share key findings and reflections on mental health in academia. A round table with HEARTS partner universities (Italy, Portugal, Malta and France) will address institutional accountability, emerging challenges and European good practices for promoting wellbeing in academia. The programme also will include interactive Abilis workshops that will explore community-based and trauma-informed approaches to fostering inclusive wellbeing in higher education.

The conference will also feature the inauguration of the HEARTS Photographic Exhibition: “Visual Voices for University Mental Health”; and a Theatre Forum play by La Xixa Lab, which invites participants to reflect and take collective action on mental health and inclusion in university life. There will also be a networking space to highlight the UAB’s health and inclusion services, and the “Talks! New initiatives to promote inclusive well-being in academia”, where current CORE Mental Health projects on resilience, belonging, anti-racism, well-being through art, research culture and digital mental health will be presented.

The conference will end with a “Forest Bath through the UAB Campus”.

Attendance to all activities is free. All those interested in participating can register at this link.