This international charter is an outcome of the 2015 International Conference on Health Promoting Universities and Colleges cohosted by HM|HC in Kelowna. The Okanagan Charter articulates an encompassing vision with shared aspirations for the pursuit of robust health promotion in and outward from post-secondary settings. Recognizing that endeavor as integral to the advanced education mandate, the Charter issues purposeful calls to action on various aspects of campus community life and elaborates on principles to be applied in such initiatives. See a video here.
Okanagan Charter: An international charter for health-promoting universities and colleges
The International Health Promoting Universities & Colleges Steering Group is pleased to announce four new translations of the Okanagan Charter in Bulgarian | български, French | Français, German | Deutsch, and Spanish | Español.
Squires, V. & London, C. (2021). The Okanagan Charter: Evolution of health promotion in Canadian higher education. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 51(3), 100-114, can be read here.
Healthy Minds | Healthy Campuses has formally endorsed the Okanagan Charter. Read our statement here.
Adoption of the Charter
To learn about how post-secondary institutions might formally adopt the Charter, please click the FAQ here.
Here is the Charter adoption template.
For a list of BC (and other Canadian) post-secondaries that have adopted the Charter, with a statement of their commitments in doing so, see the Canadian Health Promoting Campuses Okanagan Charter page.
Activation of the Charter
Stories of activation in BC
Examples to come; please email us your stories at [email protected]!
BC campuses’ health & well-being frameworks
These samples have either been inspired by the Okanagan Charter or are in evident affinity with it. Other post-secondary institutions in BC are welcome to send us theirs for posting here too! [email protected]
Student-focused mental health frameworks:
Resources