(left to right) Leonz Eder, Fernando Parente, Francisco Oliva Blázquez, Antonio Fernandez Martinez, and Eric SaintrondFISU received the Rector and Vice Rector of Pablo de Olavide University of Seville (Spain) at its headquarters in Lausanne to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for this Higher Education Institution to join the worldwide FISU Healthy Campus Certification Program.
The meeting was attended by FISU Acting President Leonz Eder, FISU General Secretary-CEO Eric Saintrond and the Director of the FISU Healthy Campus programme Fernando Parente. The Rector of Olavide University of Seville Francisco Oliva Blázquez and the Vice Rector for Healthy Campus and Sport Antonio Fernandez Martinez were representing the Spanish University.
FISU Acting President Leonz Eder highlighted the strong growth of the programme, with now 86 universities from 33 countries in all five continents exchanging with FISU. “In the space of a year and a half, we were able to reach universities from all around the globe and from many different cultures to help develop a healthy campus environment. Now that FISU Healthy Campus is becoming a benchmark for the quality of life in university campus’, we hope to attract an ever-increasing number of universities into the programme that will benefit students worldwide,” said Eder.
Adding to the success of the FISU Healthy Campus programme, Francisco Oliva Blázquez said: “the University of Pablo de Olavide wants to be in the leadership in the area of well-being in Spain, having even created an area and appointed a Vice-Rector in charge with exactly that designation”.
Eric Saintrond, FISU Secretary General-CEO, responded by saying: “the fact that universities are giving priority to the management of physical activity and sports as well as the issues of mental health, sustainability, and nutrition, is a great indicator that the bet we made a few years ago when projecting the FISU Healthy Campus programme was accurate and that there was a need for it.”
Antonio Fernandez Martinez will be in charge of the local strategic and operational development of the FISU Healthy Campus programme. The Vice Rector considers that the programme is an excellent opportunity to develop this global concept of health and well-being, making the campus life for all those who study and work a positive experience on a daily basis.
The FISU Healthy Campus programme was launched in May 2020 in the middle of the pandemic and that is giving a positive response to the university environment, amidst covid-19 related restrictions, which inhibit social exchanges between students and sport activities.