Photo: The University of Split hosted a SEA-EU Staff Week on "Mental Resilience in the academic environment" as part of the SEA-EU Alliance initiatives
This SEA-EU Staff Week was held on 16, 17 and 18 April 2024, and was attended by representatives from the University of Split, the University of Gdansk, the University of Malta, the University of Brest, and Kiel University. For the University of Malta, Dr Angele Attard Chetcuti (Director of Legal Services), Dr Luisa Spiteri Baluci (Head of the Information and Data Protection Unit) and Dr Jeanette Munoz Abela (Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of the Built Environment) were in attendance.
During Staff Week, the participants discussed the contradiction between the knowledge and solutions that are inherently characteristic of the academic environment and the day-to-day ongoing challenges that affect persons’ well-being, be they students or staff.
The Staff Week included practical lectures, workshops, and group sessions that tackled a number of ways in which mental well-being can be enhanced, discussing the importance of sleep, relaxation techniques, one’s personal attitude and approach, gut health, the key role of exercise and tips on adopting healthy habits. One of the workshops also focused on the reconciliation of work and life challenges in a way that makes all life aspects more fulfilling to the individual, making for a well-rounded holistic approach.
Participants agreed that it is important to raise awareness about the mental well-being of all members of the academic community and that it is important for universities to have in place strategies for mental resilience. It was also suggested that a focus on mental resilience could be what distinguishes the SEA-EU Alliance apart from other university alliances, increasing the chances of success of the SEA-EU project as a whole, as well as benefiting the individual universities themselves.