The UG campus promotes healthy and sustainable development of students and the academic community. We all know this, but now there is no doubt about it, as the University of Gdańsk has been awarded the bronze status ‘FISU Healthy Campus Certificate’ by the International University Sports Federation. ‘We are the first and so far the only university in Poland to have achieved such success! Currently, 212 universities around the world are in the process,’ says Tomasz Aftański, Director of the Centre for Physical Education and Sport at the University of Gdańsk.
The International University Sports Federation (FISU) has been organising summer and winter Universiades and academic world championships for 77 years. In 2020, it decided to expand its activities and developed the ‘Healthy Campus’ programme to create tools and guidelines for promoting a healthy physical lifestyle and mental well-being on university campuses around the world, while helping to achieve the United Nations' sustainable development goals.
You can read about the certificate for the University of Gdańsk on the FISU website: Healthy Campus: the University of Gdańsk is the first Polish university to be certified - FISU.
A huge success for the University of Gdańsk
‘Receiving the certificate from the International University Sports Federation confirms that we are consistently building a university where sport, physical activity, and well-being are integral parts of our community’s development,’ says UG Rector prof. Piotr Stepnowski. It is particularly significant that we are obtaining this certificate at a time when the modern University of Gdańsk Sports Centre is under construction - an investment that will provide our students and staff with even better conditions for training, recreation, and integration. The international certificate is also an important step in strengthening our efforts to internationalise the university. I congratulate and thank everyone who contributed to this success. I would also like to thank the Physical Education and Sports Centre Team for their excellent work. Your commitment and energy ensure that sport at the University of Gdańsk is developing dynamically and with vision.’
The Director of the Physical Education and Sports Centre, Tomasz Aftański, mgr, adds: ‘We learned about the International University Sports Federation certificate when it was announced in 2020, but our interest grew when it turned out that some of our partners in SEA-EU already held this title. It was a turning point because we realised that we were able to join this elite group alongside our friends from other European coastal universities.’
The efforts to obtain the FISU ‘Healthy Campus’ certificate were part of the work carried out within the SEA-EU alliance. The application process took less than a year. The task coordinators, Tomasz Aftański and Barbara Madany, together with a team consisting of Magdalena Niestoruk, Julita Dunder-Kuczyńska, Iwona Różniak, and Andrzej Cieplik, prepared as many as 55 documents confirming that the required criteria had been met.
All the criteria submitted were verified positively; thus, the University of Gdańsk, with 55 positively assessed criteria, achieved bronze status. The award also marks the achievement of a milestone set in the SEA-EU 2.0 project, led by Marlena Rutkowska-Myzyk, MBA.
‘The FISU Healthy Campus bronze certificate confirms a strong and organised commitment to student well-being, physical activity, mental health, social responsibility and sustainable campus development,’ says the Director of the University of Gdańsk's Centre for Physical Education and Sport. ‘From the very beginning, we felt that our activities in the areas of academic sport, physical education, recreation and rehabilitation had to translate into a good result during the audit. This proved to be true, and we are extremely pleased that we not only obtained the FISU ‘Healthy Campus Certificate’, but also met a few more criteria and received bronze status. This means that we are already among the elite, but... there are further levels of development," he adds.
An additional reason for joy is the fact that we are paving the way for other universities in the country. As Tomasz Aftański emphasises: ‘We are the first and so far the only university in Poland to have achieved such success! Currently, 212 universities around the world are in the process.’
The director adds that ‘UG is distinguished by its strong internationalisation and the University's strong support for the development of physical culture. And it's not just about sporting results, but about the broader development of our students' social skills, maintaining good habits even after they finish their education, and building positive pro-social and pro-health attitudes throughout the entire academic community at UG. The fact that we are number one is thanks to a team of people whose ambition is to create a university where social well-being and physical and mental health are part of everyday life. I would like to thank everyone involved and announce that we will continue to develop this area in order to achieve even better certification results in the coming years.’ It is worth noting that there are 100 criteria in total, developed by an international team of experts, with the highest status being called platinum.
Peace, justice, strong institutions
The FISU Healthy Campus programme covers not only good health and well-being, but also high-quality education, gender equality, reducing inequalities, increasing integration, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption, climate action, peace, justice, strong institutions and partnerships for the achievement of goals.
As FISU President Leonz Eder assures us, the Healthy Campus project is a visionary initiative aimed at improving the overall well-being of students. FISU's main objective within this project is to create a comprehensive, interdisciplinary system that promotes well-being, encourages healthy lifestyles and raises awareness among students and the academic community about these important aspects of life. In addition, the project aims to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and best practices at both the local and global levels between campuses by creating a common frame of reference.