Faculty members, practitioners, and scholars from all disciplines who are committed to promoting mental health and holistic well-being in higher education contexts. Preference will be given to first-time attendees to help us expand and strengthen the global community of Academic Wellness Ambassadors.

If you are aware of the growing stress faced by students, recognize the need for holistic well-being in higher education, and want to contribute in ways that are research-informed, this training is for you. It is designed to help you translate intention into meaningful institutional impact.

Join this session to gain hands-on training:

• To respond effectively to the pressures of an ever-changing academic world
• To implement evidence-based and culturally grounded wellness strategies in academic spaces
• To become a STAR certified Academic Wellness Ambassador who leads meaningful change in learning environments
• To join a global ecosystem of thought leaders and practitioners as part of a supportive community of practice.

Higher education systems are currently undergoing unprecedented change, and are characterized by rapid technological advancement, digital transformation, and internationalization. While these changes are providing students with increased educational pathways and career opportunities, they are also grappling with increased academic competition, performance pressures and hyper-connectivity. As universities and colleges become more globally networked and digitally driven, they must integrate wellness practices to balance student learning and well-being.

Faculty members, university administrative staff, practitioners and researchers can play a critical role in fostering sensitization to well-being within the academic community. In this context, the proposed hands-on, experiential group workshop is designed to equip participants with practical tools and evidence-based strategies which they can take back to their campuses. The aim is to enable real-world impact for student wellness.

This workshop will emphasize indigenous well-being traditions, culturally responsive and contextually informed approaches, thus recognizing diverse lived experiences within campus communities. Participants will engage in reflective dialogue and collaborative exercises aimed at strengthening well-being practices that are sustainable and contextually relevant.

Upon the completion of the pre-conference training, participants will be prepared to serve as catalysts for change. As Academic Wellness Ambassadors they will be equipped to initiate and lead meaningful wellness initiatives within their institutions.

Details about the day-long program schedule to follow soon. Watch this space for more…

Have any queries? Please contact Prof. (Dr.) Pulkit Khanna, Country Director for Academic Wellness (India), STAR Scholars Network at jibs@jgu.edu.in

Contemporary research highlights the importance of moving beyond narrow academic achievement-oriented models toward more holistic, strengths-based approaches to student development. The emerging field of positive education, for instance, recognizes that well-being and learning are deeply interconnected, and emphasizes the need for interventions to integrate the science of well-being within educational practice. Similarly, positive youth development frameworks focus on nurturing strengths, agency, character, and a sense of belonging among youth, for their long-term development. Emerging research on indigenous systems of well-being offers valuable insights into relational and culturally rooted understandings of well-being. These approaches remind us that student well-being cannot be separated from identity, belonging, and context. Integrating indigenous perspectives into higher education encourages more inclusive and contextually sensitive practices. Together, these strands of research provide a strong foundation for building compassionate well-being ecosystems within educational contexts.

To deepen your understanding about well-being in education, we encourage you to explore the research compiled in the  International Journal of Community Well-Being on Building Community Well-being in Higher Education. This special issue includes multiple studies that examine resilience, well-being, belonging, and evidence-based interventions relevant to academic settings. Collectively, the articles collectively highlight the necessity of and practical implications for enhancing well-being in academic spaces.

Further, to better understand indigenous approaches to well-being, we recommend the article titled Community Envelops Us in This Grey Landscape of Obstacles and Allows Space for Healing: The Perspectives of Indigenous Youth on Well-Being. Besides helping readers understand indigenous well-being, this article highlights how indigenous youth conceptualize well-being as deeply relational, collective, and culturally grounded rather than individual achievement alone. A key finding of this study is that community acts as a protective and healing space in the face of systemic barriers, discrimination, and socio-economic hardships. This research also emphasizes the importance of participatory approaches that foreground the lived experiences and views of indigenous communities in defining well-being, rather than relying solely on widely used global well-being models.