Sustainable Well-being for People & Planet / Caring communities (CLC)

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This CC aims to develop learning and teaching formats that address personal well-being and planetary sustainability as interconnected concepts that so far are often dealt with in separate approaches. The key societal challenges driving the activities within this CC are climate change, biodiversity loss, quality education and (mental) health. By crossing and combining questions of inner and outer sustainability, this CC can contribute to the development of more caring communities in the respective institutional and local contexts and beyond.

The World Happiness Report 2023 and IPCC’s 6th Assessment Report highlight the link between human and planetary well-being. Human well-being depends on healthy ecosystems, while planetary well-being requires reversing environmental damage caused by humans. Learning for sustainability is vital for fostering sustainable societal transformation. Yet, there is a lack of research on the relationship between sustainability competencies, happiness, and inner capacities for driving societal change. Understanding this intersection is particularly significant due to the global crises and mental health challenges, as low levels of well-being hinder individuals’ ability to actively pursue change.This CC invites also collaboration with external stakeholders, namely primary and secondary schools as well as local municipalities, building on existing relationship that exist for example with the Portuguese « Living Science » [Ciência Viva) Programme, and which Teresa Calvão has been collaborating with for a long time. Furthermore, it is intended to collaborate with stakeholders from local / national associations for environmental protection and civil society organizations (CSO), building also upon already existing contacts. Thereby, this CC can expand and connect with partners from outside academia and provide new entry points for learning and developing more caring communities in academia and beyond.

Expected Outcomes of the Connected Community:

  • Added value for the participants in providing more holistic learning experiences for learners and staff by including sustainable well-being in research and teaching activities;
  • Development of challenge-driven assignments between partners of the CC and their local stakeholders that aim for crossing various disciplinary perspectives and which allow to develop new learning and teaching formats that address personal and planetary being.
  • Development of complementary skills of learners and staff aligned with the GreenComp framework.
  • Added value in knowledge creation on how to address and include well-being in academia and its possible monitoring, e.g. by developing guidelines / draft of a happiness report to complement existing sustainability reporting in higher education institutions.
  • Added value on knowledge creation on (eco-)anxiety.
  • Expected impact on building up more caring communities that care for people and planet.
  • At least one publication as a result of the research activities in this CC.
  • International exposure and attention to sustainable well-being and care, which are topics yet underrepresented in learning and teaching for sustainability.

Connected Community Activities

Upcoming Activities

Coming soon

Past activities

“Sustainable Wellbeing Cultures on University Campuses” took place at NOVA University Lisbon on 18 June 2026.

The event invited the academic community and the wider public to explore how universities can contribute to sustainable wellbeing cultures that connect individual, collective, and planetary wellbeing. It included participants from NOVA, TUD and UPF and also from other institutions.

The programme combined academic input with participatory and co-creative formats, including:

  • An open lecture on Planetary Wellbeing by Eva Pujadas Capdevila, Vice-Rector of Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona (hybrid);
  • A roundtable discussion on Sustainable Wellbeing in Higher Education with Ausenda Oliveira (PAIR UP, founder of the Portuguese standard for Happiness & Wellbeing) (hybrid);
  • Two co-creation sessions co-designed with facilitators Cristel Lopes & Daniel Silva, and supported by students from the three organizing universities (in person).

NOVA hosts EUTOPIA event on sustainable wellbeing in higher education

NOVA hosts EUTOPIA meeting on the role of universities today: “University spaces must increasingly be places of wellbeing”

Past work

How to get involved?

Connected Community Members

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