HEALTH-PROMOTING UNIVERSITIES
The Fourth International Conference on Health-Promoting Universities, focusing on the social commitment of universities, was carried out in Pamplona, Spain, 7-9 October 2009. The meeting resulted in Declaration of Pamplona/Iruña that establishes the values and principles of Health-Promoting Universities. For in-depth information about this event see:
http://www.fundacion.unavarra.es/universidadsaludable/eng_index.htm  
--Josefa Ippolito-Shepherd, PhD, ippolitoshepherdj@yahoo.com

HEALTH-PROMOTING UNIVERSITIES IN CHILE 
The Health-Promoting Universities movement in Latin American countries is being strengthened by the intense and enthusiastic work of both public and private universities. At the same time, national networks are being formed in Chile, Colombia, Peru, México and other countries. The International Health Promotion meetings have also significantly contributed to the continuous development of this Initiative: Chile (2003), Edmonton, Canada (2005), Ciudad Juarez, México (2007), and Pamplona, Spain (2009).

Since the year 2000, the movement of Health Promotion has led to the formation of the National Council of Health Promotion ‘Vida Chile’ that permitted the development of various initiatives directed to different groups of the population, including: Guía de Vida Activa [Guide for Active Life], Guía para Universidades Saludables y Otras Instituciones de Educación Superior [Guide for Healthy Universities and other Institutions of Higher Learning],  Escuelas Promotoras de la Salud [Health-Promoting Schools], Comunas Saludables [Healthy communities], Universidades Promotoras de la Salud [Health-Promoting Universities], etc.

A Health-Promoting University is committed to the creation of settings and a culture that promotes and facilitates the health and well-being of the members of the academic community and its immediate surroundings, including students, professors, administrators, and other university staff, by incorporating the Health Promotion Strategies as an integral part of their work. 

The website REDUPS (Network of Health-Promoting Universities) launched in 2007, coordinated by the Universidad de Los Lagos in Puerto Montt, with the objective to strengthen the Initiative, to keep the Network informed, and to provide all relevant references.

The REDUPS meets regularly. The next meeting is to be carried out in November 2010 at the Universidad Austral de Chile, to share successful experiences with the implementation of the Health-Promoting Universities Initiative and to strengthen the Network.
--Rosa González Pozo, MA, rgonzalez@ulagos.cl