Higher Education in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau: Implications for global sustainability

Nordic Global Health Talks

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This talk is by Jon Edmund Bollom, University of Iceland.

The well-being of higher education (HE) students underpins global health sustainability efforts. Students that successfully traverse HE are uniquely able to apply knowledge and skills to lasting effect upon healthcare systems and public health practices. Previous research indicates well-being to be a manifold aspect of student life, encompassing psychological, physical, emotional, social and cognitive dimensions. Academic performance is simultaneously positively and negatively correlated to various aspects of well-being. Drawing upon survey data collected in late 2022 in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, this talk will explore the connection between students’ academic performance and their well-being in higher education (HE), emphasising the implications of this link for advancing global health sustainability. The survey, the first of its kind in the setting, represents 2,255 responses from HE students from Bissau’s 6 largest HE institutions. The talk underscores the contribution of students' well-being towards academic performance, and the role of HE institutions in promoting a culture of well-being.

Additional educational resource

  1. Žalėnienė, I. and Pereira, P. 2021. Higher Education For Sustainability: A Global Perspective. Geography and Sustainability 2021;2(2): 99-106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geosus.2021.05.001
  2. Gu, Z., Li, P., Zhang, A., Xu, X. and Gu, F. 2022. The Role of Mental Health and Sustainable Learning Behavior of Students in Education Sector Influences Sustainable Environment. Frontiers in Psychology 2022; 13: 822751 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.822751
  3. Orme, J. and Dooris, M. Integrating health and sustainability: the higher education sector as a timely catalyst.Health Education Research, 2010; 25(3): 425 437. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyq020
  4. Ronen, T. and Kerret, D. Promoting Sustainable Wellbeing: Integrating Positive Psychology and Environmental Sustainability in Education. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020, 17(19), 6968. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17196968

About Nordic Global Health Talks

Nordic Global Health Talks is a monthly webinar series about global health research at Nordic universities, hosted by the Nordic Network on Global Health. It is free and open to everyone interested in knowing more about Nordic global health research, education and collaborative projects.

Read more and find the programme here.