Minister Simon Harris being presented with our new Creative Wellbeing Journal at the launch of the MTU Strategic Plan 2022-2027. 

Simon Harris TD, Minister of Further and Higher Education, Innovation and Science pictured with (l-r) Áine Ní Shé, Registrar & VP For Academic Affairs; Sarah Morey, MTU Arts Officer, and Louise Foott, Head of Department of Arts in Health and Education.

Pause, Explore, Flourish: A Creative Journal to Nurture Wellbeing was born out of a growing awareness of the importance of building student resilience, particularly at times of transition. At MTU Crawford we have a strong belief in the role the arts can play in supporting wellbeing: enabling us to engage with the world through all our senses, developing our capacity for wonder, opening us up to the possibility that there is more than one way to view our circumstances, connecting us to each other, giving us permission to play, etc. 

The Creative Wellbeing Journal has been an exciting and timely project to be involved in and is the product of real collaboration among staff member, Jessica Carson-Marbe, and students in the Dept of Arts in Health & Education, backed by current research into the area of wellbeing. The project development was made possible through MTU's Teaching & Learning Unit and SATLE funding. Ongoing research, both to support the project development, and now its implementation, has been supported by MTU's Research Office, with further funding this year from Anseo "Transitions to MTU". The MTU Arts Office have funded the first print run. The books were illustrated by staff member Eimear McNally, designed by Kieran O'Connor and printed in Cork by City Print.

During the coming months hundreds of MTU students will be provided with the book and encouraged to engage with it. Opportunities will be provided to join focus groups to provide feedback on the experience of engaging with the book. This will enable us to consider possible amendments to the journal or how engagement with it is supported as we work towards a bigger roll out next year.