The Colombian Network of Higher Education Institutions and Health Promoting Universities (REDCUPS by its Spanish acronym), inspired by the Health Promoting Universities Movement, was constituted in 2010 as a result of the collaborative effort of different national institutions. It published its guiding document in June of the same year, consigning and justifying its actions, based on the advances and international declarations on Health Promotion, maintaining the interest in achieving a change in the way of conceiving health, highlighting the importance of social determinants, equity and sustainable human development. Since its beginnings, the Network has sought to develop the theme of Health Promotion, with national and international projection, and it has considered the optimization of resources in favor of the formation and qualification of human potential and processes to advance in a common project through which Higher Education Institutions (HEI) contribute to the improvement of the country’s health, considering in their objectives the need for:

«Creating work teams in the interested university institutions, to develop their human capital in competences and abilities that allow them to dynamize participative processes and formulate, execute and evaluate projects of Health Promotion within each Institution. These teams will carry out their functions using communication channels with other universities and networks, in order to promote technical-scientific accompaniment, mutual support and resource optimization» (REDCUPS, 2010).

During the last year, an important work has been carried out by the regional nodes of REDCUPS, strengthening its structure, advancing in the construction of tools, documents and collaborative processes through the constitution of different teams, which has resulted in benefits for the institutions that form it. However, the network is committed to continue with great challenges at national level.

This special edition newsletter becomes a space to share from experience the results of the Key Actor Mapping (KAM) methodology usage, as the first experience of mapping actors and initiatives of Health Promotion (HP), from the Valley node, which had the participation of students for its implementation, the results of the student projects are also presented.

Read the Newsletter HERE

Catalina Jimenez Cerquera
National Coordinator of the Student Participation Axis.
Coordination of the Student Participation Axis, Valle Node.
Colombian Network of HEIs and Health Promoting Universities.
Contact: catalinajimenezcerquera@fumc.edu.co