A new Sport Health Master Plan for UNIL+EPFL Sport Health Service

With the aim of developing a healthy campus and meeting society's challenges in the field of sustainable health, EPFL and UNIL are placing sport and physical activity at the heart of their development strategy. Their Sport Health Service has drawn up a Sport Health Master Plan for 2036, giving pride of place to innovation, excellence and the development of their sports center.

Since her arrival at the helm of the UNIL+EPFL Sport Health Service (SSUE) in autumn 2022, Ophélia Jeanneret has set herself the mission of developing to its full potential a service dedicated to sport and physical activity for the university community with a view to sustainable health.

Vision

Ophélia Jeanneret and her management committee have worked on an ambitious and innovative development strategy for the next 15 years, with a view to strengthening the links between the SSUE Service and the two universities to which it belongs. Her aim is to position the SSUE Service as a benchmark institution at cantonal, national and international level in terms of innovation, links with academic circles and the global sports market.

At the heart of its development is a focus on sustainable health, both in terms of physical activity for all within the university community and elite sport. This work has great potential, thanks in particular to the many current and future institutional collaborations arising from the privileged ecosystem of Lausanne and the surrounding area, the Olympic capital.

Five strategic development priorities

The Sport Health Master Plan sets out the intentions of EPFL and UNIL to develop this vision in concrete terms. The document commits the SSUE Service to 5 strategic development axes, each including the cross-cutting themes of inclusive physical activity, integrity, sustainable health campus and social and technological innovation:

1. Physical activity by and for students
2. The campus in motion
3. The infrastructures
4. Elite sport at 360
5. Innovation

Health through movement at the heart of its DNA

In autumn 2023, a first step was taken in the implementation of this document with the change of the Service's name and identity. The inclusion of the word "health" in the service's name clearly marks the desire to take care of the Dorigny community, by opening up the definition of sport to physical activity and sport-health with a view to prevention and maintaining physical and mental well-being. The target audiences of the SSUE Service are thus fully represented, from all members of the Dorigny community to elite sportsmen and women.

EPFL and UNIL are thus giving their Sport Health Service the means to fulfill its public service mission, with an innovative strategy focused on raising awareness of health and well-being. In so doing, it positions itself as a key player and opinion leader capable of providing concrete solutions to the major public health issues of today and tomorrow.

The UNIL+EPFL Sport Health Service looks forward to continuing its work with key partners such as the CHUV and its various departments, the UNIL Institute of Sports Science or the Faculty of Biology and Medicine.