Post by: Kaavya Lakshmanan, Communications Assistant
Erika Sagert has lived all over the world.
Born in Canada, the second year master’s student in Urban Planning lived in the United States, the Middle East, and Scandinavia, before eventually returning to Canada. This unique upbringing shaped the way Sagert views wellbeing.
“I always felt very connected to the Scandinavian way of life, [where] if it’s a sunny day and you’re in the office, you’ll go outside,” said Sagert.
Inspired by the Nordic culture of engaging with nature, Sagert wanted to bring that thinking to North America.
“North America has a very different understanding of working and life. It’s like a competition to work the hardest and be the most stressed, and I find that just a little bit interesting.”
Sagert sees wellbeing as a journey.
While UBC has a beautiful natural environment and tries to promote wellbeing, Sagert notes that like any big university, it struggles with getting that message across to students, faculty, and staff.
“It’s hard in the middle of exam time to think, ‘Oh, UBC wants me to support myself,’” said Sagert.
The sheer size, especially of the Vancouver campus, further adds to this problem. Sagert is a Sustainability Scholar with Wellbeing at UBC and is working on a community engagement strategy for the fall, with a focus on staff and faculty. Part of her role involves participating in events, such as the UBC Farm Harvest Festival and Thrive at UBC, and bringing engagement pieces from Wellbeing at UBC.
Another aspect of her job is to connect with people who are already engaged in wellbeing initiatives on both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses, and encourage them to work together on joint projects.
“The best thing about talking to staff and faculty is, whenever you have an inspired suggestion, like, ‘Oh, we should create this thing,’ [they’re] like, ‘Yeah, we already have that,” said Sagert.
“There are these great mechanisms in place for doing everything in this area and there’s lots of stuff happening, [but] that communication part where people are telling each other about it isn’t quite there.”
Sagert hopes her work will do just that: support the existing conversations in wellbeing and bridge the gap between different initiatives. Sagert’s long-term goal is to entrench wellbeing into UBC life, particularly in the way faculty teach.
“I think that’s already happening, like with the groups that I’m working with. The biggest challenge is sustaining stuff, making sure longevity of it is there.”
Sagert sees wellbeing as a journey. “It’s all those pieces, it’s physical health, mental health, environmental health, social health, all those things. It’s something you’re always working towards.”
Sagert, whose tenure with Wellbeing at UBC ends in September, hopes her work will have enough of an impact on staff and faculty that it will be carried forward.