Unpacking healthy campuses and broadening understanding of the commercial determinants of health

22 Sep 2026

The ISS21 SHAPE research cluster invited Martina Mullin (Healthy Trinity Manager) and Dr Norah Campbell (Co-Lead of the Commercial Determinants of Health Lab in Healthy Trinity) to UCC to discuss and unpack critical issues including the commercial determinants of health and the potential of building healthy and inclusive campuses in Ireland.

On Tuesday 22nd September in the beautiful Dora Allman Room in The Hub, members of the Healthy Trinity movement in Trinty College Dublin (TCD), who are implementing the HEA Healthy Campus, came to UCC!
Invited by the SHAPE research cluster, Martina Mullin (Healthy Trinity Manager) and Dr Norah Campbell (Co-Lead of the Commercial Determinants of Health Lab in Healthy Trinity) came to share their hard-won experiences in developing the healthy campus movement in Trinity, focusing on what works for embedding health campus, what doesn’t work and what the next steps are going to be for the team. Lots of good learning and sharing of knowledge across the healthy campus movements in UCC and MTU, who were present on the day.
Before the session in the Dora Allman room, Dr Margaret Steele (SHAPE cluster member & School of Public Health) chatted to Norah and Martina in just over a 20-minute podcast which is available for listening here and is hugely worth your time and attention! https://ms.podbean.com/media/share/pb-vx4dp-1b8b09c?utm_campaign=admin_episode&utm_source=episode_share_pb&utm_medium=dlink
In her presentation in the Dora Allman room, Martina outlined how aligning the healthy campus movement with the principles of health promotion and the Ottawa Charter works well in providing a conceptual and evidence-informed framework. The discipline of health promotion promotes a multifocal approach to healthy campus-making across policies, settings, environments, governance structures, community action with bespoke and evidence-informed skills development. Martina spoke with passion about building collaborative relationships that align naturally with healthy campus priorities. It was clear that Martina and her team work hard to engage with students and staff, and aren’t afraid to try new and bespoke ways of collaboration. One project undertaken on campus was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement, within Trinity, who got the contraception train to purchase condoms in Belfast, with a group photo in Trinity in 2021, marking a moment in looking back to look forward.
The second half of the day was co-led by Martina Mullin and Dr Norah Campbell. It involved the delivery of a pilot of the Executive Education in Commercial Determinants of Health. This workshop brought the participants on a learning and explorative journey, examining the path of tobacco control from the 1880s to unpacking advertising norms adopted by major commercial interests in contemporary times. The training session was hugely beneficial to members, who reflected positively on the workshop. One thing that stood out from Norah’s delivery was the need for us all to become aware of, and literate in, the commercial determinants of health, such as the impact of food advertising and algorithmic targeting on children, to the influence on policymakers of commercial lobbying interests at all tiers of governance.
Norah and Martina also shared some Commercial Determinants of Health 2026 calendars with the group, which are available here. They require no comment beyond, they are eye-opening!