"Read more books", "put my phone down" and "spend time in nature" were some of the pledges pinned to the board at Wednesday's event held on the Duck Pond lawn.

UOW Wellbeing student program officer Cameron Faricy said the aim of the day - being held at 32 university campuses - was to equip students and staff with simple ways to improve their mental health.

He said the event promoted the Five Ways to Wellbeing, which had become a cornerstone of mental health campaigns around the world.

"The five ways to well-being are to connect, give, take notice, keep learning and be active," Mr Faricy said.

"We encouraged students to make pledges based on those five things - for instance some pledged to 'connect' with family members they'd lost touch with; others wanted to 'give' by becoming a volunteer or take a daily walk to 'be active'."

Mr Faricy said the pledges would be shared with a global audience on social media on hashtag #unimentalhealthday.

"The aim is to get students to think about their own mental health, and also hopefully to start discussions to reduce the stigma around mental illness," he said.

"Students can be at higher risk of mental illness due to heightened stress, time management issues and financial problems and so we really want to get them to think about positive ways to boost their mental health."

The university event took place during Mental Health Week, which runs till Sunday.

There are a number of other events promoting mental health being held in the region this week, including the second annual Walk of Pride, which starts at MacCabe Park at 10am on Thursday.

It will finish at Crown Street Mall where there will be stalls, speeches and entertainment from 10.30am to 2.30pm.