One Earth Initiative
The One Earth Initiative fosters social and environmental justice in light of Laudato si'.
USF’s One Earth Initiative (OEI) has developed and is implementing an action plan to integrate justice and sustainability into all aspects of the university. The OEI answers Pope Francis’ call for all people to care for our common home through a holistic approach to interrelated ecological and social justice problems, a call expressed in his profound 2015 encyclical, Laudato si'. Through the action plan, the University of San Francisco is giving life to the environmental sustainability and justice values that are central to its Jesuit Catholic identity.
The One Earth Initiative Action Plan
Faculty, staff, and students collaborated to develop the OEI action plan. A synopsis can be found here. The action plan identifies four central goals:
Goal 1: Ecological Spirituality and Culture
Create and enhance ecological spirituality, foster a culture that values nature and cares for those most vulnerable to environmental harm, and enhance our collective capacity to cope constructively with eco-anxiety.
Goal 2: Education and Student Experience
Ensure that students obtain an understanding of integral ecology: of the interconnected scientific, political, legal, economic, social, cultural, and spiritual dimensions to our understanding of the environment and the profound threats we face.
Goal 3: Facilities and Infrastructure
Make USF an environmental showcase by eliminating direct carbon emissions, reducing USF’s on- and off-campus environmental impacts, and enhancing the educational and research opportunities offered by our physical campuses.
Goal 4: Institutional Mechanisms for Supporting Environmental Sustainability Initiatives
Coordinate, support, and uplift USF’s environmental sustainability and justice initiatives.
Implementation
The OEI has created four working groups to help achieve each goal. Each working group is led by an “executive sponsor” within university leadership. Co-chairs for each group have been drawn from faculty and administration. Working group members include members of the administration, faculty, staff, and students. Two “steering co-chairs” provide oversight and help coordinate the working groups’ initiatives.
Goal 1: Ecological Spirituality and Culture
Co-Chairs: Erin Brigham, Director, Lane Center; Vijaya Nagarajan, Professor, Theology and Religious Studies
Goal 2: Education and Student Experience
Executive Sponsor: Eileen Fung, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. Co-Chairs: Shannon Gary, Vice President, Student Life; Michelle Millar, Professor, School of Management
Goal 3: Facilities and Infrastructure
Executive Sponsor: Julie Orio, Vice President of Operations. Co-Chairs: Heather Hickman Holland, Director of Operations; Jalel Sager, Assistant Professor, Energy Systems Management
Goal 4: Institutional Mechanisms to Support Environmental Sustainability Initiatives
Executive Sponsor: Jayme Burke, Interim Vice President, Development. Co-Chairs: Robin Dutton-Cookston, Senior Director, Development and Campaign Communications; Alice Kaswan, Professor, School of Law
If you would like further information, feel free to contact the initiative’s steering co-chairs, Erin Brigham (Director, Lane Center) or Alice Kaswan (Professor, School of Law).