One Earth Initiative

One Earth Initiative Image

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.

 

  • Pope Francis issued Laudato si in 2015, urging all people to care for our common home through "integral ecology"  — a holistic approach to complex and interrelated ecological and social problems. 
  • The Vatican launched the Laudato si Action Platform in 2021, calling all Catholic institutions to embody Laudato si' principles. The global Laudato si' university working group has created a 7-year pathway.
  • In 2021, President Paul Fitzgerald, SJ was one of the first Jesuit university presidents to commit to developing an action plan. 
  • Under the leadership of the Provost and Chief Mission Officer, USF convened the OEI working group that included faculty, librarians, administrators, staff, and students. 
  • After a collaborative three-year process, the working group drafted USF’s Laudato si Action Plan.  A synopsis can be found here. 

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: [list]

Goal 2: Education and Student Experience.  Executive sponsor: Eileen Fung, Provost.  Co-chairs: Shannon Gary [add title]; Prof. Michelle Millar, 

Goal 3: Facilities and Infrastructure.  Executive sponsor: []. Co-chairs ___

Goal 4: Institutional Mechanisms to Support Environmental Sustainability Initiatives.  Executive Sponsor: Jayme Burke, [title]. Co-chairs:

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).