How can higher education institutions frame the Laudato Si’ goals in terms of its mission?
This was the question that the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) grappled with in the process of developing its Laudato Si’ action plan.
ADMU signified its commitment to joining the first cohort of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform in September 2021, and officially launched this aspiration to become a Laudato Si’ University last November 2022 with a reflection video. The following year, Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, ADMU’s Laudato Si’ plan for the 7-year journey, 2022-2029, was submitted to the Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP).
The Laudato Si’ Plan of the Ateneo was developed based on discussions in a multi-sectoral group around initiatives that would be feasible yet with the potential to be transformative in our community. It represents our efforts to make sense of the 7 Laudato Si’ goals in terms of the focal areas of an educational institution– education, research and service or extension– and embodies our aspirations to promote leadership and innovation in integral ecology in our own context. Central to the framework is the theme of Ecological Conversion. Holistic and impactful education infused by Ignatian spirituality is at the core of our mission.
The Laudato Si’ calls for a cultivation of an ecological spirituality, and by aligning our educational philosophy, we can catalyze ecological conversion in our community. “Education” in this sense needs to recognize the interconnectedness of systems. Within the context of a university, there are different stakeholders, both internal and external, the physical infrastructures and resources, and the interactions among them, given existing values, policies, norms, guidelines and culture in general. These interconnections are important in systems, so an ecological approach to stewardship would be one that more deliberately seeks to identify divides that must be bridged and connections that must be strengthened. Thus, the two other themes in the framework reflect the roles of the university as a living laboratory for place-based pedagogy, and as an enabler of social transformation. These are both anchored on and contribute to the theme of ecological conversion in that they provide concrete experiential opportunities to live out the principles of integral ecology.
The ADMU Laudato Si’ Framework
Envisioning the University as a living laboratory refers to embodying integral ecology in university grounds, decisions, processes and operations in an evidence-based approach. In this way, the university “practices what we preach”– we demonstrate the principles of integral ecology and inculcate them into our stakeholders, which include not just the students but also the administrators, faculty, staff, parents, alumni and other partners. Envisioning the University as an enabler for social transformation refers to our mission to ensure that resources are equitably shared, especially to those who are marginalized, through service learning, extension and community engagement and empowerment. Thus, the entirety of life of the Ateneo community should work towards promoting ecological conversion. The centrality of this theme highlights the unique contribution of the university in terms of the Ignatian spiritual formation of its stakeholders, imbued with the spirit of care for creation as reflected in the Laudato Si’.
Over the past year, under the Ecological Conversion theme, the University’s sub-cluster on Ignatian Spirituality and Formation, together with the Campus Ministry Offices from Basic Education to Higher Education, has spearheaded various activities – masses, retreats, seminars – highlighting the principles of the Laudato Si’ and integral ecology. Innovative opportunities for formation were also developed and implemented, such as forest-bathing experiences that allowed participants to immerse in nature and to reflect on our interconnections and relationships with nature. But students and staff need not stray too far from campus to meditate in nature! Together, the ISF cluster and the Central Facilities Management Office have developed garden areas on campus for reflection and meditation away from distractions and noise.
[Mass and meals at the Mt. Purro Nature Reserve as part of the forest-bathing experience.]
The academic units have also been working on identifying integration points for Integral Ecology into the curriculum, to ensure that students are not only academically proficient but also conscious of and committed to their responsibility to care for our common home. The Ateneo Grade School, for example, created modules for students as young as the kinder level to introduce the Laudato Si’ and integral ecology and complemented this with a Laudato Si’ exhibit last September 2023 and the launching of a Laudato Si’ garden with vegetables and hydroponics, and which will be developed into a landscape where students can appreciate human-environment interactions and learn how our consumption and wastes impact the ecosystem. Training opportunities were also offered to student leaders last March 2024. In the higher education schools, interdisciplinary electives have been developed and piloted, such as a course on Integral Ecology for Socio-ecological Problem-solving. Sustainability principles are being incorporated into research and service learning experiences, and even entrepreneurial programs are being required to embed sustainability in operations and supply chains.
[Ateneo Grade School Laudato Si’ exhibit]
To better transform the University into a living laboratory for Laudato Si’, the University has launched the development of a Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) and a Climate Action Plan (CAP) through multi-sectoral working groups. The BAP codifies the guiding principles, activities, targets, and metrics that will maximize the potential and impact of campus biodiversity and nature spaces for teaching and learning, research, conservation, and outreach and service. The CAP will embody the University’s commitments to climate change mitigation and adaptation, including a target to be carbon neutral by 2030. In addition, the University continues to promote a “zero waste” philosophy and to rethink the “throw-away culture” through events such as the RE-Fair. RE-Fair, held last March 2024, was a pilot sustainability community event for Ateneo students and employees to learn skills for repairing, to gain insight into community behaviors associated with generating waste from personal items, and to connect with other advocates. The event was an avenue for curious minds to engage with sustainability champions in workshops on clothes mending, waste segregation, and basic bike maintenance.
[The nanays (mothers) of Solidarity with Orphans and Widows teaching Ateneo students how to make basic clothing repairs]
Lastly, under the theme of Social Transformation, the Social Development, Environment and Community Engagement (SDECE) subcluster, through Gawad Kalinga (GK) Ateneo, has trained 290 community members nationwide in community development workshops since November 2023. These capacity-building initiatives, enhanced by a session on Laudato Si’ seek to enhance the community development skills of ADMU partner communities and to improve their organizational and social development outcomes. The session on Laudato Si’ not only reminded participants to sustain the efforts they undertake in the community but also emphasized the urgency to work together with other groups to expand the reach of caring for our common home.
GK Ateneo is also currently piloting the 5M Approach to Zero Hunger in adopted communities in collaboration with GK Kusina ng Kalinga (KnK). Since the pilot workshops began last March, 55 community leaders and mission workers have been trained to be feeding program implementers.
[Interactive activities in community development workshops in Visayas]
Moving forward, ADMU will continue building on these three integrated themes, and expand involvement of the community in Laudato Si’ initiatives. Development and implementation of this aspiration to become a Laudato Si’ university has been a learning experience, and we know that as a community, we still have more to do in terms of engaging different stakeholders in meaningful dialogue and transformative action. This Journey represents our commitment to shaping our University into an exemplar of excellence in sustainability and to creating vibrant community ecosystems that live out the principles of integral ecology.
Source: ADMU