Global Alliance for Integral Ecology
Three Boston College scholars were among 150 global researchers and institutional leaders invited to attend the inaugural convening of the Global Alliance for Integral Ecology on March 9 and 10 in Rome, initiated by the Vatican聽Laudato si櫬�Center for Higher Education.
Environmental trailblazers Gautam N. Yadama, Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., and Hanqin Tian were at the event to help advance a long-term vision for the nascent alliance, a collaboration between the center and the University of Notre Dame Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative envisioned as a hub for connecting, amplifying, and spearheading research, curriculum, and action initiatives for a sustainable future.
Laudato si� (淧raise be to you, my Lord�) is derived from a 13th-century canticle by St. Francis of Assisi that emphasized the Earth is a sacred gift to be protected. A 2015 encyclical by Pope Francis, subtitled 淥n Care for Our Common Home,� serves as a foundational document on integral ecology, a holistic framework that asserts that environmental, social, economic, cultural, and human-dignity issues are deeply interconnected. Urging immediate action against climate change, environmental destruction, and social injustice, Pope Francis established the Laudato si� Higher Education Center in 2023.
Pope Leo XIV officially inaugurated Borgo Laudato si�, an educational and economic project located on the papal property in Castel Gandolfo and dedicated it to Pope Francis vision of integral ecology.
The invitation to the Global Alliance for Integral Ecology meeting noted that each attendee work 渞esonates deeply with the values and vision we are working to advance. [Your] expertise, depth of experience, and existing partnerships would be invaluable as we launch this ambitious endeavor.�
Philip J. Landrigan, M.D. (Gary Wayne Gilbert)
Landrigan, a professor of biology, epidemiologist, and pediatrician, has long campaigned against substances in the environment that are harmful to children, such as lead and asbestos. He is also concerned with environmental pesticides and plastics pollution.
淐limate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss攖he three great, planetary-scale threats confronting humanity today攕tem from human misuse of the Earth natural resources, especially fossil carbon,� said Landrigan, director of the Global Public Health and the Common Good Program and the Global Observatory on Planetary Health at the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. 聽淲hile technical and legal solutions to these planetary threats are necessary and frequently effective, such as the global plastics treaty and national clean air laws, these reactive answers provide no protection against hazards yet to come.
淒urable protection against future dangers will require solutions that extend beyond specific threats and address the underlying political, economic, ethical and moral causes of the current planetary crisis. Our Global Observatory on Planetary Health is deeply honored to be part of this process.�
Hanqin Tian (Lee Pellegrini)
Tian, inaugural director of the Center for Earth System Science and Global Sustainability at the Schiller Institute, and a professor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department, studies the Earth biosphere and its interactions with the atmosphere and climate by utilizing innovative modeling techniques and comprehensive observational data. His work provides actionable insights that support global efforts toward a sustainable future. 聽
淗umanity greatest challenges, from climate change and biodiversity loss to food and water security, are deeply interconnected and demand integrated solutions,� said Tian, who is also an Institute Professor of Global Sustainability. 淭he Global Alliance provides a transformative platform that unites science, policy, and global partnerships to advance planetary health and a just, sustainable future.
51动漫 School of Social Work Dean Gautam Yadama (Caitlin Cunningham)
Yadama, dean of the 51动漫 School of Social Work, is the author of Fires, Fuel & the Fate of 3 Billion: State of the Energy Impoverished, which outlines an argument for transdisciplinary research to tackle complex problems such as household air pollution that reside at the intersections of poverty, environment, and health. 聽
He is using social network analysis and community-based system dynamics to study how interventions to reduce pollution are adopted and sustained by the poor in rural India. Yadama is a member of the Implementation Science Network on Clean Cooking at the Fogarty Institute of the National Institutes of Health.