Arun Agrawal, the Pulte Family Professor of Development Policy at the Keough School of Global Affairs and inaugural director of the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative, focuses his research on environmental politics, sustainable development, community-based conservation and transformative change. Agrawal considers the Holy Father’s vision as described in his encyclical Laudato Si’ as being both a source of direction and inspiration for how we can work together to make lasting, meaningful change in our world, and a warning for what could happen if we don’t.

“The Holy Father gave all humanity — indeed, all of the planet — a way to create a better world, helping us advance a vision of connectedness and community as being essential ingredients for discovering meaning and purpose,” Agrawal said.

But, added Agrawal, Pope Francis’ “vision about the inherent dignity of each and all humans is simultaneously a beacon for those who care for a just and sustainable future and a caution for those who see the world transactionally.”

Agrawal believes that the best available science and our innermost convictions tell us that transformative change for sustainability requires adjustments in thought, structure and action, but that these all must remain consistent with the guidance from Pope Francis.

“The Sustainability Initiative at Notre Dame, as imagined and elaborated by the University’s leadership, is deeply aligned with and inspired by Laudato Si’ and its vision of integral ecology,” Agrawal said.

Going forward, the initiative will seek to transform how students and faculty at Notre Dame engage with sustainability research and practice, as well as alter the field of sustainability itself through high-impact research and knowledge creation, curricular innovations and global engagement.

Originally published by Tracy DeStazio at news.nd.edu on April 21, 2025.