Sustainability Calendar

Join the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative as we celebrate the first cohort of the Sustainability in Action Fellowship Program with a dynamic Symposium celebrating undergraduate student leadership, innovation, and hands-on environmental stewardship. Through a series of lightning talks, each fellow will share key insights from their summer fieldwork/experiences to highlight how their work put JTS’s core mission and guiding principles into action. Whether you are an undergraduate student interested in applying for future fellowship cohorts, someone looking to learn more about the JTS Initiative, or simply eager to support Notre Dame's student leaders in sustainability, we invite you to join us for this Symposium. We also invite all attendees to join JTS afterwards for a reception to celebrate the Fellows and as an opportunity to meet others interested in sustainability research and practice on campus. Originally published at sustainabilityinitiative.nd.edu.

Campus Safety’s Zombie Preparedness Festival returns to Notre Dame Thursday, October 1, once again transforming the area outside Notre Dame Stadium into a lively mix of safety education and Halloween fun. Now in its fourth year, the event welcomes faculty, staff, students, and community partners eager to learn practical preparedness skills. The Zombie Preparedness Festival blends fun with an important purpose: helping our campus community build the skills and knowledge needed to stay safe, even in the case of zombies. Attendees will be able to explore hands-on demonstrations ranging from CPR and first aid basics to fire extinguisher training and AED use. Campus departments and local agencies will also host interactive booths, covering everything from cybersecurity and travel safety to sustainability and emergency response. Adding to the energy of the day, a few familiar faces will be transformed into ghoulish versions of themselves, reminding everyone that even in the most unexpected circumstances, preparedness is key. Guests will enjoy food, giveaways, and a chance to win prizes. The event will take place on Thursday, October 1, from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., outside Gate E at Notre Dame Stadium. Originally published at police.nd.edu.

Join Notre Dame Sustainability for a walk around campus to experience the beauty of Notre Dame. Participants will learn about some of the sustainability initiatives and investments happening at the University that may otherwise go unseen! Only 20 spots are available, so don't wait to sign up! This event is open to the public and will be weather permitting. Please be prepared to wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather. Register today

In honor of the Feast Day of Saint Francis, the Word of Life Mural will be illuminated green. 

Pets and service animals are welcome to receive a blessing on Sunday, October 4th at 2:00 PM for the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.  Fr. John Santone will preside over the blessing. Parking is available on-site, back by the mausoleums. This event is free and open to the public. Originally published at cemetery.nd.edu.

In an era of accelerating climate change, widening inequality and geopolitical uncertainty, how are Catholic institutions called to respond to the world’s most pressing challenges? Join Cardinal Peter Turkson and Mary Gallagher, the Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs, for a conversation on Catholic Leadership, integral human development and the role of faith, scholarship and research in advancing justice and peace. Their discussion will explore the enduring call of Laudato Si’, the interconnected challenges facing our world and the opportunities for Catholic institutions to advance knowledge and action for the common good. This event is in partnership with the Keough School’s Ansari Institute for Global Engagement With Religion.  About Cardinal Peter Turkson Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Social Sciences and Sciences, was a key figure in the drafting of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’ and is a leading voice on Catholic social teaching, justice and integral human development.  Cardinal Turkson is president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and previously served as the first prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. He also served as the coordinator of the Vatican’s COVID-19 Commission. He is an advisory council member of the Bethany Land Institute, an applied integral ecology initiative based in Uganda and co-founded by Rev. Emmanuel Katongole, a faculty member of the Keough School of Global Affairs. His work has focused on the intersections of human dignity, peace, development, ecology and the global challenges facing humanity.  About the series This event is part of the Dean's Forum on Global Affairs, designed to bring world leaders into conversation with Notre Dame students, faculty and the broader community around current challenges shaping global affairs. ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ Continue the Conversation  The conversation continues on October 6 with Cardinal Turkson and contributors to "Integral Ecology in the Anthropocene: Africa and Beyond. "The book launch and discussion will explore the application of integral ecology in Africa and beyond and the many pathways for putting its principles into practice. Learn more about the book launch and register. Originally published at keough.nd.edu.

Join us to celebrate the Franciscan Jubilee Year with a Votive Mass of Saint Francis. Gather together at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart to honor caring for creation and the 800th anniversary of the passing of Saint Francis of Assisi. Rev. Greg Haake, C.S.C., will preside. Following Mass, we will gather at the Main Building Rotunda for fellowship with food and beverages.

Danielle Merfeld, Global Chief Technology Officer at Qcells, will outline how solar energy is no longer just an alternative energy source but is transitioning into a cornerstone of national security and economic independence. Advances in solar PV technology and domestic manufacturing, combined with the rapid integration of energy storage, are enabling a resilient, decarbonized grid for the next generation. She will also explore how the frontiers of PV innovation are stretching into outer space to power massive satellite constellations and enable permanent lunar installations. Danielle Merfeld Bio Danielle serves as Global Chief Technology Officer at Qcells, leading research and development for advanced solar products, power electronics, system controls, and energy software. In this role, she drives efforts to build the first fully integrated solar supply chain in the United States. She previously directed technical strategy at GE Renewable Energy across wind, solar, hydro, and grid solutions, where she also established GE's first business-wide sustainability initiative to reduce Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. Elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2021, Danielle holds a B.S. from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University. She serves on Notre Dame's Board of Trustees and advises several national energy bodies, including Georgia Tech's Strategic Energy Institute. Originally published at energy.nd.edu.

Join the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative in welcoming Professor Janet Franklin for the Notre Dame Seminars on Sustainability Series. We invite all attendees to stay afterward for lunch, conversation, and fellowship in 125 DeBartolo Hall as we work together to grow this vital network on campus. Janet Franklin is the Endowed Campanile Foundation Professor in the Department of Geography, San Diego State University. Her research expertise is in Landscape Ecology, Global Change Biology, Conservation Biogeography, and Geospatial Science. She is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Ecological Society of America.  More details to be announced soon. Originally published at sustainabilityinitiative.nd.edu.

Join Notre Dame Sustainability for a walk around campus to experience the beauty of Notre Dame. Participants will learn about some of the sustainability initiatives and investments happening at the University that may otherwise go unseen! Only 20 spots are available, so don't wait to sign up! This event is open to the public and will be weather permitting. Please be prepared to wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather. Register today

Do you have old bank statements, checks, or other personal documents? The University Archives and the University’s shred provider, Shred-it, are offering a free, secure, and confidential document shredding event for Notre Dame faculty, staff, students, and retirees. A Shred-it truck will be parked in the Mason Support Center parking lot, located off St. Joseph Drive behind the Notre Dame Federal Credit Union.The truck accepts paper only — remove any binders, binder clips, etc. before the event (staples and paper clips are acceptable). Please limit your shred material to no more than five file-size boxes. Remain with your material until it is in the shred truck as Notre Dame cannot be responsible for papers left unattended. Also, feel free to leave your empty boxes after you’re finished shredding your material, we will recycle any empty boxes after the event.This event will be held rain or shine. Click here to download the event poster. If you have questions, please contact Sarah Joswick, archivist for records management, at sjoswick@nd.edu.Open to: Undergraduates, Graduate Students, Faculty, Staff, Postdocs

Opportunity sponsored by the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good.  Now accepting applications (Deadline: Thursday, October 15, 2026). To learn more, contact Allie Griffith at agriffi7@nd.edu. Apply Now It’s easy to treat “purpose” as something we aspire to achieve – a career path to map out, a resumé to build, or a big social problem to solve. We can feel pressure to find it, and worry that we won’t feel fulfilled until we do. On Purpose asks you to pause, take a step back, and go deeper. What if your purpose isn’t about a particular job title or a list of noble goals, but about how you respond to the person standing right in front of you? Through our On Purpose immersions, you’ll have an opportunity to shift your focus from abstract ambitions to the daily practice of loving others. Grounded in this living “love ethic,” On Purpose prepares you for a life of deep human solidarity oriented toward the common good. The program includes five on-campus pre- and post-immersion reflection meetings with the larger On Purpose cohort and a week-long off-campus immersion, all designed to help you practice love not as a vague feeling or emotion, but as a daily commitment to honoring our shared humanity. By learning to see our own hopes, vulnerabilities, and commitments echoed in the stories and lives of others, we discover that being a force for good isn’t just about what we achieve in our lifetime, but an ongoing practice of building a sense of shared purpose one person at a time. 2027 Notre Dame Immersions: Resilient Love: Education and Culture in Pueblo Communities Spring Break 2027 In partnership with Notre Dame's American Indian Catholic School Network This immersion experience acknowledges the ways American society has historically marginalized Indigenous peoples through systemic erasure and the active discounting of their sovereign traditions. In partnership with Notre Dame’s American Indian Catholic School Network, students will visit Pueblo community schools in New Mexico unified by their commitment to nurturing and uplifting Indigenous history and culture. Through these encounters, students will reflect on what it means to practice love that centers communities history has sought to push aside. Radical Love: Kinship and Belonging at Homeboy Industries Spring Break 2027 In partnership with Campus Ministry This immersion invites students into a radical kinship that recognizes the inherent dignity of formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated individuals. Throughout the week, students will engage with the community at Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry organization in the world. By entering into the “Homeboy Way,” students reflect on how being a force for good begins with the intentional choice to love with compassion rather than judgment. Restorative Love: Forgiveness and Justice in the American South Spring Break 2027 In partnership with Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights In partnership with the Catholic Mobilizing Network and Wheaton College, this immersion throughout the American South focuses on the transformative practice of radical forgiveness and reconciliation. Students will look closely at the modern penal system – specifically mass incarceration and the death penalty – and reflect on what it takes to move from a culture of condemnation to one of healing. Grounded in a profound commitment to human dignity, this journey will challenge students to witness how restorative love can heal victims, transform violators, and break cycles of harm to reshape our collective sense of purpose. Humanizing Love: Flourishing in the Future of Medicine May 2027 (Note: Due to the timing of this immersion, seniors are not eligible to participate) As artificial intelligence and institutional demands for efficiency threaten to reduce patients to data points, modern medicine stands at a profound crossroads. In partnership with the University of Birmingham, UK, this immersion invites Notre Dame students into a week of reflective conversations and workshops together with Birmingham medical students around how medicine can resist technological depersonalization. Through in-person encounters with community partners and roundtable discussions, students will examine the structural and ethical realities of healthcare across the US and UK systems. While this immersion is open to all Notre Dame undergraduate students, those with a specific interest in medicine are encouraged to apply. Read about Bjorn Mauritsen's 2025 On Purpose experience Read about Alice O'Brien's 2025 On Purpose experience 2027 On Purpose Grants For institutional partners interested in applying for an On Purpose grant, click here.

Join Shirley Heinze Land Trust at the Gillespie Conference Center in South Bend on Friday, October 23, for an evening celebrating conservation efforts at Lydick Bog and beyond! The night will include dinner, live music, a silent auction, and a special program – all supporting the rare landscape at Lydick Bog and honoring the work Shirley Heinze, partners, and community members are doing beyond the bog to promote conservation throughout the South Bend area. Individual tickets and tables are available, as well as sponsorship opportunities for those looking to make an even greater impact. RSVP by October 9th. Secure your tickets here! This event is hosted by the Shirley Heinze Land Trust. 

Join the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative in welcoming Professor Spencer Banzhaf for the Notre Dame Seminars on Sustainability Series. We invite all attendees to stay afterward for lunch, conversation, and fellowship in 125 DeBartolo Hall as we work together to grow this vital network on campus. Spencer Banzhaf is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Director of the Center for Environmental and Resource Economics Policy (CEnREP) at North Carolina State University.  More details to be announced soon. Originally published at sustainabilityinitiative.nd.edu.

Join the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative in welcoming Professor Justin Farrell for the Notre Dame Seminars on Sustainability Series. We invite all attendees to stay afterward for lunch, conversation, and fellowship in 125 DeBartolo Hall as we work together to grow this vital network on campus. Justin Farrell is Professor of Sociology at the Yale School of the Environment. He studies how values, history, and environment shape communities. His books have been published by Princeton University Press, with a new book forthcoming from Norton, and his research articles have appeared in Science, PNAS, and the American Sociological Review, among others. His research has been supported by the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation. He is an elected member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences at the Vatican, and a proud Notre Dame graduate. More details to be announced soon. Originally published at sustainabilityinitiative.nd.edu.

This HR workshop takes a deep dive into the University's Sustainability Initiative, a core component of our 2033 Strategic Framework. Led by executive director Geory Kurtzhals and sustainability program manager Olivia Farrington, participants will be introduced to the basics of sustainability at Notre Dame, will learn about the campus' sustainability journey, and get resources and inspiration for personal action. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:• More about sustainability work taking place across the University.• How every job on campus is a sustainability job.• Opportunities to incorporate sustainability principles into your role at the University.• Ways to support our strategic framework to create a healthier, more vibrant campus and care for our common home. THIS WORKSHOP IS IDEAL FOR:• Anyone who has responsibilities for purchasing materials and planning events.• Those with direct responsibility for overseeing building upgrades.• Anyone with a common interest in how they can be more sustainable in their work and life. This workshop opportunity is open to current staff at the University. To register, visit the NDHR Learning Workshops Catalog.

Join the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative in welcoming Professor Benjamin Sovacool for the Notre Dame Seminars on Sustainability Series. We invite all attendees to stay afterward for lunch, conversation, and fellowship in 125 DeBartolo Hall as we work together to grow this vital network on campus. Benjamin K. Sovacool is Professor of Earth and Environment at Boston University in the United States, where he is the Founding Director of the Institute for Global Sustainability. He is also Professor of Energy Policy at the Bennett Institute for Innovation & Policy Acceleration at the University of Sussex Business School. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and a Fellow in the Academy of Europe (Academia Europaea).  This presentation explores how concepts from justice and ethics can inform energy decision-making and highlight the futurity, fairness, and equity dimensions of energy production and use. It defines "energy justice" as a global energy system that fairly distributes both the benefits and costs of energy services, and one that contributes to more representative and inclusive energy decision-making. Such an assessment brings together core understandings of distributional and procedural justice alongside cosmopolitan interpretations of equity and recognitional notions of fairness. The presentation then focuses on six new frontiers or fruitful areas of future research. First is making the case for the involvement of non-Western justice theorists. Second is expanding beyond humans to look at the Rights of Nature or non-anthropocentric notions of justice. Third is focusing on cross-scalar issues of justice such as embodied emissions. Fourth is identifying business models and the co-benefits of justice. Fifth is better understanding the tradeoffs within energy justice principles. Sixth is confronting utopian or falsely constructed justice discourses. In doing so, the presentation argues in favor of "justice-aware" energy planning and policymaking, and it hopes that its (reconsidered) energy justice conceptual framework offers a critical tool to inform decision-making. Originally published at sustainabilityinitiative.nd.edu.

Join the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative in welcoming Professor Elena Bennett for the Notre Dame Seminars on Sustainability Series. We invite all attendees to stay afterward for lunch, conversation, and fellowship in 125 DeBartolo Hall as we work together to grow this vital network on campus. Elena Bennett is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Sustainability Science at McGill University. Her work focuses on the interactions among ecosystem services and how we can manage these interactions for multifunctional working landscapes, using a landscape ecology and systems ecology perspective. She is the Director of ResNet, a 100+ person NSERC Strategic Network that works with communities in six working landscapes across Canada to address questions about managing ecosystem service provision. More details to be announced soon. Originally published at sustainabilityinitiative.nd.edu.

Join the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative in welcoming Professor Maximilian Auffhammer for the Notre Dame Seminars on Sustainability Series. We invite all attendees to stay afterward for lunch, conversation, and fellowship in 125 DeBartolo Hall as we work together to grow this vital network on campus. Maximilian Auffhammer is the George Pardee Jr. Professor of International Sustainable Development and Chair of the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate. More details to be announced soon. Originally published at sustainabilityinitiative.nd.edu.