Villanova University’s Office for Sustainability to Host 2024 International Sustainability Conference

VILLANOVA, Pa. (September 3, 2024)- Villanova University's Office for Sustainability in Mission and Ministry will host the 2024 International Sustainability Conference, entitled Our Common Home, Our Common Hope: Community Engagement for a Safe and Just Future, from Oct. 1-3, 2024 in the Connelly Center. The goal of the conference is to promote interdisciplinary research that inspires communities to choose healthy lifestyles that benefit our world.

Pope Francis' writings in both Laudato Si and Laudate Deum say that the world is facing one complex crisis that is both environmental and social, rather than two separate crises. The International Sustainability Conference aims to tackle this crisis by inviting researchers who encourage new ways of thinking about sustainability in the sciences, philosophy, nursing, law, business, engineering, the humanities and beyond.

The keynote address will be delivered by Michael E. Mann, PhD, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Earth & Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania with a secondary appointment in the Annenberg School for Communication, and director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media (PCSSM). Dr. Mann's work, alongside other authors in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was recognized with the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, and he was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2020. He is the author of several books including his most recent work, The New Climate War.

Other featured panelists include the Rev. Anthony Banks, OSA, Assistant General of the General Council of the Order of St. Augustine, Asia and Pacific; Michele R. Pistone, JD, LLM, Professor of Law in Villanova University's Charles Widger School of Law; Jonathan Doh, PhD, Senior Associate Dean for Research, Faculty Advancement and Global Engagement and the Herbert G. Rammrath Endowed Chair in International Business in Villanova University's School of Business; and Ruth McDermott-Levy, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, Professor and Co-Director of the Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the Environment in Villanova University's M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing.

Sustainability at Villanova University: In 2007, Villanova University President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD signed the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment. In 2018, the Villanova Sustainability Leadership Council was established to develop a 10-year actionable and measurable plan to guide the University's comprehensive effort to support the planet and its people and to ensure prosperity for all. By committing the University to the Laudato Si Action Platform and developing a customized Laudato Si' Plan, Villanova University is taking decisive and unflinching action to build a better future. At the core of all sustainability activities, both large and small, is the University's vision to establish an ethos of sustainable living. As an Augustinian Catholic institution, Villanova is committed to generating and advocating sustainable action to help create a future that provides enough, for all, forever.

About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova University's Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six colleges-the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nation's top universities, Villanova supports its students' intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit www.villanova.edu.