Planting trees, sorting waste, and reducing consumption are concrete and necessary actions on any campus. At a Catholic university, moreover, they point to a responsibility that is part of its very identity: to educate students about caring for our common home.
A study by Francisco de Vitoria University (UFV) argues that sustainability should be integrated into the university's mission and go beyond a mere environmental initiative.
The ecological crisis is often explained using statistics on emissions, energy, temperature, or biodiversity. At the university, the issue also extends into the realm of education. It is not just a matter of measuring impacts, but of fostering habits, fostering a responsible perspective on the world, and preparing those who will make decisions tomorrow in companies, schools, hospitals, government agencies, laboratories, or families.
The article Integrating Sustainability into the Core Mission of Catholic Universities: The Case of Francisco de Vitoria University (Spain)** **examines the case of UFV to address a challenge shared by many institutions of higher education.
María Zitto, the study’s lead author and a doctoral candidate at the UFV International Doctoral School, expresses this in terms of mission: “Caring for our common home is not foreign to the Catholic university; it is part of its understanding of the person, the community, and our responsibility toward the world we have received.”
From Environmental Action to University Identity
The heart of the work lies in a shift in focus. A university may have environmental plans, sustainability reports, reforestation campaigns, or volunteer initiatives. All of that matters because it demonstrates a commitment. The crucial point, Zitto notes, is that these initiatives not remain on the periphery, but rather stem from the university’s Catholic mission and identity.
Identity carries more weight than initiative. The author places this proposal in the tradition of Laudato si’,, where care for the environment is linked to care for people—especially the most vulnerable—and for future generations. From this perspective, educating for sustainability involves “cultivating a way of viewing reality characterized by connection, gratitude, and responsibility.”
The scope of the debate is broad. There are more than 1,300 Catholic universities worldwide, with nearly 3.8 million students. Alberto López Rosado, co-author of the study and vice president for research at UFV, links this statistic to a central idea of the study: “An educational network of this size can influence habits and decisions that extend far beyond the campus.”
UFV: A Case for Moving from Actions to Identity
The UFV is highlighted in the study as a case where elements are already aligned with the integration of sustainability into the university’s mission. This is evident in the incorporation of Laudato si’ into the core curriculum, particularly in the Social Responsibility course, taken by 2,363 students, and in research projects on the circular economy, sustainable mobility, and responsible nutrition.
It is also evident in everyday campus life. The university has promoted reforestation campaigns through the NATURA group, planted 3,487 trees as part of an initiative involving new students, and reached 4,882 trees in 2024. In addition, there are five biodiversity trails involving 215 students, “green” discussions with 923 participants, initiatives to combat food waste, reusable cups, and 330 waste sorting stations.
The campus also educates. The authors note, however, that there is still a long way to go. The cross-disciplinary integration of environmental content can be expanded, as can the dialogue between technical and humanistic knowledge. “That is the value of this case: the UFV demonstrates concrete progress and, at the same time, the challenge of consolidating sustainability as part of its institutional identity,” notes Zitto.
The Relationship Crisis Behind the Ecological Crisis
The article’s more human dimension ties in with a line of thought the author had already explored in a previous interview published by the UFV. In that interview, she addressed the ecological crisis as a crisis of relationships with oneself, with others, with nature, and with the transcendent.
The ecological crisis speaks to how we live. It reflects the way we consume, produce, live, use technology, and understand nature. This relational perspective is now being applied to the university’s mission, because an educational institution conveys much more than just information. It also teaches a way of relating to the world.
The difference between dominion and stewardship helps us understand this shift. If nature is viewed solely as an external resource, sustainability is reduced to efficiency. If it is understood as a gift to be received and shared, educating for sustainability means fostering moderation, justice, solidarity, gratitude, and care. In that interview, Zitto summed it up in a single sentence: “We are nature.”
A Broader Rationale for Lasting Coherence
To uphold that identity, the article employs the method of “Expanded Reason,” inspired by Benedict XVI. Sustainability is analyzed through four questions that cut across university life: Who is the person? How do we come to know the truth about the environmental problem? What ethical responsibility does it entail? And what is the meaning of caring for creation?
Sustainability cannot be confined to a single discipline. The academic response requires scientific data, moral judgment, interdisciplinary dialogue, and a meaningful framework. The natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, ethics, and theology emerge as languages called upon to engage in dialogue. López Rosado sees this approach as a way to “prevent environmental commitment from being confined to technical indicators or ideological slogans.”
The study does not experimentally measure the impact of these actions on student behavior nor does it present the UFV case as a closed model. It is a theoretical and case-based analysis that identifies foundational principles, reviews institutional practices, and proposes a more explicit integration of sustainability into the university’s mission.
Consistency Requires Continuity
The decisive step, according to the authors, is for sustainability to be incorporated into the identity, vision, and mission of Catholic universities. In this way, it ceases to depend on shifting priorities, specific leaders, or temporary strategic plans and becomes a stable part of academic life.
Caring for our common home begins with small decisions, but it points to a greater task: forming people who are capable of seeing the world as something that has been given to us, something shared, and something worthy of care.
“The challenge of sustainability in higher education is not simply to add another line item to the strategic plan. It is to educate from a sense of identity that enables us to care for others with intelligence, responsibility, and hope,” the researchers conclude.
