2026 Villanova International Sustainability Conference

Pope Leo XIV, in Dilexi Te, reminds us of our shared responsibility to care for the poor and marginalized. Today, over one billion people live in slum settlements worldwide, predominantly in the Global South, and almost 10 percent of the global population is undernourished. The 2025 State of the Climate Report states that 24 of 34 vital signs are at record levels. Global tree cover loss was 29.6 megahectares (Mha) in 2024, the second highest on record. Additionally, seven of the nine globally quantified safe and just planetary boundaries have been transgressed, highlighting both overshoot and deepening justice concerns.

As climate change advances, the burdens and benefits of our planet’s ecological commons remain profoundly unequal, with those least responsible for emissions suffering the greatest impacts. This transdisciplinary conference seeks to convene scholars, researchers, leaders, and practitioners dedicated to exploring the intersections of sustainability, poverty, and environmental health.

We welcome abstracts from a broad array of disciplines, including science, theology, philosophy, nursing, law, business, engineering, and the humanities.

Conference Goals:

    • Foster transdisciplinary engagement to expand collective knowledge.

    • Promote research and dialogue that empower communities to pursue safe,        just, and sustainable futures.

    • Encourage innovative thinking rooted in ethics, science, and lived             experience.

Pope Francis warns in Laudate Deum (LD 2) that global responses to the climate crisis “have not been adequate,” while the world “may be nearing the breaking point.” The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change – Rio de Janeiro, 1992 mandates parties to the convention  to “prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.” This gathering seeks rigorous, creative, and hopeful responses.