How Jesuit universities are turning sustainability into lived practice

As the climate crisis accelerates, universities are being asked to move beyond awareness and into action. For Jesuit institutions, this is not a new conversation — but the pressure to act is growing. Rooted in a tradition that combines intellectual rigor with ethical reflection and social commitment, these schools are well placed to rethink sustainability not as a subject, but as a way of operating.

Nancy Tuchman, Professor of Biology and founding Dean of the School of Environmental Sustainability at Loyola University Chicago, and Cristina Giménez, Director of Identity and Mission at Esade and professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management, discuss how educational institutions can take a more systemic approach — one that connects curriculum, research, operations, and student life.

From knowledge to responsibility

Universities have long shaped how societies think about global challenges. But climate change asks for something more than knowledge. As Tuchman puts it: "Universities have both the opportunity and the responsibility to educate students about the environmental crisis since it is the most existential issue of this century."

That responsibility doesn't stop at the classroom. Universities also need to look at how they run. Tuchman is direct about it: institutions must "lead by example by reducing the harm that we inflict on the environment by reducing our campuses' operational environmental footprints."

When what a university teaches lines up with how it operates, students notice — and trust follows.

The Ignatian approach: reflection, action, transformation

Jesuit education is built around Ignatian pedagogy — a framework that, in Giménez's words, is "not only about acquiring knowledge, but about forming individuals who are capable of critical reflection, ethical discernment, and responsible action."

Its process — context, experience, reflection, action, evaluation — fits the complexity of climate challenges more naturally than most academic frameworks. It asks students not just to understand environmental issues, but to engage with them personally. Giménez describes the result: students start asking "What is my role? What kind of leader do I want to be?"

That's a different kind of outcome than a good exam score.

Beyond sustainability: a broader frame

What sets Jesuit institutions apart isn't necessarily the sustainability initiatives they run — plenty of universities have those. It's how they connect sustainability to questions of social justice and human dignity.

Giménez describes this as a holistic approach: one that links "environmental, social, economic, and also spiritual dimensions, recognizing the relationship between people, nature, and meaning." Sustainability, in this frame, isn't a strategic priority bolted onto the institution — it's part of how the institution understands itself.

From discourse to measurable action

The hardest part isn't commitment. It's acting on the commitment and integrating it into the culture - making commitment live.

Tuchman's view is clear: institutions need to "integrate sustainability across the curriculum, within their research and community outreach, and in their operations." That means going beyond isolated projects or symbolic gestures.

A clear example of how institutional commitment can translate into long-term impact is the work led by Tuchman at Loyola University Chicago. Over more than two decades, the university has built a comprehensive response to the environmental crisis through a close partnership between academic affairs and campus operations. This effort has been guided by three core ambitions: ensuring that all students—regardless of their discipline—develop environmental literacy, launching a dedicated School of Environmental Sustainability, and achieving carbon neutrality across its campuses. The results are tangible. Sustainability has been embedded into the core curriculum, while students engage in hands-on, solution-based learning that connects theory with practice. Initiatives such as transforming cafeteria waste vegetable oil into biodiesel and biosoap—now used in tens of thousands of soap dispensers across campus—illustrate how learning and operations can reinforce each other. At the same time, Loyola’s Climate Action Plan (2015–2025) combined energy efficiency improvements, on-site renewable energy and carbon offsets to reach carbon neutrality as of January 2025. Beyond the metrics, this transformation responds to a growing expectation among students: that institutions of higher education should not only teach sustainability, but embody it in a credible and visible way.

At Esade, some of this is already happening. Sustainability is being built into academic programs, research agendas, and campus operations. Service-Learning initiatives put "social impact and deep reflection at the center," giving students direct contact with real world problems. On the operational side, the Sant Cugat Campus has cut carbon emissions by 83.05%, and its dining halls received Bureau Veritas sustainability certification in 2024-2025. These aren't announcements — they're outcomes.

The role of students: from participants to drivers of change

Students aren't waiting for institutions to lead. Giménez is frank about it: "students are one of the most important drivers of change within universities." Tuchman adds that "upper administrators tend to listen to what students expect of us as educational institutions."

That dynamic matters. Campuses become places where students can work on real problems, contribute to actual decisions, and be empowered by the positive changes. The learning that comes from that — about complexity, about navigating institutions, about persistence — is harder to design in a classroom.

Barriers — and what often gets overlooked

The obstacles are real. As Tuchman notes, "the largest barriers tend to be resources — both financial and personnel."

But institutions often underestimate how much is possible without large investments. Many high-impact changes — especially around consumption and waste — cost little and can generate savings.

Esade has addressed part of this through governance: 100% of its financial investments are aligned with Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria, it is a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Management Education, and it has reached Level 4 — Transforming School — in the Positive Impact Rating. The other barrier Tuchman identifies is less visible: without a shared understanding of the urgency of the crisis, it's hard to mobilize anyone.

Measuring what matters

Progress in sustainability is incremental almost by definition. Tuchman puts it plainly: "every tonne of carbon saved from entering the atmosphere is a positive impact. Every liter of water that is not wasted helps."

For universities, that means setting specific targets — carbon neutrality, zero waste — and tracking them consistently. Measurement isn't just accountability. It changes what people pay attention to.

Where things stand

There's no tidy conclusion here, no single bullet solution. The challenge is large, the pace is slow, and most universities are still working out what "systemic change" means in practice.

What Jesuit institutions have is a framework— Ignatian pedagogy, a tradition of ethical reflection, an emphasis on purpose, and a call to action— that happens to be well suited to navigating exactly this kind of complexity. Applying that framework to produce real institutional change requires an intentionality that is employed campus by campus, decision by decision.

Tuchman's framing is worth keeping: progress is driven by "millions of small acts that people in universities — and elsewhere — are doing." That's not optimism. It's a description of how incremental, real change actually works.