How universities can help save the planet

What can a university bring to the pressing issue of integral ecology and saving the planet? Gerry Whelan SJ is Director of the Department of Fundamental Theology in the Jesuit Gregorian University Rome. In this second part of an interview from the eternal city, with Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications, he outlines an answer to that question.

He explains how the leader of the Jesuits worldwide, Fr Arturo Sosa, specifically asked the Gregorian to focus on the environmental crisis facing our world and he outlines how the university has been responding.

Gerry says there’s a lot more the university wants to do in this but to begin with they have acknowledged that any response must involve a variety of departments or academic disciplines working together.

This has proved challenging on a number of fronts so along with the Irish Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice they have organised an international conference that will address the how and whys of the difficulties in an inter-disciplinary approach.

Listen above to the full interview (7 mins),