Raising Hope for Our Common Home: AIS honors and celebrates Laudato Si’ Week 2025

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical Laudato Si’, the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability (AIS) launched the Laudato Si’ Week 2025 last 16-23 May with the theme, “Raising Hope”. This week-long celebration brought together members of the Ateneo de Manila community in its collective journey of reflection, education, and engagement. The theme focused on remembering the joy our planet brings us and uplifting spirits amidst our struggles to push forward in improving our common home.

To capture the diverse voices within the Ateneo community, AIS launched the Humans for Laudato Si’ series–a social media campaign that invited students, faculty, staff, and alumni to share their personal responses to integral ecology. The series was released in three weekly segments through AIS’ Facebook and Instagram channels, offering a tapestry of experiences that highlighted how each has their own way of integrating ecological consciousness into their lives. 

To kickstart the Laudato Si’ Week, AIS hosted a Sustainability Essentials Workshop on 16 May for Ateneo employees. The session introduced key concepts in sustainability, provided updates on the SDGs, and explored ways on how to embody sustainability both in the workplace and everyday life. Participants also shared reflections and stories of sustainability perseverance in their own ways within and beyond the university setting.

On May 19, AIS partnered with the Office of Campus Ministry to co-sponsor a BlueGreen Mass held at Colayco Pavilion. Presided over by Fr Dennis Gabriel “Gabby” Lamug-Nañawa, SJ, the mass was part of the celebration of Flores de Mayo and in honor of Our Lady of Fatima, commonly associated with hope. The liturgical celebration drew connections between faith, environment, and social responsibility, echoing Pope Francis’ call for an ecological conversion.

In a creative twist of sustainability education, AIS organized a Sustainability Trivia Morning on 20 May at Heyden Hall, Manila Observatory. The event invited members of the community to test their sustainability knowledge in categories ranging from history, art, literature, to pop culture. Team Gummy worms topped the leaderboard in the trivia morning, taking home eco-friendly prizes from Back to Basics Ecostore.

On 21 May, AIS hosted the Blue Roots: Ateneans for Climate, a banner program on building a community of alumni working on sustainability. The event featured esteemed guest speakers Dr Charlotte Kendra Gotangco-Gonzales, Research Fellow at Australia National University; Att. Jayvy R Gamboa, Assistant Director for Policy and Governance at the Klima Center of Manila Observatory; and Mr Jed Llanes, CPO and Head of ESG and Sustainability of Komunidad. The gathering was hosted and moderated by Ms Sophia Angeli S N Dayrit of the Department of Environmental Science. The event provided meaningful connections and encouraged collaboration among different sectors, inspiring attendees to ignite hope within to build a just and equitable future for the planet.

On the same day, AIS, together with the Ateneo Senior High School faculty, students, and staff conducted an Eco-anxiety Workshop at the ASHS Blackbox and Classrooms. Facilitated by Expressive Arts Facilitators Group led by Isa Garcia, Jen Horn, and Angel Illana, the workshop offered participants a space of processing worries and fear on climate through art, writing, and movement. The experience was also a powerful reminder of the deep interconnection between mental and ecological well-being.

The week concluded on May 23 with a Sustainability Walk with the Ateneo employees around the Loyola Heights campus. The walk highlighted ongoing sustainability initiatives and served as an opportunity to raise awareness on integral ecology. The employees engaged in conversations about Ateneo’s commitments and the personal role each one plays in shaping a sustainable future.

The 10th anniversary of Laudato Si’ is both a commemoration and a movement. It reminded the community that caring for our common home is a shared responsibility–that amidst the challenges, we must continue to find joy and hope. It calls us to deepen our commitment to ecological conversion, act with urgency and compassion, and translate awareness into practice in order to galvanize sustainability and integral ecology into our identity.

#RaisingHope #LaudatoSi #LSW2025

“Let us sing as we go. May our struggles and our concern for this planet never take away the joy of our hope.” (#244)