The Just Transformations to Sustainability (JTS) Initiative at Notre Dame, as part of the Notre Dame 2033 Strategic Framework, advances a distinctive model of sustainability rooted in hope, justice, and connection. Through leading-edge research, holistic education, and equitable partnerships, the Initiative seeks to catalyze transformative change toward a just and sustainable future, grounded in the best available science and foundational ideas of integral ecology.
In its first year, the Initiative launched new efforts to support crossdisciplinary sustainability research at Notre Dame, expanded opportunities for students and postdoctoral scholars, and cultivated partnerships and networks focused on long-term collaboration, both locally and globally.
“The JTS Initiative is advancing a positive vision for a sustainable future in which human dignity and ecological integrity flourish together,” said founding Director Arun Agrawal, Pulte Family Professor of Development Policy in the Keough School of Global Affairs. “In our first year, we have built a strong foundation of people, partnerships, and exciting new programs that together position Notre Dame to be a global leader in translating sustainability research and education into transformative global action.”
Through its Nurturing Excellence in Sustainability at Notre Dame Program, the JTS Initiative funded three cross-disciplinary teams of Notre Dame scholars to lead research collaborations rooted in long-term, place-based partnerships and committed to creating hands-on training opportunities for students and young researchers. In partnership with the University of Michigan’s Institute for Global Change Biology, the Initiative launched the Integrated Responses to Climate and Biodiversity Change Program and funded two interdisciplinary teams focused on synthesizing knowledge linking the biodiversity and climate change crises. The Initiative also established and hosted the inaugural convening of the Midwest Sustainability Platform for Research and Curricular Innovation, a consortium of 10 universities in the Midwest committed to addressing key sustainability challenges in the region by advancing collaborative research, driving curricular innovation, and building partnerships with policymakers, businesses, and nonprofit organizations.
In addition to spurring new collaborations that advance leading-edge research and knowledge creation, the Initiative has created new programs aimed at cultivating and supporting a growing network of Notre Dame students dedicated to building a more just and sustainable world, both during their time at Notre Dame and through their future careers. JTS launched its Sustainability in Action Fellows Program and partnered with Notre Dame’s Institute for Educational Initiatives and Office of Undergraduate Education to develop a week-long immersive learning course on the principles of integral ecology.
Finally, JTS hosted the first three seminars in the Notre Dame Seminars on Sustainability Series, a signature lecture series that brings global sustainability leaders and world-class scholars to campus for knowledge sharing and engagement with the Notre Dame community.
Originally published by at strategicframework.nd.edu on December 19, 2025.