CALL OF NATURE: Holy Crossians commit to sustainable development, ecological conversion

Students and educators of the Holy Cross of Davao College (HCDC) have pledged to respond to the challenge of reinforcing its core value to the integrity of creation based on the calls of the Laudato Si’ and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDG).

The community pledged on Wednesday, September 10, during the second day of the five-day fiesta celebration of HCDC’s 74th founding anniversary, affirming that they will “integrate sustainable practices in [their] daily lives, studies, and work,” and “be instruments of hope and transformation for a just, sustainable, and inclusive society.”

This followed after Paolo Gaudencio S. Naval, community organizer of the school’s Social Action Office (SAO), urged them at the HCDC gymnasium to deeply consider the relevance and impact of the UN-SDG to their academic experience and on their future lives.

HCDC president Br. Noelvic H. Deloria, C,S. led the oath-taking, which Naval described as “concreting the commitment” of the institution’s servant-leadership spirit.

Of the 17 SDGs, SDG 4: quality education and SDG 13: climate action was specified by Naval as the most relevant for the Holy Crossians.

The two SDGs align with HCDC’s mission-vision and core values on “cultivating high quality Catholic education for all” and “upholding] the value of…integrity of creation.”

“By being here today, we are already part of this mission because the SDGs are deeply personal. Our generation will face the harshest consequences of climate change,” he said during his talk titled “Talk on SDG – Towards Sustainable and Meaningful Engagement and Sharing the Spirit of Laudato Si.”

In her segment, Dr. Jeralyn A. Palero, the SAO coordinator, shared Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si” which emphasizes that today’s challenge is not only ecological, but also a crisis of morality.

“One of the deepest wounds in our society is corruption and the erosion of values,” she said.

She pointed out that there is a need for both ecological and spiritual conversion to move forward as a Church.

“Schools are not just places of knowledge. We are cradles of conscience. The church needs you. The world needs you. God is calling you,” Palero added.

Meanwhile, Naval shared that valuing SDGs opens opportunities through campus sustainability initiatives, community engagement, and students’ engagement in building leadership, innovation, and advocacy skills.

He also reminded the students that the SDGs foster employability as “companies are now looking for graduates who have not just academic excellence, but a mindset for sustainability.”

Among the daily actions to integrate the SDGs and environmental sustainability that Naval said were saying no to single-use plastics, practicing proper waste segregation, saving water and electricity, and supporting local farmers and fair trade.

“Use your social media platforms to spread awareness. Share positive stories about sustainable practices. Support campaigns aligned with the SDGs,” he said.

“The future is not something that will simply happen to us. It is something that we are creating everyday,” the SAO community organizer said. (Razl EJ Teman, Cross Media, Holy Cross of Davao College)