The promise of integral ecology

In his 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si', Pope Francis advocated for integral ecology: a holistic approach to environmental, economic, political, social, cultural and ethical issues. “Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live,” he wrote. “We are part of nature, included in it and thus in constant interaction with it. Recognizing the reasons why a given area is polluted requires a study of the workings of society, its economy, its behavior patterns and the ways it grasps reality.”

At the University of Notre Dame, the REEL Lab is one effort to recognize humanity’s immanent relationship with nature and contribute to research on integral ecology. An interdisciplinary research lab and course, REEL (Regenerating Ecologies and Economies for Livelihoods) is the brainchild of Richard “Drew” Marcantonio, concurrent assistant professor in the Business Ethics and Society Program at the Mendoza College of Business.  

“There's a whole host of environmental stresses that people are facing. It's not a single stream, and these stresses are interactive, too,” said Marcantonio. “So if we really want to make change, we have to be able to address multiple things simultaneously.”

Now in its second year, the course was created as part of the Meyer Business on the Frontlines Program in partnership with the Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative (ND-ICI). The student teams include MBAs and those seeking graduate degrees in global affairs, engineering and science. Notre Dame alumni who are experts in business accompany the students on global site visits as industry advisers, and Ph.D. candidates focusing on the environment or engineering join as science advisers. Through the hands-on course, these various backgrounds coalesce to conduct field research over spring interterm at partner organizations located in Colombia, Peru and Uganda.

“The interventions that we are trying to do are regenerative: We’re contributing to the environment instead of extracting from it,” said Marcantonio. “But I would add that regenerating ecologies and economies for livelihoods is a pseudonym for peace building.”

Two of three research teams ventured to the southern corner of the Amazon to work with two sites in Puerto Maldonado, Peru in spring 2025. The project with the Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation (CINCIA) explored responsible mining and regeneration of mined areas, and the project with Cáritas Madre de Dios focused on regenerative agriculture and forestry for peace. 

In their work with CINCIA, the students evaluated different responsible mining restoration methods and found that aquaculture was the quickest and most economically viable way to begin, because it helped restore water quality while most efficiently producing an income. 

"Sequencing reforestation and soil restoration once the aquaculture process is put in place comes next,” Marcantonio said. “There were clear technical assistance needs to get started, offering opportunities for face-to-face engagement and relationship building, i.e. peacebuilding opportunities, especially as responsible miners are increasingly targeted by illegal miners.”

The third team of REEL students and advisers returned to central Uganda where Bethany Land Institute (BLI) sits on about 400 acres of reforested land just 60 kilometers north of the country’s capital, Kampala. Previously, REEL supported BLI in developing its five-year strategic plan, which takes direct cues from Laudato Si’ in its efforts to combat environmental degradation, food insecurity and poverty in Uganda.

Now in the first stage of implementing its plan, BLI welcomed a second REEL team to continue assessing the organization’s reforestation work and contribute to the overall body of research on integral ecology. 

“My role was developing a framework for analyzing soils and trying to tie integral ecology and BLI’s practices of regenerative agriculture to soil health,” said Mitchell Liddick, a Ph.D. candidate in biological sciences and ND-ECI fellow and adviser for the REEL team at BLI in 2024. “We know integral ecology is a thing; it's happening and being practiced, but there is no empirical evidence yet to show that it’s working.”   

BLI hosts a two-year residential integrated education program in which students from various rural communities in Uganda train in farming, agroforestry, agribusiness and personal formation. One natural classroom for the program is a forest known as Lazarus' Trees. The forest appears to be repopulating, but Liddick hoped that he could confirm the soil health had indeed improved by analyzing it for health indicators such as organic matter, carbon quality, soil exchange capacity and soil pH.  

One snag in the plan was transporting the nearly 100 soil samples to the United States for analysis. Instead, the group forged a partnership with Makerere University in Kampala, where the soil was tested against a control group of samples from a local parish property where conventional agriculture is still practiced.  

The analysis revealed that soil samples from Lazarus' Trees contained significantly more organic matter than soil samples from the control group. “Organic matter interacts in really interesting ways with soil ions like potassium, calcium and magnesium, which are really good for plant health and plant growth,” said Liddick. “We're also seeing that pH levels are actually going back up with some of these regenerative practices.” 

“Business has to be involved in this — Pope Francis makes that clear — and this being one of the leading Catholic research universities in the world, our business school must be engaged.”

"These show the differences in soil profiles after only one year of production, but what we need is to show that over time,” said Marcantonio. “So this was establishing the baseline soil sampling and we're expanding that into analyzing water quality this year.”

Thanks to the partnership with Makerere University, BLI students and graduates will now have the capacity to analyze samples with support from a local higher education institution, which Marcantonio said is the ideal outcome. “The best thing would be for us to work ourselves out of a job as support and facilitation and instead just work on the research side to learn more generalizable practices,” he added.        

With this experience, REEL students can apply skills – like strategic planning, systems thinking and mapping, and environmental and social impact assessments –  in their careers to show the power of enterprise to regenerate a sustainable future for all, especially for people suffering the most.

As the REEL Lab contributes to the expanding body of empirical research supporting integral ecology, Marcantonio believes it could help further realize the goals set out in Laudato Si’.  

“I'd like us to have an empirical evidence base that shows the efficacy of regenerative production as a vehicle for peace building. That doesn't exist. But if the promise of regenerative production holds, which is what we're testing, that is going to be one of the most potent tools that we have to work against the challenges that we face globally,” he said, noting that Mendoza is a fitting host for such work. “Business has to be involved in this — Pope Francis makes that clear — and this being one of the leading Catholic research universities in the world, our business school must be engaged.”