Ciread-IFCU contributes to AVEPRO Regional Seminar on Sustainability and AI in Canada (29-30 June 2026, Toronto)

On 29-30 June 2026, AVEPRO organized a Regional Seminar for Ecclesiastical Higher Education Institutions in North America, hosted by St. Augustine’s Seminary of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

Building on the outcomes of the first regional seminar, this second North American edition focused on two strategic challenges identified by AVEPRO as potential “game changers” for higher education: sustainability and artificial intelligence. Throughout the three-day programme, attended by renowned higher education institutions and the ACCU President, Dr. Donna Carroll, participants explored how these transformations are reshaping quality assurance, institutional governance, teaching, research and evaluation methodologies in ecclesiastical institutions. The seminar also provided an opportunity to reflect on Pope Leo XIV’s recent call for renewed quality and courage in Catholic education, as highlighted throughout the encounter. 

On behalf of Ciread-IFCU, I was delighted to contribute to the discussions on one of the central themes of this year’s programme, that is, sustainability in higher education. This introductive presentation opened a broader reflection on how sustainability has become an essential dimension in higher education, the diversity and evolution of the meanings associated with this concept, and the different approaches through which it is understood and implemented by higher education leaders.

I would like to warmly thank Prof. Armand Puig i Tàrrech, AVEPRO President, Dr. Riccardo Cinquegrani, AVEPRO Director and Dr. Valerio Napoleoni, AVEPRO Secretary, for this renewed opportunity to collaborate with such a committed and inspiring team in advancing quality assurance in Catholic higher education. I particularly appreciated contributing alongside distinguished experts invited by AVEPRO, including Prof. Peter Jonkers (Emeritus professor of phisolophy at Tilburg University, the Netherlands), Prof. Anthony McClaran (Vice-Chancellor of St Mary’s University, United Kingdom) and Dr. Barbara Mutch, Executive Director of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS). Sharing perspectives with them made this seminar an especially enriching experience. Finally, my heartfelt thanks go to our hosts for their generous hospitality and excellent organization, in particular Rev. Msgr A. Robert Nusca, President, Rev. Kevin Belgrave, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, Director of the Institute of Theology and Associate professor of moral theology, and Dr. Josephine Lombardi, Academic Dean.