ABI Summer Academy 2024: Advancing Caring Science for a Sustainable Future

The Anne Boykin Institute 2024 Summer Academy, hosted at Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing on June 20 and 21, brought together an international group of nurses and health care professionals dedicated to advancing Caring Science.

The Academy kicked off with greetings from Dean Safiya George, who emphasized the importance of Caring Science and inter-institutional collaboration and exchange of ideas among nurse professionals and students.

The annual event’s theme was Earth Caring: Tending our Common Home. Participants examined relationships among health, justice, and caring for the environment, relating the philosophical and theoretical concepts in Caring Science to nursing situations.

“I think we can become overwhelmed by the constant news of environmental crises reminding us of the urgent need to care for the earth, said Dr. Marlaine Smith, director of Anne Boykin Institute for the Advancement of Caring in Nursing. “The Summer Academy was an international gathering of concerned nurses who were fully engaged in an inspiring dialogue informed by Caring Science. Over the course of the event, all of us became more aware, committed to specific collective actions, and hopeful that we could make a difference.”

Summer Academy participants enjoyed a labyrinth walk in the College’s garden and toured the building with Dr. Anne Boykin, professor emeritus, who noted that the design of the building was informed by a commitment to the Earth, the caring philosophy of the College, and Feng Shui principles.

The Academy’s artist-in-residence, Kathy Sherman, a composer with a background in eco-spirituality, performed her music including an original song representing the themes that surfaced during the two-day dialogue. The Academy is committed to moving ideas generated by participants to actions that can inform, inspire, and spark transformative change.

The action items proposed by the Academy’s participants included creating a formal position statement on Earth Caring from the Anne Boykin Institute, producing a video featuring students from many countries asserting nursing’s responsibility to care for the earth, and planning a special issue of the International Journal for Human Caring focused on Earth Caring.