The Centre for Law & the Environment proudly presents
The Green Rights & Warrior Lawyers Virtual Academy 2024
RIGHTS OF NATURE:
From Law on the Books to Law in Action
November 16 and 17, 2024
8 am-3 pm Vancouver, Los Angeles | 9 am-4 pm Denver, Mexico City | 10 am-5 pm Chicago, Quito | 11 am-6 pm Toronto, New York | Noon-7 pm Buenos Aires, São Paulo) | 4 pm-11 pm London, Lagos | 5 pm-midnight Paris, Johannesburg
Online, free and open to everyone, everywhere.
How can you use law to fight for nature’s rights and transform humanity’s relationships with other beings and the planet? Find out by participating in this 2-day, innovative, interactive, intensive, online learning experience as courageous “Warrior Lawyers,” Indigenous legal knowledge holders and other inspiring leaders share their stories of advancing “Green Rights” through (or sometimes despite) law. You will learn about the global rights of nature movement, explore rights of nature laws on paper and in action, discover strategies for enforcing nature’s rights, and participate in a rights of nature mock trial.
This innovative learning program mobilizes the power of stories to bring issues of environmental rights and justice to life and inspire you to act.
The Green Rights & Warrior Lawyers Academy is:
- For Everyone. It is intended for anyone interested in the role of law and lawyers in securing environmental rights and justice. You do not have to be a lawyer or have any prior knowledge of the subject to participate, though lawyers and law students are welcome. The program is designed for adult learners in any field, with any background, at any stage--from postsecondary studies to retirement.
- Virtual. It is held entirely online, via Zoom.
- Live. It is not a series of static, pre-recorded online lessons. Every session is delivered live.
- Interactive. The Academy is not a conventional "talking heads" webinar that you watch passively. You will interact with the instructors and the other participants continually. You will ask questions, answer instructors' questions, engage in discussions, share your knowledge and experiences, complete live surveys, engage in guided breakout activities, and work in small groups to prepare and present a virtual mock trial (a simulated rights of nature court case).
- Intensive. It takes place over one weekend for around 7 hours each day, with suitable breaks. It is open to participants anywhere in the world, if the timing suits your time zone and schedule. The program is not à la carte, however. You should sign up only if you are able and willing to attend the whole program.
- Practical. You will acquire knowledge, skills, tools and strategies that you can mobilize to advance respect for the rights of nature in your own communities, from local to global.
- Fun. You will do all of this in a fun, pressure-free atmosphere. There are no grades or performance evaluations. There are no assigned readings. Your only task is to participate in the rights of nature mock trial, which will be introduced on Day 1 and conducted on Day 2.
- Here today, gone tomorrow. Given its highly interactive character and in consideration of participants' right to privacy, this year's Academy is not suited for recording. The sessions will not be recorded for future viewing. To take advantage of this unique learning opportunity, you will need to attend live.
The instructors are leading Rights of Nature champions and environmental educators, including:
- Yenny Vega Cárdenas, President of the Observatoire International des Droits de la Nature (International Observatory on the Rights of Nature), Montréal, Canada
- Rita Mestokosho, Innu Nitassinan (territory) guardian, writer and poet, Ekuanitshit, Canada
- Jacqueline Gallant and Carlos Andrés Baquero-Díaz, members of the More Than Human Life (MOTH) Project leadership team at New York University School of Law, New York, USA
- Mari Margil, Executive Director of the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights, Spokane, Washington, USA
- Hugo Echeverría, Rights of Nature lawyer, Quito, Ecuador
- Leslee Silverman, theatre artistic director and recipient of the Governor General's Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Performing Arts (Theatre), Vancouver, Canada
- Stepan Wood, Director of the Centre for Law & the Environment, Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
The program is delivered in English, and participants must be able to communicate orally in English.
Participants who attend both days and complete the mock trial will receive a formal attestation of attendance. Please note, however, that participation in the Academy does not earn credit toward any academic credential.
Space is limited to the first 50 registrants.
To register, click on the button below and complete the registration form. It should take less than 5 minutes. We will send the Zoom meeting link and occasional reminders to all confirmed registrants.
Schedule
The schedule is tentative and subject to change. Check back for periodic updates.
Day 1: Saturday, November 16, 2024
08:00 Pacific: Welcome and Introductions
8 am Vancouver, Los Angeles | 9 am Denver, Mexico City | 10 am Chicago, Quito | 11 am Toronto, New York | Noon Buenos Aires, São Paulo | 4 pm London, Lagos | 5 pm Paris, Johannesburg
60 minutes
This session will introduce the Academy and give participants an opportunity to introduce themselves.
Instructor
09:00 Pacific: Rights of Nature in Action: Constitutional Litigation in Ecuador
9 am Vancouver, Los Angeles | 10 am Denver, Mexico City | 11 am Chicago, Quito | Noon Toronto, New York | 1 pm Buenos Aires, São Paulo) | 5 pm London, Lagos | 6 pm Paris, Johannesburg
90 minutes
Ecuador is the first and so far only country in the world to enshrine rights of nature in its constitution, the most basic law of the land. In this session, Ecuadorean lawyer Hugo Echeverría will share his stories of advocating for enforcement of nature's constitutional rights as a "friend of the court" (amicus curiae) in lawsuits before the Ecuadorean courts.
Instructor
Break (30 minutes)
11:00 Pacific: Rights of Nature in Action: The Magpie River/Mutehekau Shipu in Canada
11 am Vancouver, Los Angeles | Noon Denver, Mexico City | 1 pm Chicago, Quito | 2 pm Toronto, New York | 3 pm Buenos Aires, São Paulo | 7 pm London, Lagos | 8 pm Paris, Johannesburg
90 minutes
This session will explore the story of one river and the individuals who campaigned successfully to have it legally recognized as a person with rights. Lawyer Yenny Vega Cárdenas of the Observatoire International des Droits de la Nature (International Observatory on the Rights of Nature) and Innu filmmaker, land guardian and youth leader Uapukun Mestokosho lead this session. They were instrumental in securing the adoption of twin resolutions in 2021 by a municipal government and an Indigenous governing body recognizing the Magpie River (Mutehekau Shipu) in the province of Quebec as a legal person with nine enumerated rights, the first formal rights of nature laws in Canada. They will share their stories of achieving these resolutions on paper and implementing them in practice.
Instructors
Break (30 minutes)
13:00 Pacific: Introducing the Rights of Nature Mock Trial
1 pm Vancouver, Los Angeles | 2 pm Denver, Mexico City | 3 pm Chicago, Quito | 4 pm Toronto, New York | 5 pm Buenos Aires, São Paulo | 9 pm London, Lagos | 10 pm Paris, Johannesburg
90 minutes
This session will introduce you to the main creative activity of the Academy, a mock trial of a rights of nature case. In this role-playing exercise, you will work in groups to be the voice of a human or more-than-human entity involved in a lawsuit to enforce the rights of nature. You might speak for a river, a fish species, an Indigenous community, an environmental group, a national government or a multinational corporation. The lawsuit is set in a fictional country with a fictional rights of nature law modelled on the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, a non-binding instrument adopted by a global people's assembly in Cochabamba, Bolivia in 2011. This session is facilitated by Leslee Silverman, one of Canada's leading theatre directors and educators.
Instructor: Stepan Wood
Theatre coach:
Day 2: Sunday, November 17, 2024
08:00 Pacific: Rights of Nature from Theory to Action: A Practical Workshop
8 am Vancouver, Los Angeles | 9 am Denver, Mexico City | 10 am Chicago, Quito | 11 am Toronto, New York | Noon Buenos Aires, São Paulo | 4 pm London, Lagos | 5 pm Paris, Johannesburg
90 minutes
Imagine that you want to see a rights of nature law enacted and enforced in your community or country. What would such a law look like, and how can you make it happen? This practical workshop session will introduce you to common features of rights of nature laws around the world, common strategies for getting such laws passed, and options for implementing and enforcing them in practice. It is led by one of the world's leading champions of rights of nature, Mari Margil of the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights in Spokane, Washington, USA.
Instructor
Break (30 minutes)
10:00 Pacific: The More Than Human Life (MOTH) Project: Healing the rift between humanity and the more than human world
10 am Vancouver, Los Angeles | 11 am Denver, Mexico City | Noon Chicago, Quito | 1 pm Toronto, New York | 2 pm Buenos Aires, São Paulo | 6 pm London, Lagos | 7 pm Paris, Johannesburg
90 minutes
This session will introduce you to the global rights of nature movement via the story of the ground-breaking More Than Human Life (MOTH) Project, an interdisciplinary initiative advancing rights and well-being for humans, non-humans, and the web of life that sustains us all. An initiative of the Earth Rights Research and Action (TERRA) Program at New York University School of Law, the MOTH project combines law, science and the arts to experiment with different pathways to re-embed humanity within the larger web of life that nourishes and sustains us.
Instructors
Break (30 minutes)
Break (30 minutes)
Heads Up! The Green Rights & Warrior Lawyers Inspirathon is Coming Soon
If you are a current university student we encourage you to take part in this year's Green Rights & Warrior Lawyers Inspirathon, a companion event to the Academy.
The Green Rights & Warrior Lawyers Inspirathon is an innovative event open to university students at any level of study (undergraduate through doctoral) in any discipline, anywhere in the world. Part “researchathon,” part law and policy-oriented “hackathon,” the Inspirathon allows students to conduct research into a specific problem concerning the role of law in advancing environmental rights and justice, and brainstorm creative options to solve the problem.
The Inspirathon is organized in partnership with a lawyer or legal knowledge holder whose courageous and cutting-edge work to advance environmental rights and justice earns them the informal designation “Warrior Lawyer.”
This year's Inspirathon, like the Academy, focuses on the theme of Rights of Nature. Details and timing will be posted soon on this website. Stay tuned!
The 2024 Academy is supported financially by the At the Kitchen Table Foundation and the Canada Research Chair in Law, Society & Sustainability at the University of British Columbia.
Dedication
- Centre for Law and the Environment
- All Students
- Alumni
- Continuing Professional Development
- Faculty
- Graduate Students
- JD
