Sustainability Matters
Under the framework of the UNIC University Alliance and the A.A. van Beek fund, Erasmus University Rotterdam students from the course Perspectives on Sustainability of the LL.M. Publiekrecht voor Bedrijf en Burgers visited UNIC partner University College Cork (‘UCC’) between June 6-8 this year.
After arriving at destination in the morning on June 6, the students had the whole afternoon dedicated to attending presentations on sustainability matters from both academics and experts from practice. After the welcoming words from Prof McIntyre, Co-Director of the Centre for Law and the Environment at UCC, two presentations on theoretical issues of sustainability followed. The first one was given on rights of nature by Mr Suarez Bohorquez and the second discussed the relationship between sustainable development goals and international law by Ms Guiry. These two presentations were followed by others showing how to translate theoretical research into more engaged research. Specifically, Dr Aronsson-Storrier discussed her ongoing research funded by UNIC on urban climate adaptation in Cork and Malmö while Mr O’Reily, Mr Twomey and Mr O’Donovan discussed the pathways to decarbonisation undertaken by Cork County Council in its approach to climate action. Lastly, a presentation on the experience of UCC students on their Clinical Environmental Law Research with a specific focus on Airborne Ammonia Pollution from Agriculture followed. This way, the EUR students could further reflect on their own experience with the law clinic for the Municipality of Rotterdam within the course Perspectives on Sustainability.
Inspired by different perspectives
On June 7, students had the opportunity to attend, for the whole day, the “sustainability showcase”. The “sustainability showcase” aimed to collect all the research associated with sustainability that is carried out at UCC. Accordingly, students could listen to presentations from different fields of social sciences (e.g., economics, law, governance). At the very beginning of the conference, a topical presentation was held by Prof McIntyre on “Values, Convergence and International Water Law”. In the afternoon, instead, relevant presentations were given within the session entitled “Social Sustainability, Law and Sustainable Consumption”.
Overall, the students were given many different perspectives on sustainability, both in research and practice, and went back to the Netherlands with fresh motivation and inspiration.